The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1928-10-25
GOVERNOR ERICKSON
GUEST OF OUR CITY
MONDAY EVENING
CONTINUED from page y

told what he had tried to do during
his term of office. He read his rea-
sons for again running for office, evi-
IDENTIFY not trusting to memory in this
subject.
Governor Erickson evidently picked
up the wrong speech to read to his
Red Lodge audience as in Tuesday
mornings issue of the Billings Ga
zette a story was carried, purporting
to be the speech as made in our city
We have shown this article to sew
eral people with the hopes they would
at least remember a few sentences of
it. He may have made this speech in
some other town, but he certainly
never mentioned anything in it here
He told us nothing as to public utility
taxes; never mentioned his masters,
the A. G. NJ, the Montana Power
company, did not list any railroad and
gave no figures as to lowered taxes
for farmers. The governor had better
get a different or more careful pub
LEFTY agent.
The governor quoted figures as TO
why he had not been able to live up
to past prediction promises-prom-
Uses of cleaning up deficit in the
state. He said he had done everything
possible and was proud of the work
of the highway commission. Schools
were bettered also since his admin
istration had started.
The governor has been explaining
the deficit matter throughout his cam
paign and we can do no better than to
quote his words, as given out by the
democratic state headquarters in Hell
ena. They are the same statements
made in Red Lodge Monday evening.
"While the knockers are knocking,
we are building roads to aid the farm
ers and getting results" Gov. John
e. Erickson says.
eve have been vigorously pushing
a definite and aggressive road build
ing program which is benefitting
every farmer and business man in the
state of Montana" Governor Erick-
son continued. Montana now is get
ting federal aid funds and we are
spending something like $3,000,000 a
year on connecting highways"
The governor outlined the accomp-
lishments of the three and one-half
years of his administration, called
particular attention to the fact that,
before his advent into office, the state
had law levying a two-cent gasoline
tax, the proceeds of which were divert
ed and were not used for the purpose
of improving highways. This unfair
method was corrected under the pres
ent administration, the governor said.
He told how it was necessary to have
sufficient funds to comply with the
requirements of the government, to
secure federal aid and that previously
there had been no road building ex-
cept on blueprints and that Montana
was stuck in the mud.
Results were obtained, the chief eX-
ecutive said, after he had called a
conference of representative business
men, farmers, laboring and profess
sional men, and a way was devised to
bring about a law which would be APP
proved by the people and actually
build roads in the state. A three-cent
gasoline tax law was the result and
the most active road building program
in the United States followed.
But while talking about highways,
the governor did not state why Carbon
county had been Disseminated
against.
"When | was inaugurated governor
on Jan. 8, 1925, conditions in the state
government were everything but sat
isfactory," Governor Erickson said.
at appeared that the revenues for the
preceding four years had been entirely
insufficient to meet the expenditures,
as there was large overdraft in the
general fund. From Feb. %, 1921, to
June 80, 1925, the end of the last fis-
cal year of the former administration,
the expenditures exceeded the income
by $2,144,000,00, or approximately
$500,00000 per year. The administra-
ton had been marked by strife, tur-
MOL, internal dissension and lack of
cooperation and coordination in the
departments. The inevitable result of
such condition was extravaganza and
inefficiency in the public service.
when the Nineteenth legislative
assembly met in January, 1925, |
went before the appropriations COM
mittee, detailed the condition of our
general fund, and asked their coop
GRAFTON in reducing and cleaning up
this Indebtedness, but | failed to in
terest them. | called their attention
to the fact that the business men and
the farmers during the lean years had
been compelled to practice great
deal of self-denial to curtail expenses
and to cut down the overhead in order
to ward off bankruptcy and that the
state should do likewise. They pro-
ceeded, however, to appropriate every
thing in sight, and then some"
That Gov. j. E. Erickson violated
his prediction pledge of four years
ago and that the state debt stood on
Oct. in excess of $3,550,000 in COM
parison with S3,770,838.18 when he
took office, or a reduction Of barely