USA > Ohio > Ohio legislative history, 1913-1917 > Part 9
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House Bill No. 40- Mr. Orrison (Franklin). Release the state's claim of $41,955.44 against the Columbus Savings and Trust Company. Effective May 18.
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House Bill No. 41, Mr. Kilpatrick (Trumbull), provides that the Governor shall appoint a member of the state tax commission for three years, to succeed the appointee whose term expires the second Monday in February, 1914. An emergency act effective February 17.
House Bill No. 42-Mr. Bour (Seneca), provides that a special committee of five citizens, appointed by the Governor, shall make a survey of public incomes received by the state and its political sub- divisions, with a view of making a more equitable distribution thereof. No compensation other than actual expenses shall be paid committeemen, and $1,000 to carry out the act is appropriated. The rapid growth of municipalities is declared justification for the act. Effective May 18.
House Bill No. 43, Mr. Reid (Fayette). This act amends the General Code relative to the registration of land titles, fixes fees and penalizes obtaining titles through fraud, making such an offense a felony, carrying an imprisonment of from one to five years in the penitentiary and a fine not to exceed $5,000. Forgery in connection with obtaining certificates shall subject whoever is convicted to a term in the peniten- tiary from one to ten years. Effective May 18.
House Bill No. 44- Mr. Deaton (Miami). This act authorizes county commissioners in which a levy for the relief of needy blind was not made prior to 1912 or in 1913, to transfer from any surplus in any other county fund an amount sufficient to quarterly pay outstanding orders for blind relief, or which may fall due before March 1, 1915. An emergency act effective February 17.
House Bill No. 45 - Mr. Howitz (Meigs). This acts authorizes county commissioners to transfer funds for providing a fund for the payment of mothers' pensions. The act is an emergency one, because no levy for such pensions was made in 1913. Effective February 17.
House Bill No. 46- Mr. Fellinger (Cuyahoga), amends the Gen- eral Code relative to the sale of bonds, stocks and other securities. The act provides that the State Superintendent of banks shall issue licenses and safeguard the public against the sale of bad securities, and authority to revoke the license of any dealer in securities is given the superin- tendent. Provision is made for the organization and admission to the state of mutual fire insurance companies. Only licensed dealers are permitted to deal in realty not located in Ohio. Effective May 18.
House Bill No. 47- Mr. Cowan (Putnam). This act makes gen- eral appropriations amounting to .. .and repeals House Bill No. 670, approved May 9, 1913.
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House Bill No. 48-Mr. Fellinger (Cuyahoga), regulates the organization of mutual fire insurance companies and repeals several sec- tions of the General Code relating to such companies. "Domestic", "foreign" and "alien" companies are defined. Any mutual company neglecting or refusing to make such reports as the state insurance super- intendent requires, shall forfeit its charter and be liquidated by the superintendent, if the offending company be an Ohio concern. Effective May 18.
House Bill No. 49- Mr. Kramer (Richland), prohibits any mem- ber of the Legislature from accepting a position as trustee or manager of any benevolent, educational, penal or reformatory institution sup- ported by state funds - bars his acceptance of positions created by the General Assembly, when compensation other than actual expenses is allowed, and prohibits an assemblyman from serving on any committee or commission created by the assembly, and providing compensation other than expenses for such service. Effective May 25.
House Bill No. 50- Mr. Etling (Wayne), fixes a time for listing property for taxation, provides a manner of making deductions for in- jured or destroyed property, and requires county auditors before the first Monday in April 1915, to certify to district assessors all transfers to land titles made subsequent to the first Monday in February, 1914. Such transfer report shall thereafter be made annually. Effective May 25.
House Bill No. 51- Mr. Reid (Fayette), provides that all bonds heretofore issued by any political subdivision and sold for less than par and accrued interest, shall be valid obligations. Provides also that the taxing authority shall levy taxes to create a sinking fund. Effective May 15.
House Bill No. 52- Mr. Duffey (Lucas), provides that each com- mon pleas judge shall receive as an additional salary annually an amount equal to $25 for every 1000 population of the county where he lived when selected, but limits the extra compensation to $3,000. Superior court judges are given a like additional compensation. Provision is also made for adding $1,000 annually to that of a common pleas judge when he combines with his own the duties of the probate judge of his county. Such a combination may be formed in a county having less than 60,000. population, if the voters so declare. Effective June 4.
House Bill No. 53, Mr. Cowan (Putnam). This act makes sundry appropriations and became operative 90 days after March 8. The: sundries aggregated.
