USA > Ohio > Ohio legislative history, 1913-1917 > Part 26
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Hon. William Duane Fulton, Secretary of State, was nominated by the Democratic party at the popular primary in 1916 and he was elected at the polls in November of that year, the vote being for Mr. Fulton 564,509 ; Charles A. Hildebrant, Republican, 543,873 ; M. J. Beery, Socialist, 38,136; Sylvan E. Fox, Prohibitionist, 6,837, Mr. Fulton's plurality being 20,636.
Hon. William D. Fulton is a native of Licking County. Ohio, where he was educated and where he has lived all his life. A more complete biography of Mr. Fulton may be found on page 583, Vol. I of this work.
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OHIO LEGISLATIVE HISTORY.
HON. THOMAS M. GREGORY, Assistant Secretary of State
The duties attached to the posi- tion of assistant secretary of state require good legal ability as well as a thorough knowledge of the state election laws, which in recent years have become somewhat complicated.
The present occupant of the place, Hon. Thomas M. Gregory, is thoroughly fitted by education and political experience, so his appoint- ment by the Secretary of State, Mr. Fulton, was a wise selection.
Hon. Thomas M. Gregory was born in Wayne Township, Clermont County, Ohio, December 31, 1881. His father, Edward Gregory, was born on a farm in Hamilton County. The son, Thomas, attended the pub- lic schools of Cincinnati, the Techni- cal School of Cincinnati and Cincinnati University, whence he gradu- ated in 1908. He attended Cincinnati Law School and was admitted to the Bar at Columbus in 190). Entered practice of his profession at Cincinnati and was associated with Simeon M. Johnson. Mr. Gregory has ever been active in Democratic politics and he was in 1912 chosen by his party State Senator for the First Ohio District, serving in the eightieth general assembly. In his legislative capacity Mr. Gregory served as chairman of the senate committee on municipal affairs, also chairman of the Committee on Constitution Initiative and Referendum and his service to the people was of the highest order.
On September 8th, 1917, Mr. Gregory was joined in wedlock with Miss Olivia H. Moore of Cincinnati.
OHIO ยท BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS
The first attempt to record births and deaths in Ohio was made in accordance with an act of the legislature in 1856. This act required all physicians, surgeons, and 'midwives to keep a register of all births and deaths at which they were in attendance. Copies of these registers were to be filed annually with the County Clerk on or before March 15th, for the year ending on March Ist. This copy was given to the various as- sessors, who took a census of births and deaths at the same time that they made the annual assessment of property. Copies of the assessors' rec- ords were to be filed with the Secretary of State for tabulation and re- port.
This act was amended by the legislature in 1867 by placing the County records in the Office of the Probate Judge, and by requiring physicians and professional midwives to file copies of their registers, quarterly instead of annually. The State records were also shifted from the Secretary of State to the Commissioner of Statistics.
Another revision was made in 1869 by which the assessors were made sole registrars of births and deaths, except in counties having a city of 150,000 people. In these counties, physicians and professional midwives were still required to keep a register. In 1893, a law was enacted which permitted Probate Judges to register births and deaths which had previously been omitted. In 1902, these various acts were repealed, and the registration of births and deaths was vested entirely in the State Board of Health. It would appear from the records that none of these acts were efficiently enforced, and at times were almost dead letters in some counties.
The present Bureau of Vital Statistics was created by an act passed in 1908, and amended in 1913 and 1915. The Bureau is a Department of the Office of the Secretary of State, and is in charge of a State Registrar who must be a physician. By this law, every township, in- corporated village, and city becomes a Local Primary Registration Dis- trict. These Primary Districts are conveniently grouped into Registra- tion Districts, which are in charge of Local Registrars. In townships, the township clerk, and in villages, the village clerk becomes the Local Registrar. In cities, the Local Board of Health selects some competent person to act as Local Registrar. Physicians and midwives are required to file certificates of all births with these Local Registrars within ten
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days. Undertakers must file a complete death certificate with the Local Registrar, and secure from him a burial permit before interring a body. Local Registrars are required to take copies of all certificates filed with them, and to forward the originals to the State Bureau.
