USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Four > Part 31
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
and other matters. The legislature in both branches was almost evenly balanced between the Republicans and Democrats, and the Governor expressly said that he de- sired no action for partisan purposes. Governor Patti- son died June 18, 1906, a little more than five months after his inauguration. The office devolved upon the Lieutenant-Governor, Andrew L. Harris, a Republican.
Governor Harris (born in Butler county, Ohio, November 17, 1835) served throughout the Civil War, receiving in 1865 the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers for distinguished and gallant conduct, was afterward admitted to the bar, held the office of pro- bate judge of Preble county, was a member of both the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives, was Lieutenant-Governor of the State from 1892 to 1896, and in 1905 was again elected to that office.
A constitutional amendment adopted in 1905 pro- vided that all subsequent elections for State and county officers should be held in the even-numbered years, and that the general assembly should have power to extend existing terms of office accordingly. It thus happened that the term embracing the administrations of Governors Pattison and Harris ran for three years- from January, 1906, to January, 1909. At the 1906 session the Aiken Law, raising the liquor tax from $350 to $1,000, was enacted. This was signed by Governor Pattison, and a suit was brought to overthrow it on the ground that he was not in a condition of health at the time to know its contents. But the testimony of members of his family contradicted the allegation, and the Supreme Court (Wrede vs. Richardson, Auditor, 77 Ohio St. Rep., p. 182) sustained the act.
459
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
The general assembly, at its next regular session in 1908, had a substantial Republican majority in both branches. Governor Harris, in his message, recommended a county local option law, and a measure (the Rose Law) satisfactory to the anti-saloon interests was passed and signed. It contained the noteworthy provisions that if a county having dry towns (under previous local option laws) voted wet, the dry towns should remain dry; whereas if a county having wet towns voted dry all towns should become dry. The Rose Law took effect September 1, 1908, and before the end of the year fifty-seven counties voted dry, making sixty-two of the eighty-eight counties dry. Other acts of 1908 were laws relating to pure food and the State board of health; an act establishing the bureau of vital statistics; an act forbidding corporations to con- tribute or use money for political purposes, and an act organizing the State banking department.
In February of this year (1908) the aggressions of "night riders" in Clermont county made it necessary to call out troops for the protection of tobacco growers, and in May troops were again employed to stop outrages by "night riders" from Kentucky in the same district. March 4 occurred the fearful calamity at Collinwood, a suburb of Cleveland, one hundred and seventy-two children and two heroic women teachers losing their lives in the burning of the Lake View school.
In 1908, for the first time in Ohio, the presidential and gubernatorial elections occurred coincidently. William Howard Taft, of Cincinnati, was the success- ful candidate of the Republican party for President, and carried the State by a plurality of 69,591 over
460
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
William Jennings Bryan. President Taft is the seventh Ohioan to occupy the highest office of the nation, the list being William Henry Harrison, Grant (born in Ohio), Hayes, Garfield, Benjamin Harrison (born in Ohio), Mckinley, and Taft.
The President was born in Cincinnati, September 15, 1857, his father being Alphonso Taft, a conspicuous ; lawyer of that city, Secretary of War under President Grant and Attorney-General under President Hayes. William H. Taft was graduated from Yale in 1878, was admitted to the bar, held local, federal, and judicial offices, was the first civil governor of the Philippine Islands (1901-4), was Secretary of War from February, 1904, to July, 1908, and was nominated and elected to the presidency. His administration as President belongs to the sphere of National history, with which, as generally with national questions and events, their merits, their vicissitudes, and their curiosities, this work is not concerned.
The nominees of the two leading parties for Governor at the 1908 election were Andrew L. Harris, Republi- can, and Judson Harmon, Democrat. Governor Harris had incurred the enmity of the saloon element by his activities in behalf of county option. This element, always a very positive force when it exerts itself, com- bined to defeat him. For some reasons which do not clearly appear, he was less fortunate than his prede- cessor in counteractive temperance support. The com- manding personality of his opponent, one of the most able and distinguished men of the State, subtracted the remaining votes necessary to turn the scale. Mr.
