USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Four > Part 30
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completion of the new building, been very extensive. At the present time (1912) some eighteen subsidiary branches of the State government are unprovided with quarters in the capitol even as enlarged, and are obliged to rent offices in private buildings.
On the 22d of October, 1900, occurred the death of John Sherman, at his residence in Washington. Since his resignation of the office of Secretary of State in 1898 he had lived in retirement. President Mckinley, in announcing his death, said: "Few among our citizens have risen to greater or more deserved eminence than he. The story of his public life and services is, as it were, the history of the country for half a century. In the Congress of the United States he ranked among the foremost in the House and later in the Senate. He was twice a member of the Executive Cabinet, first as Secretary of the Treasury and afterward as Secretary of State. Whether in debate during the dark days of our Civil War, or as the director of the country's finances during the period of rehabilitation, or as a trusted councilor in framing the nation's laws for over forty years, or as the exponent of its foreign policy, his course was ever marked by devotion to the best interests of his beloved land and by able and con- scientious effort to uphold its dignity and honor. His countrymen will long revere his memory and see in him a type of the patriotism, the uprightness, and the zeal that go to molding and strengthening a nation."
At the election held in November, 1900, President Mckinley was chosen for a second term, receiving in Ohio a plurality of 69,036 over William Jennings Bryan, his Democratic competitor. In entering upon
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the duties of his second administration, March 4, 1901, President Mckinley retained his former Cabinet, in which John Hay, a sometime resident of Ohio, was Secretary of State. All the conditions augured a most successful administration. The opposition party had signally failed to commend its policies to the con- fidence of the country, and as an organization was distinguished by such utter weakness in all the principal states that it seemed but a remnant of the powerful Democracy of a few years before. The ready and complete acceptance of every affirmative measure of the administration was a matter of course, and, in addition, the personal authority of the President was supreme to a degree hardly ever before observed in the history of the country. In this fortunate situation President Mckinley bore himself with a moderation and modesty that still further strengthened him in the popular esteem and affection. His public utter- ances in the months following his second inauguration were characterized by a breadth, temperateness, and toleration which admitted of no doubt that a compre- hensive patriotism, with conciliation of all honest opinions, rather than partisanship, would at all times mark his conduct of the government. This spirit was particularly manifest in an address delivered at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York, September 5, 1901.
On the afternoon of the next day, Friday, September 6, while receiving his fellow-citizens in the Temple of Music at the exposition, the President was twice shot by an anarchist, who carried his weapon under a handker- chief wound around his hand like a bandage. One of
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the shots struck the breastbone and glanced off; the other entered the abdomen. Mr. Mckinley died Satur- day morning, September 14, from gangrene poisoning in the stomach. Funeral services were held in Buffalo, and on Thursday, September 19 (appointed by proc- lamation as a day of mourning and prayer throughout the United States), the body lay in state in the national capitol at Washington, after which there was a public funeral. The remains were laid to rest in Canton, Ohio. President Mckinley was survived by his wife, who spent the remainder of her life in Canton. She died there, May 26, 1907.
The first administration of Governor Nash was devoted largely to the reform of the taxing system and the regulation of corporations. He outlined his policy in his inaugural address, in which he said:
"Under our present laws, corporations may be created for any purpose for which individuals may lawfully associate themselves, except for carrying on professional business. These artificial persons, except insurance companies, railroad companies, building and loan associations, and certain banking companies, are practically under no restraint by the State and make no reports to her officers. Large mining, manufactur- ing, commercial and other enterprises are carried on by and through them. Because they are created by the State, and possess certificates bearing the impress of her seal, people are led to believe that they are safer to do business with, and are more entitled to credit, than are private partnerships and individuals. In very many cases they are less worthy of confidence. They are authorized by the State to do business before
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one dollar of the capital stock has been paid. This is an unfortunate condition of affairs. The State, before she gives these corporations her approval and permits them to do business, ought to require that all their capital stock be paid in money and invested in the business they purpose to transact. She ought to be sure of this fact by reports made to some competent officer. We should go further, and require these com- panies to make annual reports, to be filed with and inspected by the officer indicated above." In his message of 1902 he emphasized these recommendations, remarking: "As matters now stand, the Secretary of State knows nothing about a corporation after it leaves his office with a charter from the State. He cannot even tell how many of the forty thousand or more corporations chartered by the State during the last fifty years are now dead, nor how many are still living. The State creates the thing, authorizes it to do business, sends it out in the cold, and knows nothing more about it forever. It is high time that a change should be made." We have quoted at length from Governor Nash because his suggestions afforded the basis for the very interesting enactments concerning corpora- tions in his next administration. His views on this subject were endorsed by the Republican State plat- Form of 1901, and thus became party policy.