The Bureau was organized by Dr. F. L. Watkins and the first records were filed Dec. 20, 1908. From the first, the records were more complete than they had been under any of the previous acts. In the fall of 1909 a test was conducted by the Federal Bureau of the Census to determine if our Death registration was complete enough to be ad- mitted to the Federal Registration Area. The test was successful, and thus almost from the beginning our death records have been accepted by the Federal authorities. Dr. Watkins was succeeded in August, 19II, by Dr. A. C. Holland, who was in turn followed by Dr. M. W. Bland in April, 1915.
The present incumbent, Dr. J. E. Monger, assumed the duties of Registrar March 8, 1917. Dr. Monger began at once a campaign to place Ohio among the Birth Registration States. After a season of vigorous inspection, resulting in several prosecutions for violations of the statute, he felt that Ohio's birth registration was complete enough to meet the 90% test demanded by the Bureau of the Census. This test was held during the months of October and November, 1917, by the Federal inspectors, with the result that Ohio was at once admitted into the Birth Registration Area. The test showed that 93.4% of the births occurring in the state are being properly registered. This places Ohio among the foremost states in Vital Statistics, and it is now the aim of those in authority to secure for her the most accurate and com- plete records of births and deaths in the Union.
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STATE REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS
John Emerson Monger was born at Connersville, Indiana, October 19th, 1877. His father Francis Marion Monger is also a native of Indiana and he moved to Greenville, O., when the son John E. was 12 years old.
The son John was educated in the public schools and High School at Greenville, O. He graduated from Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati in 1902. He has practiced his profes- sion at Gettysburg and Greenville, Ohio, until appointed Registrar of Vital Statistics by Secretary of State Fulton in February, 1917.
Dr. Monger was a private soldier in Co. C. 3d Ohio Vol. Infantry in the Spanish-American war.
He was married to Miss Nelle Hough of Greenville, O., in 1908 and they have two sons and a daughter.
Dr. Monger served two terms as coroner of Darke County and he has been a member of the Democratic State Central Committee since June, 1917.
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REGISTRAR OF AUTOMOBILES
A most efficient and popular state official is the subject of this sketch. Wilson A. McCurdy was born in Bedford Township, Coshoc- ton County, Ohio, January 25th, 1878. His father John McCurdy was born in the same township in 1835 and died in 1900. The family settled in Coshocton County in the year 1817.
Wilson McCurdy received his education in the district school and at West Bedford Academy, graduating therefrom in 1890. He attended Wooster University one year also Ann Arbor University, Michigan, one year. He taught school 12 years in Coshocton County and High School at Warsaw, O.
In the year 1911 Mr. McCurdy was appointed by Superintendent Frank W. Miller a school inspector which position he filled until the expiration of Mr. Miller's term of office. In January, 1917, the Secretary of State Mr. Fulton tendered the appointment of Registrar of Automobiles to Mr. McCurdy and he accepted. Mr. McCurdy has ever been an active Democrat in politics.
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HON. JOSEPH MCGHEE, Attorney General.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The department of the Attorney General has in the last decade become more and more a department of importance in the state gov- ernment, and each year the work of the Attorney General's office is becoming more voluminous. This is primarily due to the fact that the General Assembly casts upon the office of the Attorney General addi- tional duties when it passes additional legislation.
When the Workmen's Compensation Law was passed it was made the duty of the Attorney General not only to advise the Liability Board of Awards (now the Industrial Commission) as to its power and duties, but it was likewise made his duty to see to the collection of premiums due from employers and also to enforce awards made. This has en- tailed upon the office of the Attorney General a vast amount of work, especially in the enforcement of the payment of awards, and also to take care of cases brought against the Industrial Commission on appeal from awards made by the Industrial Commission, and has made neces- sary the assignment of one of the office force exclusively to that de- partment. The effect of making it the duty of the Attorney General to look after the administration of the Workmen's Compensation Law in this state is apparent from the vast number of cases which must be handled by him throughout the year.
Furthermore, by law passed by the legislature in the year 1915, the Attorney General's Department was made the collection department for practically all claims which the state of Ohio has against various persons, firms and corporations. This work is in addition to the work that had already been entailed upon this department for the collection of delinquent corporation taxes under the so-called Willis Law.