461
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Harmon was elected by 19,372 plurality, though all but one of his associates on the Democratic ticket were beaten.
Judson Harmon was born at Newton, Hamilton county, Ohio, February 3, 1846, the son of a Baptist minister. He worked his way through college, was admitted to the bar, and during a portion of his early career was judge of the common pleas court of Hamil- ton county and judge of the superior court of Cincin- nati. Resigning the latter position in 1887, he became associated in law practice with former Governor George Hoadly. From June, 1895, to March, 1897, he was Attorney-General of the United States in the Cabinet of President Cleveland, achieving a reputation for eminent ability and conscientious discharge of official responsibility and duty. After retiring from the Cabinet he resumed his law business in Cincinnati, which he prosecuted without interruption until called to the governorship. He was inaugurated January 11, 1909.
A special session of the Legislature was held in 1909 by call of the retiring Governor Harris, but no enact- ments of any note resulted. The county elections on the saloon question continued, with varying results. A sensational incident was the carrying of Clark county by the "drys," which involved the extinguishment of the liquor traffic in Springfield, although the city had given a wet majority of 1,846. At the Ross county election there were scenes of violence in Chillicothe, necessitating the interference of the militia. The county voted "wet," and the same conclusion was reached in Mahoning county, mainly by the vote of the city of Youngstown.
462
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Various wholesome measures were passed by the legislature in 1910, but these fell much short of satis- fying the desires of Governor Harmon, who conse- quently occupied a position of peculiar strength in appealing for a reëlection and with it a legislative body that would cooperate in his policies. He was renom- inated by acclamation at the Democratic convention, which met in Dayton on June 22, and on the same occasion was named as the choice of his party in Ohio for the presidency in 1912. Warren G. Harding, of Marion, was selected as the Republican candidate. After an animated campaign, in which former President Roosevelt appeared on the scene and strongly antag- onized Governor Harmon, the whole Democratic ticket was elected by large majorities, and a legislature Democratic in both branches was returned. The Governor's plurality was 100,377, vastly exceeding that of any of his associates. It was preeminently a personal triumph, and as such is unapproached in Ohio history. The somewhat larger pluralities of Governor Brough in 1863 and Governor Herrick in 1903 were much more of party than of personal sig- nificance.
Serious disturbances, incidental to the liquor ques- tion, occurred in the city of Newark on July 8, 1910. Officers of the law, acting on request of the Anti-Saloon League and the Licking county Law and Order League, in the exercise of their undoubted right to investigate violations of the statute forbidding liquor sales, raided premises where the traffic was conducted. During the excitement which followed a saloon-keeper named Howard was shot (it was claimed in self-defense) by
JUDSON HARMON
Born in Newton, Hamilton county, Ohio, February 3, 1846; graduated from Denison University, 1866, and the Cincinnati Law School, 1869; Judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas of Hamilton county, 1876-78, and of the Supe- rior Court of Cincinnati, 1878-88; Attorney-General of the United States, June 8, 1895, to March 5, 1897; Gov- ernor, 1909-13.
462
THE RISE AND PROGRES
Various wholesome measures were passed by ti ИОМЯАН, ИОгаUL legislature in 1916, but these tell much short of sat fying&+ VISNIOSH .ofdo - trupp notlimsH How mi mod cons
.
inated by acclamation at the Demelialic conventio which met in Dayton on June 22, and on the sar occasion was named as the choice of his party in Oh for the presidency in 1912. Warren G. Harding, Marion, was selected as the Republican candidat After an animated campaign, in which former Preside Roosevelt appeared on the scene and strongly anta onized Governor Harmon, the whole Democra ticket was elected by large majorities, and a legislatu Democratic in both branches was returned. T Governor's plurality was 100,377, vastly. exceedi that of any of his associates. It was preeminent a personal triumph, and as such is unapproached Ohio history. The somewhat larger pluralities Governor Brough in 1863 And Governor Herrick 1903 were much more of party than of personal nificance.