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House Bill No. 54- Mr. Cowan (Putnam). An act appropriating funds to meet unauthorized deficiencies existing prior to February 15, 1914. The act carried. . and became effective 90 days after March 8.
House Bill No. 55 - Mr. King (Ashtabula), provides that prior to March I annually every motor vehicle owner shall register the same with the Secretary of State, the fee being $2.00 for each motorcycle, bicycle or motor tricycle and $3.00 for each electric motor vehicle, and $5.00 for a gasoline or steam motor vehicle. The act also provides for number plates for such vehicles and provides for examiners to pass upon the qualification of chauffeurs, who shall not be licensed under 16 years of age. Whoever violates the registration provision and fails to properly display identification plates on the front and rear of vehicles shall be fined not more than $50. This is an emergency act effective March 8.
CHAPTER X Governor Cox Defeated for Re-election
I N the year 1914 Governor Cox was a candidate to succeed himself in the gubernatorial chair and this time he was opposed by Congress- man Frank B. Willis, Republican, of Hardin County. Both were nominated by their respective parties by the new popular primary system, and in the campaign which followed Governor Cox was opposed by a faction in his own party which named themselves "The True Democracy". Whatever may have been the grievances of this faction, and without going into the causes thereof, it may be said that this element and the apparent unpopularity of the new system of appointing tax officials under the provisions of the "Warnes" tax law were the contributing factors to the defeat of Governor Cox for re-election in 1914. With regard to the Warnes law, however, it is the honest judgment of expert tax officials that the law was a great improvement for the honest collection of taxes, but the farmers in particular seemed to oppose the selection of assessors by appointment.
Governor Cox had been called upon during his administration to carry out many of the provisions of the Fourth Ohio Constitutional Con- vention, some of which were popular and some that were not understood by all the people, and, presumably, many votes were cast against him for reasons that were beyond his ability to satisfy.
At the election, which was held November 3, Frank B. Willis, Re- publican, was chosen Governor by a plurality of 29,270 votes. At the expiration of his term of office in January, 1915, Governor Cox returned to his home at Dayton, where he resumed the management of his business affairs.
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Frank 2, Willie
CHAPTER I Governor Frank B. Willis
F RANK BARTLETT WILLIS, forty-fifth governor of Ohio, is descended from a strong American family. His ancestry car- ries back not only to the pioneer history of Ohio, but also to the early days of New England's settlement by freedom-loving Englishmen.
The Governor's parents were Jay Bartlett Willis and Lavinia Buell Willis, the family home being at Delaware. Mother Willis departed this life in August, 1918. The governor's father and three of his brothers served in the armies of the union throughout the war of the rebellion, and two brothers of the governor's mother gave similar service. Each of these veterans saw service in many battles and labored through the difficulties of many campaigns. Not one of them was ever compelled to enter a hospital as a patient at any time, a splendid tribute to the vigorous, strong and healthy tribe of manhood from which Governor Willis comes.
Governor Willis was born in a modest home near Lewis Center, Delaware county, Ohio, December 28, 1871. He spent his youth on a farm, and attended country school, which he later taught, and the high school at Galena. He then became a student at Ohio Northern Uni- versity at Ada, Hardin county.
It was in connection with his choice of Ohio Northern that he first evidenced that spirit of independence and ability to stand on his own feet which has been the characteristic of his life. Refusing the prof- fered financial assistance of his parents, the future governor made his own way through college, and at the same time earned an enviable record for scholarship. Following his graduation and a post graduate course in law, he became an instructor in the law department of his alma mater, where he taught for several years, not only becoming thoroughly familiar with the laws of the land, but also building up a large circle of friends among men who have been destined to play a considerable part in public affairs throughout the state. In 1906 he was admitted to the bar, attaining one of the highest grades ever made by a candidate in an Ohio state bar examintaion.
As a young man Mr. Willis became interested in politics and in 1896 stumped the state for William McKinley. In 1899 he was nom-
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inated as the Republican candidate for representative from Hardin county. The county was Democratic, and its representative at the time in the legislature belonged to that party. Mr. Willis rode from house to house on a bicycle, making a most thorough personal canvass of the county.