Regarding taxation, the Governor said: "The total amount of money paid into the State treasury during the year ending on the 15th of November, 1901, was $8,036,428.59. Of this amount nearly two-thirds, or 55,407,778.22, was raised by levies upon real and personal property in Ohio. A little more than one-
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third, or $2,703,888.61, came from sources of revenue other than such levies. This fact was a great relief to the tangible property in the State, and for it credit should be given to constitutional laws enacted within the last twelve years. Such laws should be widened and extended, until all the money needed by the State is provided without a resort to real and personal prop- erty." Here we have indication of progress in the workings of a taxation idea to which allusion has been made in a previous chapter. The idea involved was closely associated with the new plans affecting corpora- tions, and had development accordingly.
Early in 1901 Governor Nash felt constrained to make vigorous use of his executive power. This grew out of the fact that Mayor Julius Fleischmann, of Cincinnati, issued a license for what was pretended and promised to be a competitive physical contest betweer two widely known professional prizefighters. The event was to occur in that city. The Governor was promptly notified by reputable citizens that, in their judgment, the projected affair would not be at all & mere emulative display of technical physical skill but a frank and brutal prizefight, prohibited by anc contrary to the statutes of Ohio. Governor Nash upon receiving the requisite information on the sub ject, arrived at the same opinion and informed the Cincinnati authorities that the prizefight would no be permitted. In the meantime he convened th emergency board, asked for and received a vote o the sum of $50,000, to be used, if necessary, to mobiliz the National Guard of the State for the purpose o preventing the fight. This courageous proceeding wa
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severely denounced by the typical "sporting" element of Cincinnati and the State generally, but by all others was received with great satisfaction and praise. There was no doubt that the Governor would exercise the power given him to the fullest extent, and the "battle" was abandoned. Sequential to the affair, it is notice- able that when a candidate for reelection a few months later, Hamilton county gave him the decisive majority of 5,686, although it had gone against him in 1899.
Governor Nash was renominated by the Republican State convention held at Columbus, June 25, 1901. The Democratic convention, which also met at Columbus, July 10, nominated James Kilbourne as its candidate for Governor. Mr. Kilbourne was a prominent and esteemed citizen of Columbus, a successful manufactur- er, and a descendant of one of the oldest and most note- worthy families of Central Ohio. The election resulted in the choice of Mr. Nash by a plurality of 67,567.
The legislature in 1902 was occupied chiefly in formulating and passing the new corporation and taxation measures suggested by the Governor. Sum- marized briefly, the following were the provisions of the laws enacted on those subjects:
Domestic corporations, organized for profit, were required to file annual reports and pay a fee of one- tenth of one per cent. upon the capital actually invested in them. Corporations organized in other states and doing business in Ohio were required to file like annual reports and pay a fee of one-tenth of one per cent. upon the capital employed in their operations in Ohio. A change was made in the excise law affecting the so- called public utility corporations, by which certain
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corporations previously exempt were brought under its provisions, and all such corporations were obliged to pay into the State treasury one per cent. of their gross receipts in Ohio, instead of only one-half of one per cent., as formerly. Foreign life and fire insur- ance companies, for the privilege of doing business in Ohio, were required to pay two and one-half per cent. of the gross receipts from the business thus transacted. More efficient methods were adopted for the collection of the Dow liquor tax. As the result of these various changes it was estimated that the sum of three million dollars in taxes previously paid on real and personal property was transferred as a charge upon the corpora- tions. The levy for State purposes was accordingly reduced from $2.89 to $1.35 per thousand dollars of valuation on general property.