Serious disturbances, incidental to the liquor qu tion, occurred in the city of Newark on July 8, 1gr Officers of the law, acting on request of the Anti-Sal League and the Licking county Law and Order Lea in the exercise of their undoubted right to investig violations of the statute forbidding liquor sales, rai premises where the traffic was conducted. During excitement which followed a saloon-keeper na Howard was shot (it was claimed in self-defense)
Engraved Sy VRE
Juran Harmon
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Carl Etherington, one of the raiding party. Ethering- ton was taken to the county jail, which was presently attacked and broken into by a mob of five hundred men, and the prisoner was seized, taken to the court- house square, and hanged. The officials of the Anti- Saloon League, as well as many residents of Newark, accused the mayor, sheriff, and other responsible persons of cowardice and neglect of duty in not pre- venting the lynching. Governor Harmon, after inves- tigation, suspended the mayor. Both the mayor and sheriff resigned. After the lynching the grand jury made a searching inquiry, and more than twenty indict- ments were returned for first degree murder and over twenty for assault and battery, rioting, and lesser offenses .. Governor Harmon requested the Attorney- General to take charge of the investigation and prosecution of these cases. This resulted in numerous convictions, and many offenders were punished. The first of the lynchers was tried for murder. He was con- victed of manslaughter and sentenced to twenty years in the penitentiary. Others were found guilty of lesser offenses and punished according to law.
The thirteenth census of the United States, taken in 1910, gave Ohio 4,727,12I inhabitants, the State con- tinuing to rank fourth in the Union. A most interest- ing feature of the movement of population in Ohio is that of the relative number of her people living in urban and rural territory. The following classified table, comparing urban and rural populations, indi- cates that the decided majority of Ohio's inhabitants live within the cities:
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Class of Places
Number of Places
Population
Urban Territory. .
I39
2,665,143
Cities and villages of
500,000 inhabitants or more.
I
560,663
100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants.
4
830,176
50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants.
3
198,350
25,000 to 50,000 inhabitants.
6
195,02I
10,000 to 25,000 inhabitants
23
360,984
5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants.
45
321,860
2,500 to 5,000 inhabitants.
57
198,089
Rural Territory.
2,101,978
Villages of less than 2,500 inhabitants. .
644
452,030
Other rural territory.
1,649,948
Governor Harmon was inaugurated for his second term on January 9, 1911. Great interest centered in the legislative session because of the important meas- ures which the Governor favored. In January the income tax amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified, the previous Legislature having declined to give it approval. The laws adopted in 1911 include a number of far-reaching character. A maximum one per cent. tax rate was fixed, with the proviso for increase to one and one-half per cent. in any tax district by a majority vote of the people. The affairs of the seventeen State institutions were taken from the control of separate boards of trustees and placed under the management of a State Board of Administration. A State Public Service Com- mission was created, with extensive powers for con- trolling enterprises of public utility, regulating rates, and affording satisfaction to citizens in cases of griev- ance. A State insurance fund was instituted, from which money will be paid employes injured and depend-
465
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
ents of employes killed at their work. The "Oregon plan" for direct nomination of United States senators was established. The referendum was granted to municipalities upon petition of fifteen per cent. of the voters, and the initiative upon petition of thirty per cent.
In response to considerable agitation on the subject, the general assembly, by an act passed March 9, 1909, submitted the question of holding a Constitutional Convention to the electors of the State at the regular election on November 8, 1910. Out of a total vote of 932,262 there were cast in favor of holding a constitu- tional convention 693,263 and against such a conven- tion 67,718. As a sequence to this election, the general assembly, by an act passed March 31, 19II, provided for the election of delegates to the convention in the following November.
The fourth constitutional convention convened in the hall of the House of Representatives in the city of Columbus, January 9, 1912. Herbert S. Bigelow, of Cincinnati, was elected president, and Charles B. Galbreath, of Columbus, secretary. The session lasted for one hundred and fifty-one days, of which eighty- two were spent in actual deliberation. On Friday, June 7, 1912, the convention adjourned for a recess, to meet August 26 following. There were one hundred and nineteen delegates in the body.