Mr. Willis played an important part in the legislature in which he served two terms. In the book, "Representative Men of Ohio, 1900- 1903", by the author of this volume, the following comment regarding the legislative career of Mr. Willis was made :
"The important position in the management of State and National affairs now being occupied by what is known as the young man in politics, is shown by the record made by Hon. Frank B. Willis, of Hardin. Although but 31 years of age, he is already well-known throughout the state, and during the recent session of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly, the attention of the commonwealth and the country as well, was drawn to a tax bill bearing his name, that revolutionized the whole theory of taxation, and placed the burdens thereof on other shoulders. The whole battalion of opposition to the enactment of tax laws was centered on the Willis law that compelled home and foreign corporations to pay a certain per cent of their capital stock into the state treasury. No more eloquent or able advocate in defense of this measure was to be heard in either branch of the General Assembly, and 'Willis of Hardin will go down into history as the author of a tax law that began a new era in the history of Ohio.'
"In 1899 he was nominated and elected a member of the Seventy- fourth General Assembly, carrying that close county, Hardin, by a good majority, and two years later he was re-elected by an increased figure. In the latter House he was elected Chairman of the Committee on In- surance and a member of the Committee on Taxation, having in charge the various tax reform measures, and took an important part in all debates. He was also vice chairman, or chairman pro tem., of the House Committee of twenty-three chosen to formulate a Municipal Code for the government of Ohio.
"A clean, approachable man, enthusiastic in defense of what he believes to be right, Hon. Frank B. Willis, of Hardin, belongs to the class of young Republicans of which his party and his friends have a right to expect much in the future."
In 1910 Mr. Willis was elected to Congress from the eighth Ohio district, which was composed of Champaign, Delaware, Hardin, Han- cock, Logan and Union counties, defeating Thomas C. Mahon, by a vote of 21,030 to 19,519. In 1912 he was one of the three Ohio Repub- lican Congressmen returned to their seats, receiving a plurality of 1414
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over Hon. W. W. Durbin of Kenton, although his district gave the Democratic candidate for governor a plurality of 4967.
In Congress, Mr. Willis quickly achieved distinction. He won a reputation for independence, great industry and ability to take care of himself in debate. The Willis voice, one of his assets, quickly became known in the House. It is a big, booming voice; rich, rotund, with a touch of middle-western nasal twang creeping into it now and then; apparently without effort, its owner can fill almost any auditorium in which he speaks.
Throughout his congressional career and representing a great wool producing district, Mr. Willis always occupied a prominent part in the fight for the continuance of a protective tariff policy, and particularly of a tariff on wool.
As the son of a soldier, he labored faithfully in the interest of the veterans of our wars.
CHAPTER II
Hon. Frank B. Willis Nominated and Elected Governor of Ohio
I N January 1914, representatives of the Republican and Progressive parties gathered in Columbus at a notable "Get-Together Meeting" held at Memorial Hall. One of the chief speakers of this occa- sion was Congressman Frank B. Willis, of Ada, Hardin county, whose address at once placed him in the front rank of Republican leaders in Ohio. He became much talked about as the possible Republican guber- natorial leader, and the demand for his candidacy to oppose Governor Cox increased until March, when following the receipt of many letters from throughout the state, Mr. Willis announced his candidacy.
A volunteer organization was formed by friends of Mr. Willis and this organization built of personal and political friends, and largely financed by modest contributions coming from all over the state, won for him the nomination at the August primaries.
On August 25th, 1914, the Republican and other state conventions met in Columbus to adopt their platforms. This was the first time in the history of the state that conventions did not have within their con- trol the nomination of the party ticket.
Congressman S. D. Fess, of Yellow Springs, was the chairman and keynote speaker of the Republican convention, which was addressed by several Republican leaders, including the nominee for Governor, Mr. Willis, and the United States Senatorial candidate, Hon. Warren G. Harding.
The convention adopted the following platform:
OHIO REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1914.
We, the Republican party of Ohio, in convention assembled, hereby pro- mulgate the following platform :
We reaffirm our adherence to the great principles of the Republicanism which have made the history of the party glorious for more than half a century. We rejoice in the great achievements of our party which have brought progress and prosperity to our people.
Following step by step the changed conditions of the years, the Republican party goes forward with renewed faith in the people, firm in its resolve to serve them today with the same sincerity and fidelity that marked the noble work of Abraham Lincoln.
On behalf of the Republicans of Ohio, this convention extends to the presi-
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dent of the United States sincere sympathy on account of the sorrow and bereave- ment which have recently fallen upon his household.
We reaffirm our adherence to the principle of protection to American indus- tries; for the investment of American capital, and in the employment of American labor at the American standard of wage.
We denounce the Underwood tariff act as a law in the interest of the foreign rather than the American producer. We denounce the legislation which has turned the balance of trade against us and is draining our country of its gold. .