The work of the department during the present administration has been exceptionally heavy also by reason of being the legal adviser of state departments, boards and institutions, as well as all the prosecuting attorneys of the various counties.
Due to the fact that the United States has entered into the "World War" and also due to the fact that the state of Ohio has endeavored in every way to lend aid to the federal government in its administration of affairs in the conduct of the war, the Attorney General's Depart- ment has been kept exceptionally busy in solving legal propositions per- taining to the war situation and giving advice and serving upon various
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boards and committees in relation thereto. It has been a position of extreme importance during the present crisis for the reason that the laws of Ohio were based upon peace conditions and not upon condi- tions of war.
By reason of the vast amount of work which has been before the department there have been no idle moments for either the 'Attorney General or his force.
It would be impossible without going into the matter at length to state the number of important cases in which this department has participated, but suffice it to say that hardly a week passes that one of the office force is not engaged in the Supreme Court of Ohio in the argument of some case.
The following comprise the force of the Attorney General's De- partment :
Charles Follett. First Assistant Attorney General
H. Stanley McCall. Second Assistant Attorney General
Walter L. Connors Special Counsel
Peter E. Dempsey Special Counsel
William J. Ford. Special Counsel
Louis D. Johnson Special Counsel
Russell M. Knepper Special Counsel
John F. Kramer Special Counsel
Clarence D. Laylin Special Counsel
Al. J. Ward. Superintendent of Claims
James M. Schaller Chief Clerk
Helen D. Bergin.
Clerk
James D. Callahan Clerk
August R. Seel Clerk
K. Marie Damron Stenographer
Stella Drayer
Stenographer
Kathryn Haughran Stenographer
Hazel Kridler Stenographer
Estella St. Clair Stenographer
Bird White Stenographer
Maurice L. Bernstein Special Counsel Cleveland District
Joseph O. Eppstein Special Counsel Toledo District
Simeon M. Johnson.
Special Counsel Cincinnati District
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OHIO LEGISLATIVE HISTORY.
HON. JOSEPH MCGHEE Attorney General of Ohio
was born at Coalton, Jackson County, Ohio, October 6th, 1872. His father, Allen McGhee, was a native of Jackson County and died there in 1898.
The son, Joseph, received his education in the public schools and at the National Normal University at Lebanon, from which institution he was graduated in 1895. He taught school for a period and then studied law with Judge James Tripp at Jackson, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar at Columbus in 1898.
In the year 1902 Mr. McGhee was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Becker of Logan, Ohio.
Mr. McGhee practiced his profession at Jackson, Ohio, until he re- ceived the appointment as First Assistant Attorney General under Attor- ney General Hogan, and served in that capacity until October, 1913, when he was appointed as Counsel for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, in which capacity he served until January 1I, 1915, when he retired with the outgoing administration.
Immediately after returning from his position as Counsel to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Mr. McGhee associated himself with Mr. Frank Davis, Jr., and Mr. James I. Boulger in the practice of law at Columbus. Ohio, under the firm name of McGhee, Davis and Bolger, and continued in private practice until he was inducted into office as Attorney General of Ohio on January 8, 1917.
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OHIO LEGISLATIVE HISTORY.
CHARLES FOLLETT First Assistant Attorney General
Charles Follett was born at Cin- cinnati, Ohio, October 3, 1875. He is the youngest son of Hon. John F. Follett, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who dur- ing his lifetime was prominent in state and national affairs. Charles Follett was educated in the common schools of Ohio and Washington, D. C. and the Kenyon Military Academy, Gambier. Ohio, which latter institu- tion he left at an early age to go with his mother to Europe, where he spent two and one-half years, returning to Ohio and entering Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, from which college he was graduated in the year 1896. While in college he was a member of the D. K. E. and Phi Beta Kappa Fraternities. After leaving college he entered the law school at the Cincinnati University, being graduated from there in 1899. While in the law school he was a member af the Phi Delta Phi Fraternity. He took the state bar examination in June, 1899, and received the highest honors at such examination. After being admitted he went into the office of the firm of Follett, Kelley & Follett at Cincinnati. After the death of his father in 1902 the firm name was changed to Kelley & Follett and he continued to practice law with Mr. Kelley until he was appointed as special counsel in the Attorney General's Office by Hon. Timothy S. Hogan in February, 1911. He served as special counsel in Mr. Hogan's office until his present superior, Mr. McGhee, then first assistant, was assigned as counsel to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, leaving vacant the position of first assist- ant to which Mr. Follett was appointed for the balance of Mr. Hogan's term. When Hon. Edward C. Turner was inducted into office as Attor- ney General he continued Mr. Follett in the office as special counsel and when Hon. Joseph McGhee became Attorney General, Mr. Follett was appointed First Assistant.