A radical revision was made in the municipal code. All communities of five thousand population and over were declared to be cities, all under five thousand were classed as villages, and regulations were adopted for uniformity in municipal government. Constitutional amendments were submitted to abolish the double liability clause, which was adopted; to give the General Assembly greater powers in the matter of classifying subjects for taxation under the general laws of the State, which was defeated; and to confer a limited veto authority upon the Governor, which was also adopted. The Legislature gave its sanction to a design for an official State flag, which, though now only ten years in use, has enjoyed the general acceptance of the people and is to be regarded as a permanent institution.
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Although 1902 was an "off" year politically, the fall campaign was enlivened by spectacular demonstra- tions. Mayor Tom L. Johnson, of Cleveland, whose activities as an aggressive reformer had for some years attracted the public eye, made a general canvass of the State, with an immense circus tent and a red automobile. In his addresses he spoke with great vigor on the subjects of unequal taxation and the under- assessment of quasi-public corporations. He was fol- lowed over a large part of his route by Senator Hanna, who with equal emphasis maintained the wisdom and sufficiency of the Republican policies and measures. The Republican candidates were elected by pluralities generally exceeding ninety thousand.
The centenary of Ohio's entrance into the Union was commemorated by two impressive celebrations at Chillicothe, under the joint auspices of a committee of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and a State commission appointed by the Governor. The members of the State commission were General J. Warren Keifer, of Springfield; Rush R. Sloane, of Sandusky; General B. R. Cowen, of Cincinnati; Gen- eral James Barnett, of Cleveland; David S. Gray, of Columbus; General Charles M. Anderson, of Greenville, and Robert W.Manly, of Chillicothe. As the State made an appropriation of only ten thousand dollars to defray necessary expenses, there was no attemptat a spectacular or industrial display, and the exercises were restricted to appropriate ceremonies, formal addresses, and liter- ary papers on various phases of Ohio's history and development. In addition to the regularly appointed
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proceedings at Chillicothe, the centenary was generally observed by public exercises in the schools throughout the State.
The first of the Chillicothe celebrations was held November 29, 1902, in memory of the adoption, on the same date in 1802, of the original Constitution of Ohio. A tablet marking the location of the first State- house (the present Ross county courthouse) was un- veiled. The presentation address was made by Robert W. Manly, of Chillicothe, a great-grandson of Edward Tiffin, the first Governor of Ohio, and the tablet was accepted by the city through its Mayor, W. D. Yaple. Formal addresses were delivered by Daniel J. Ryan, of Columbus, on "The First Constitution," and by William T. McClintick, of Chillicothe, on "The Men of the First Constitutional Convention."
Ohio's organization as a State of the Union was effected March 1, 1803, and the centennial celebration of the event occurred at Chillicothe May 20 and 21, 1903, postponement to those dates being made in order that the occasion might have the advantage of seasonable weather. Addresses were delivered during the two days by Archibald Mayo, Horatio C. Clay- pool, Mayor W. D. Yaple, General J. Warren Keifer, Governor Nash, Judson Harmon, Martin R. Andrews, Rush R. Sloane, Emilius O. Randall, General Thomas McArthur Anderson, Murat Halstead, David Meade Massie, former Governor James E. Campbell, Senator Joseph B. Foraker, General Charles H. Grosvenor, Judge Moses M. Granger, Senator Marcus A. Hanna, Lewis D. Bonebrake, President William O. Thompson, of the Ohio State University, Roeliff Brinkerhoff,
MYRON T. HERRICK
Born in Huntington, Lorain county, Ohio, October 9, 1854; studied at Oberlin College and Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity, and was admitted to the bar, 1878; practiced his profession in Cleveland until 1886, subsequently becoming prominently concerned in financial affairs; Governor, 1904-06; appointed Ambassador to France, 1912.
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proceedings at Chillicothe HOLAAHH T HOGYMenary was general .