At the conclusion of its labors the convention determined not to submit an entirely new Constitu- tion, but such changes as it deemed proper and neces- sary in the form of forty-one different propositions looking to the amendment of the Constitution, and an
466
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
additional proposition on the question of licensing the traffic in intoxicating liquors. The convention was not organized or conducted on partisan lines, but rather divided on the question of so-called conservatism or progressiveness. The progressive element preponder- ated; so that the amendments offered are new in their nature and far-reaching in their effect. At the present writing they are being considered by the press and people of the State. According to the provisions of the method of submission, each individual amendment will be adopted or rejected by a majority of the votes cast for or against that one amendment at a special election to be held September 3, 1912.
As our narrative is concluded Ohio again occupies a conspicuous place in national affairs. President Taft was nominated for a second term by the Republican convention at Chicago, June 22, after a most exciting and bitter contest with his predecessor, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. The aspirations of Governor Harmon for the Democratic nomination were not real- ized. In the pre-convention campaigns of both parties Ohio figured with much prominence. It was in Colum- bus, before the constitutional convention, that Colonel Roosevelt delivered the formal speech which imme- diately preceded the announcement of his candidacy; and both he and President Taft personally participated in the struggle for district delegates that was decided at the Republican State primaries on the 21st of May. The contest on the Democratic side did not lack for either animation or division of sentiment, the result being to the advantage of Governor Harmon, who was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for presi-
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
dent and for whom a majority of the Ohio delegates voted steadfastly throughout the protracted balloting at the national convention which assembled on the 25th of June in Baltimore.
CHAPTER XVII. OHIO'S PART IN NATIONAL EXPOSITIONS
E XPOSITIONS are the timekeepers of prog- ress. They record the world's advance- ment. They stimulate the energy, enterprise and intellect of the people, and quicken human genius. They go into the home. They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. They open mighty storehouses of information to the student. Every exposition, great or small, has helped to some forward step. Comparison of ideas is always educa- tional, and as such instructs the brain and hand of man."
These words are from the oft quoted last speech of President Mckinley at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, September 5, 1901. It would not be pos- sible in an equal space to more accurately or compre- hensively define the theory or express the advantages of great expositions. Coming from time to time, these great formal displays of the world's products, activities and achievements afford vantage points of survey and comparison, and the more enterprising and intelligent people have been keen participants and competitors in them.
The United States has held three international expositions of the first order: At Philadelphia in 1876, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of our National independence; at Chicago in 1893, commemo- rating the fourth centenary of discovery of America by Columbus; and at St. Louis in 1904, marking the hundredth anniversary of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Of lesser rank in the respect of foreign cooperation, but yet of a thoroughly representative character and scope nationally, are to be noted the
472
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo in 1901, and the Jamestown Ter-Centennial in 1907. Still another claims mention on the score of general interest, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition at Seattle in 1909. And the list might be enlarged to include special and unique celebrations in several cities which have at- tracted much more than single State recognition.
But it is the purpose of this chapter only to treat of the five expositions of distinctive and national design and participation, in which the State of Ohio bore an active and official part.