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Mr. Follett is a nephew of the late Hon. Charles Follett, who was one of the early judges of the Circuit Court, and also of the late Martin D. Follett, who was Judge of the Supreme Court ; and a cousin of Judge Edward B. Follett and A. D. Follett of Marietta.
E. N. HALBEDEL, County Supervisor.
GEO. COFFINBERRY, Bookkeeper. JOHN A. BLISS Chief Departmental Examiner.
J. W. TANNEHILL, Statistician.
W. E. BAKER, Deputy Auditor.
HON. A. V. DONAHEY, Auditor of State.
V. H. MOWLS, Chief Clerk.
MOSES BLAU, Municipal Supervisor. J. H. KAUFFMAN, Special Accountant. L. E. HYNEMAN, Deputy Supervisor of School and Minis- terial Lards. H. S. BROWN, Chief Clerk Bureau of Inspection.
HON. A. V. DONAHEY, Auditor of State
Grover Cleveland made famous the declaration that "Public office is a public trust" and here in Ohio there is a public official holding a place of great responsibility who has honestly endeavored to live up to that celebrated maxim.
During his incumbency of the office of Auditor of State "Vic" Donahey has won the approval of all the right thinking citizens of Ohio for his determined efforts to eliminate graft and all extravagant and unnecessary expenses of state government.
While Mr. Donahey has his critics and while he has not always been upheld in his efforts to protect the public purse yet his perfect honesty of purpose has always been apparent and thus he receives the commendation of the people.
A remarkable feature of his administration as Auditor of State by Mr. Donahey has been the retaining of four Republican assistants from former administrations who are located in the four most important rooms of his department for the purpose of giving his political opponents full opportunity to know how the office is being conducted.
Hon. A. V. Donahey was born at Westchester, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, July 9, 1873. His father, John C. Donahey, was born on a farm in the same township, October 13, 1845, and he is the father of two other sons of which he says he is just as proud as he is of "Vic".
A. V. Donahey received his education in the public schools and early learned the printer's trade. He was in the printing and publish- ing business in 1903 when he was elected county auditor and for his second term received the largest majority ever given a candidate of either political party in the history of the county. In the year 191I Mr. Donahey was endorsed for member of the Fourth Ohio Constitu- tional Convention without making a personal campaign for the high honor receiving seven hundred more votes than his nearest competitor in a field of six aspirants.
Mr. Donahey served as a member of that Convention in 1912 with distinction to himself and credit to all the people.
In 1912 Mr. Donahey won the nomination on the Democratic ticket for Auditor of State without making a single promise and his sworn expense account was $39.65, the smallest amount recorded for so im-
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portant a campaign. In the election which followed and by reason of the split in the Republican party, Mr. Donahey received a plurality of 129,093 votes. In 1916 he was renominated and elected by a plurality of 44,876 votes. His total vote in the State was 423,237 in 1912 and 577,054 in 1916, when he received the largest plurality of any candidate on the Democratic state ticket, and the largest vote ever given a Democratic candidate for a state office in Ohio.
In the year 1897, Mr. Donahey was united in marriage with Miss. Edith Sterling Harvey of Canal Dover, Ohio, and they have been blessed with eleven children, seven sons and four daughters.
The secret of the success of Mr. Donahey has been his determina- tion to live a clean, honest life and this coupled with his natural great energy has made him what he is, namely: a strong man, mentally and morally, and one of the most efficient and popular public servants Ohio has ever known.
