The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1929-10-10

outstanding events in the governors
long tenure of office-and unfortu-
nately for the Democratic party, pub
lie memory is as good as our own.
We recall, for instance, the plumber
ing of the public treasury by men con-
nected with his administration. A roll
call at the Maryland penitentiary
would reveal the presence there of a
score who left state jobs under the
Richie regime to begin enforced con-
fnement in the prisons Of our state
and not all Of them ever went to jail.
We recall that there has been more
wholesale thievery, graft, corruption
and scandal, more negligence, incom-
potency and mismangement in the de-
partments of his government than was
ever known in the entire history of
the commonwealth, previous to the
Richie occupany of the State House.
We recall that during the governors
tenure of office as Chief Executive of
Maryland, tax burdens in their various
forms, have more than doubled; and
that the cost of government in Mary
land has undergone a corresponding
increase.
We recall that the state budget sys-
TEN, brought into being to protect the
state treasury and to safeguard pub
lie expenditures, has been mutilated
beyond recognition and its very spirit
destroyed in order that one man-Gov-
ernor Albert C. Ritchie-might abso-
lutely control, direct and dictate the
expenditure of every dollars of state
funds expended under the budget pro-
visions.
We recall that thousands of dollars
of public funds have been spent in the
construction of state highways, on To-
cations and routes selected and manip-
ulated, not in the interest of public SER
vice, but to serve Governor Richie S
own political fortunes-to reward his
supporters for their support, to pun
ish his opponents for their opposition.
We recall that Governor Richie per
petrated reorganization scheme
which revolutionized every principal
of government under which the state
had advanced and prospered since its
organization-a scheme which de-
bauched the last vestige Of govern
mental control by the people, and con-
centrated in Mr.. Richie the power
and authority which the electorate had
always enjoyed and the enjoyment of
which had ever been the surest safe
guard against INSTRUMENTATION of
public affairs-a scheme conceived and
executed by the governor for the sole
purpose of building a governmental
autocracy more depressing and more
menacing to public peace and safety
than Russia ever knew in her darkest
hours.
We recall that after announcing as
the primary excuse for his third-term
candidacy the glazing need of conserv-
ing, protecting, restoring and rehabili-
tating the marine resources Of the
state, the governor has permitted
nearly four years to elapse without
one effective or constructive effort to
solve this most vital problem; while
the thousands of Maryland citizens
who engage in the water industries for
their livelihood have been penalized,
regulated and prosecuted to an un-
bearable degree and the natural wealth
of the state has been squandered and
prostituted.
We recall that the governor bar
tered away to a group of outside cap
italists and promoters the states most
valuable water power resource-Cono-
wingo-on terms that deny to the cit
liens of this state single participa-
ton in the manifold benefits connected
with that vast resource.
We recall that Governor Richie has
journeyed up and down the country,
preaching the doctrine Of states rights
and loudly proclaiming his allegiance
to the principles of hame-rule andl
self-government-while his official and
political conduct in his home state
have made a mockery of the principles
he so loudly espouses; that on one oc
casion, within forty-eight hours after
he had delivered in another state, what
his admirers characterized as his mas
ter contribution to the defense of home
rule, he returned to Maryland and ac
lively participated in movement
which denied to duly elected county
government of this state the right to
appoint a subordinate county official
whose duties and activities were re-
stricted entirely to the county in which
he lived.
We recall, but what's the use! The
public knows the whole story, and if
our estimable Pocomoke City neigh
Dor is not so well informed, there is a
strong probability that an outraged
electorate will impress it upon him in
minute detail, should Governor Richie
persist in his candidacy for fourth
term.
Tho Democratic nar+v is faced with