Novemosvo ); 21 21sidasnin am osnisono tiltnegimotion, the same da Eler OnSiHot jobszasdmA botgigqqs: 00-AOQI original Constitution of Ohio. A tablet marking the location of the first Stan house (the present Ross county courthouse) was an veiled. The presentation address was made by Robert W. Manly, of Chillicothe, a great-grandson of Edward Tiffin, the first Governor of Ohio, and the tablet was accepted by the city through its Mayor, W. D. Yap Formal addresses were delivered by Daniel J. Ryan, of Columbus, on "The First Constitution, " and William T. McClintick, of Chillicothe, on "The Me of the First Constitutional Convention."
Ohio's organization as a State of the Union wM effected March 1, 1803, and the centennial celebratic of the event occurred at Chillicothe May 20 and = 1903, postponement to those. dates being made order that the occasion might have the advantage seasonable weather. Addresses were delivered duru the two days by Archibald Mayo, Horatio C. Cla pool, Mayor W. D. Yaple, General J. Warren Keile Governor Nash, Judson Harmon, Martin R. Andre Rush R. Sloane, Emilius O. Randall, General Thom McArthur Anderson, Murat Halstead, David Mexd Massie, former Governor James E. Campbell, Senatu Joseph B. Foraker, General Charles H. Grosvenor. Judge Moses M. Granger, Senator Marcus A. Hapas, Lewis D. Bonebrake, President William O. Thompson of the Ohio State University, Roeliff Brinkerhonl.
Eng by C.B. Hall N.Y.
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Thomas Ewing, Jr., of New York, General B. R. Cowen, Mrs. James R. Hopley, of Bucyrus, S. S. Knabenshue, Professor W. H. Venable, Bishop C. C. McCabe, former Governor Charles Foster, Bishop B. W. Arnett, and Austin Matlack Courtenay. All of these addresses were formal and carefully prepared historical contributions relating to Ohio. The Ohio State Archeological and Historical Society has pre- served the proceedings and addresses in a volume, "Ohio Centennial Anniversary Celebration," published at Columbus in 1903.
The Republican State convention of 1903 was held in Columbus on the 4th of June. Colonel Myron T. Herrick, of Cleveland, was nominated for Governor by acclamation. At the Democratic convention, in Colum- bus, August 26, Tom L. Johnson received the nomina- tion. The election involved not only the choice of State officers, but of a legislature which would be charged with the selection of a successor to Mr. Hanna in the United States Senate. The Republican plat- form pledged support to Mr. Hanna for that office, and on the Democratic side the avowed candidate was John H. Clarke. Both nominees for governor, as well as both aspirants for the senatorship, were from Cleveland. With Mr. Johnson as the Democratic leader, the campaign was waged largely on the special issues for which he stood. These included the return of all property for taxation at its full value in money, a uniform railway fare of two cents a mile, various con- cessions to labor, and the nomination of candidates for United States Senator by State conventions. Mr. Herrick was elected by a plurality of 113,812. The
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legislative returns showed the choice of twenty-nine Republicans and four Democrats to the Senate and eighty-eight Republicans and twenty-two Democrats to the House.
Governor Herrick was born October 9, 1854, in a log cabin on the farm cleared by his grandfather in Lorain county, Ohio. Like his predecessor he was country bred, enjoyed no early advantages but gradually created opportunities for himself, studied for a time at Oberlin, and became a lawyer. Embarking in practice in Cleveland, he was successful in his profession, but later applied himself more especially to financial affairs and important enterprises. In those connections he rose to a respected and prominent position in the com- munity, which he has always since maintained. A man of earnest character, high ideals, and attractive and forcible personality, his advancement to leadership in the Republican party came as the result of his recognized qualifications and not of struggle or seeking. In this respect, as in the particulars of a unanimous convention nomination and an election by the largest plurality ever given a candidate for Governor in Ohio, he came into office with a conjuncture of personally fortunate circumstances most unique.