Mr. Donahey's chief aims as auditor of state have been to safe- guard all collections and disbursements of state revenues, prevent illegal expenditures and introduce systems of accounting by which the condi- tion of the appropriation accounts of all state departments and institu- tions may be known at all times. Since becoming auditor of state in 1913 he has energetically and forcefully advocated in his annual reports and through the press many fiscal reforms of great importance and benefit to the state. It is difficult for a state official, other than the governor, to secure the passage by the general assembly of a bill originating outside the law-making bodies in which no member of the legislature is personally interested. By persistent effort this handicap has been overcome by the Auditor of State in numerous instances and, while some necessary fiscal changes which he has demanded have not yet been secured, a large number of beneficial laws have been enacted as a result of his efforts. From the beginning his motto has been "Every dollar of state revenue collected must be deposited in the State Treasury promptly and all disbursements must be on a warrant of the Auditor of State."
The following laws enacted by the Eightieth, Eighty-First and Eighty-Second General Assemblies embody fiscal reforms advocated by the Auditor of State previous to their passage and many of the bills were originally drafted in the Auditor's Department. The following enactments are arranged in order of passage. It will be observed that some of the more recent laws are supplementary to acts of previous general assemblies. Today as a result of these fiscal changes the Treas- urer and Auditor of State are empowered with that control of state revenues which safety demands and that the Constitution requires.
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Senate Bill No. 256, by Mr. Hopple, passed April 18, 1913 - giv- ing the Auditor of State authority through the Bureau of Inspection and Supervision of Public Offices to inspect and supervise the accounts and reports of all state offices, including every state educational, benevolent, penal and reformatory institution, and the accounts of every private institution or corporation receiving public money and may re- quire such reports as he may prescribe. Under this law every state institution has been examined and these inspections of their -financial transactions have resulted in reductions in the cost of maintenance of practically every state institution.
House Bill No. 304, by Mr. Etling, passed April 18, 1913 - grant- ing the Auditor of State, as Chief Inspector, the authority to appoint experts in making investigations. It also provides for more certain and speedy prosecutions of suits to recover public money misappropriated by public officials. Under this act expert engineers have been employed to investigate defective construction of public buildings, roads, bridges, street improvements and municipal plants, with the result that a great many thousand dollars have been recovered to certain taxing districts on fraudulent and, in some cases, worthless public improvements.
Senate Bill No. 203, by Mr. Greenlund, passed April 18, 1913 - providing for license to traffic in intoxicating liquors. This bill was not introduced by request of the Auditor of State. In its original form it provided that the receipts by the State liquor licensing commission from saloons, amounting to over a half million dollars yearly, should not be placed in the state treasury but could be deposited by the com- mission in banks and disbursed independent of the auditor and treas- urer of state. Auditor Donahey opposed this method and insisted that the receipts should be placed in the state treasury. It necessitated a strenuous fight to prevent this "private check book" plan of handling state revenues from being adopted. The newspapers of the state were used to create public sentiment and the power of proper publicity was demonstrated for Auditor Donahey succeeded in having the bill amended to require all receipts to be deposited in the state treasury. Section 46 of the Act requires that "All fees and other money received by the board shall be paid into the state treasury daily. All expenses of the board shall be paid by the treasurer of state on warrant of the auditor of state."
Senate Bill No. 30, by Mr. Dollison, passed February 16, 1914- granting the auditor of state authority to lease unsold school lands for oil, gas and other minerals. Under this law many leases have been made and in less than three years the state has received royalties amounting to over $100,000.00 for common school purposes. This is
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a new source of revenue to the common schools, as preceding the pas- sage of this law, the unsold school lands were being exploited by private corporations and the state did not receive a penny. As a result of these receipts for the benefit of schools, in November, 1917, for the first time in 14 years the State Sinking Fund Commission held a meeting. At this session the Commission invested $100,000.00 in Liberty Bonds, the first occasion in the State's history when Ohio exhibited in a tangible way to the National government its appreciation of the magnificent bequest made to the state for educational purposes over a century ago.
House Bill No. 6, by Mr. Behne, passed February 2, 1914 - grant- ing the Auditor of State authority to issue a duplicate warrant where the original has been lost. Previously a lost warrant caused the loser to wait for the money to which he was entitled until the next session of the General Assembly, when appropriation was made to cover the loss.
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