The first measure of Congress authorizing the exposi- tion in Philadelphia in 1876 was passed in the spring of of 1871. It provided for a Centennial Commission, consisting of one delegate and one alternate from each State and Territory. Under this act Alfred T. Goshorn, of Cincinnati, was appointed Commissioner for Ohio and Wilson W. Griffith, of Toledo, alternate. To Mr. Goshorn was awarded the distinguished honor of the Director Generalship of the Exposition, and upon him devolved the final responsibility for its organization and success. The Government's contribution to the financial resources of the Philadelphia Centennial was only a million and a half dollars, which, moreover, was not voted until February, 1876, and was conditioned on repayment. The funds secured from other sources (appropriation by the State of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, stock subscriptions and dona- tions) amounted to five and a half million dollars, making all together, including the Government appro- priation, a total of seven million dollars. Altogether,
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT
Born in Cincinnati, September 15, 1857; graduated from Yale, 1878, and from the Cincinnati Law School, 1880; held local, federal and judicial offices, 1881-1900; President of the United States Philippine Commission, March, 1900, to July, 1901; first Civil Governor of the Philippine Islands, July, 1901, to February, 1904; declined appoint- ment as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1903; Secretary of War, February, 1904, to June, 1908, meantime acting in several capacities on behalf of the administration in Cuba and Porto Rico; twenty- seventh President of the United States, elected 1908 and inaugurated March 4, 1909.
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
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¿positions distingue boffo ushational design and participation, in which the State of Ohio bore an active and official part.
The first measure of Congress authorizing the exposi tion in Philadelphia in 1876 was passed in the spring of of 1871. It provided for a Centennial Commission consisting of one delegate and one alternate from each State and Territory. Under this act Alfred T. Goshorn, of Cincinnati, was appointed Commissioner for Ohio and Wilson W. Griffith, of Toledo, alternate. To Mr. Goshorn was awarded the distinguished honor of the Director Generalship of the Exposition, and upon him devolved the final responsibility for its organization and success. The Government's contribution to the financial resources of the Philadelphia Centennial wa only a million and a half dollars, which, moreover, wa not voted until February, 1876, and was conditioned on repayment. The funds secured from other sources (appropriation by the State of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, stock subscriptions and dona tions) amounted to five and a half million dollars, making all together, including the Government appro- priation, a total of seven million dollars. Altogether
473
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
and notably in the items of number of visitors and aggregate cash receipts, the exposition surpassed any other held in the world up to that time.
The special interests of Ohio at the Centennial were in care of the State Board of Managers, as follows: Rufus P. Ranney, of Cleveland; Governor Ruther- ford B. Hayes, who resigned from the Board in July, 1876; Edward F. Noyes, of Cincinnati; George W. McCook, of Steubenville; Barnabas Burnes, of Mans- field; and Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. These names, with the exception of that of Mr. Hayes, were signed to the report made to the General Assembly and published in 1877. For the use of the managers in representing Ohio at the exposition, the legislature made appropriations at various times aggregating $46,130. The headquarters for Ohio people, popu- larly known as the "Ohio Building," was constructed on the grounds of stones from thirty quarries in the State. This structure, we are told, was "conceded to be the handsomest and the best adapted for its purposes of all the State buildings," and was the only State building accepted by the Philadelphia Park Commission for preservation. The number of Ohio visitors was estimated at from 250,000 to 300,000, and on Ohio Day (October 26th) the attendance at the exposition was greater than on any other State day except that of Pennsylvania. An interesting incident of Ohio's par- ticipation in the Centennial was the visit of the Cin- cinnati Light Guards, who marched all the way from Cincinnati to Philadelphia.
The Ohio exhibits were noteworthy in several departments. There were extensive and instructive
6
474
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
displays of minerals (coal, ores, iron, stone, etc.), agri- cultural products, wools, farm and other machinery, pottery and art objects. An educational exhibit, involving a cost of some $8,000, attracted great interest and praise.
A unique and highly educational feature of the con- tributions from Ohio was the archaeological exhibit. It was collected and arranged by Prof. M. C. Read and Col. Charles Whittlesey, acting as a committee of the newly organized State Archæological Society. Owing to the lack of organized and systematic archaeological exploration and study on the part of the State, there existed at that time no satisfactory public collection of prehistoric objects, and it was necessary for the committee to obtain loans from various private cabinets throughout the State. Under the circumstances, the exhibit was prepared with great discrimination and thoroughness, and it was not only one of the most original and instructive features of the exposition, but it marks the first step forward taken by the State of Ohio to preserve and collect our archaeological remains. The vast progress made since that period will appear when we make comparisons with more recent exhibits in this field of prehistoric culture.
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