Inaugurated as the fortieth Governor of Ohio on the IIth of January, 1904, he delivered an address which surveyed the State affairs and interests with ability and no lack of becoming expression, but gave no indica- tion of new departures or projects of special conse- quence. Nor can it be said that at the ensuing session there was manifest any disposition, either on the part of the Governor or the controlling party as such, to
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originate or urge measures of an innovating nature. It was considered that the previous administration had disposed of the more emergent subjects of legisla- tion, and the inclinations of the new Governor and the responsible leaders of the general assembly were dis- tinctly to pursue ordinary business in an ordinary way. But there arose questions and situations of peculiar delicacy, seriousness, and embarrassment. The most troublesome measure of the session was the Brannock local option bill, to afford residence districts in cities the opportunity to rid themselves of saloons. It was amended and re-amended, passed in the house, passed in a different form in the Senate, and finally, the two bodies being in deadlock, reduced to still another shape by the suggestions of the Governor and so accepted and enacted. The act, as might have been expected, proved unsatisfactory to both the saloon and the anti- saloon elements, and both harbored resentment against Governor Herrick accordingly.
Another bill which excited acrimonious controversy and was thought to have seriously affected the political fortunes of the Governor, was that introduced by Representative Chisholm, ostensibly to "further en- courage and promote the breeding and developing of light harness horses," but really to legalize race-track gambling. Favorable action was taken by both the House and Senate, and the bill came to the Governor. At the election of 1903 the constitutional amendment conferring the veto power upon the executive had been adopted, and, exercising the discretion thus given him, he vetoed it as prejudicial to the moral interests of the people and the dignity and honor of the State.
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It is highly improbable that the opposition and ani- mosity provoked among certain classes by Governor Herrick's course respecting the Brannock and Chisholm measures would, of themselves, have accomplished his defeat for reelection. We have seen that Governor Nash's antagonism of the sporting fraternity in the Cincinnati prizefight matter operated rather to his political advantage than otherwise. On the other hand, the temperance support alienated from Governor Herrick by his compromise attitude with reference to
the Brannock bill could not, in view of his conscientious spirit and his firmness in demanding legislation after the House and Senate had failed to agree, have been the cause of sufficient party defection to result in his defeat. It took more than these two causes to accomplish the withdrawal from him of 75,000 votes. The determining factor in the Governor's sensational defeat of 1905 must be sought in another quarter.
He was renominated unanimously by the Republican State convention, which met in Columbus on the 25th of May, 1905. William Howard Taft, at that time Secretary of War, presided over the convention. Opposed to Mr. Herrick in the campaign was John M. Pattison, of Milford, Clermont county, nomi- nated by the Democratic convention. Mr. Pattison was generally acceptable to the temperance element, and his record, associations, and personality appealed favorably to the people. An incident of the campaign which excited great interest was a speech delivered by Secretary Taft at Akron, sharply criticising the Repub- lican local organization in Cincinnati and announcing his intention not to vote the Hamilton county
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"machine" ticket. Mr. Taft's remarks applied direct- ly and emphatically to the leading figure in Cincinnati professional politics, whose long and successful career as a "boss" was familiar to all the citizens of the State. These strictures were construed by many as practically admitting that the party at large was more or less under a baneful domination. There is no question that the Akron speech decided the contest in Mr. Pattison's favor, although Mr. Taft certainly could not have intended it to have that effect. Governor Herrick was defeated by a plurality of 42,657, the remainder of the Republican State candidates being elected by pluralities that ranged from 29,000 to 46,000.
John M. Pattison was born in Clermont county, Ohio, June 13, 1847, enlisted in the Union army at the age of sixteen, was graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan University in 1869, and three years later was admitted to the bar. After practicing his profession some years he transferred his energies to the insurance business, in which he was successfully engaged in Cincinnati until his death. He served as member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1873), the State Senate (1890), and the Fifty-Second Congress. In his inau- gural as Governor, January 8, 1906, he spoke with much positiveness about the desirability of restoring the Brannock residential local option law to its original status, favored a county option system, recommended the maintenance and enforcement of Sunday laws, and advised progressive legislation concerning the regula- tion of banks, the more strict application of the tax laws to public service corporations, home rule in cities,
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