The fallacy of the Democratic claim that protection is the cause of the high cost of living is shown by the failure of the Underwood act to reduce it.
We favor such legislation by the national Congress as will provide an adequate merchant marine for the extension of our trade to all parts of the world in times of peace and will enable us, in times of war, to provide ample transportation of products of neutral countries, especially those of the Western continents.
The Republican party, recognizing the debt the country owes to the volunteer soldiers, declares its opposition to the recent policy of the national administration to drop from the government service the veterans of the civil war.
We urge Congress to make liberal and regular appropriations to complete the improvement of the Ohio River.
The Republicans of Ohio condemn the present state executive for his as- sumption of autocratic powers; for his usurpation of the legislative functions ; for having used his official prerogatives to create a gigantic machine; for his creation of many useless offices and commissions; for his trifling with the civil service. We especially denounce his administration for its dangerous concentra- tion of power in the hands of the governor and for its unprecedented extravagance and the added burdens placed upon local subdivisions. We arraign the so-called Warnes law for its flagrant violation of the principle of local self-government. We condemn the taxation policy of the Cox administration which seeks to in- crease revenue rather than to curb expenditures. We denounce the so-called Kilpatrick law for its destruction of the wise provisions of the Smith 1 per cent law.
We not only favor the workmen's compensation law which we participated in enacting, but we favor the increase in the maximum amount to be paid for death and total disability under said law.
We deprecate the steadily increasing outlay for all public purposes with its corresponding increase in taxation. We pledge the Republican party to discourage unnecessary local expenditures and to restore an economical management of state offices by abolishing all unnecessary offices and commissions.
We favor laws for the moral protection and physical development of our women workers. We indorse the eight-hour system of daily labor wherever prac- ticable. We approve the principle of one day's rest in seven for all labor.
We urge the enactment of laws conferring upon the supreme court juris- diction to revise the decisions of the secretary of state on primary election and initiative and referendum questions.
We favor liberal appropriations to promote agriculture. We pledge the Re- publican party of Ohio to the appointment of farmers to all offices whose func- tions relate to the farm.
We recognize the wider claims of the people upon their government for legislation to promote social justice and pledge our co-operation in the broader movement for human welfare.
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We call the attention of the electors of Ohio to the pending constitutional amendments, all of which are submitted without political party sponsorship through the plan of initiation recently provided for in our constitution, and ask a verdict of the convictions of Ohio citizenship without partisan prejudice or political bias. We pledge the Republican party to the conscientious execution of the will of the majority and to use all the authority provided in the constitution and the statutes for the enforcement of the law.
While the traffic in intoxicating liquors subsists in Ohio, we favor its regula- tion by such laws as are now or hereafter may be enacted by the General As- sembly. We further propose the decentralization of the licensing authority which through the present plan of appointment of commissioners by the governor, tends to make a political machine of the saloon. We would place the licensing authority beyond the manipulation of partisan politics.
We pledge ourselves to home rule in the valuation and assessment of all property for taxation; to the selection of county, township and precinct assessors by the people of their respective communities, either by direct election or ap- pointment by elective county officials and to enact a just and efficient system of taxation which will insure the full and honest return of property.
We heartily favor the construction and maintenance of a state-wide system of good roads, but we demand that the large expenditures for that purpose shall be made by the regularly constituted authorities of each county and thereby save the great expense of a state highway department.
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CHAPTER III Inaugural Address of Frank B. Willis, Governor of Ohio
To the People of Ohio:
T HE inauguration of officials with its attendant ceremonies, however simple or imposing, is by no means an expression by the people of their personal interest in the individuals temporarily en- trusted with authority, nor yet is it a partisan occasion for expression of glorification over political victory or criticism of a vanquished foe. It is rather an occasion in which all the people regardless of party differences receive the pledge of loyal and devoted service from those in whose hands a portion of the people's power has been placed for a brief term and who in turn by their presence, actual or constructive, pledge themselves to unhold the hands of their chosen officials in all honest efforts to secure obedience to the laws and to promote the public welfare.
It is said that in certain of the Swiss cantons a part of the ceremonies attendant upon the induction into office of the chief magis- trate is the administering to the assembled people of a solemn oath to obey the laws by him who as chief magistrate of the canton has just taken the oath to enforce the laws. In this commonwealth we deem it unnecessary to pledge the people to obey their own laws and sustain their own government because such fealty is implied even though not expressed by solemn ceremony. In such a state as ours where the peo- ple themselves are the source of all power and where the opinion is general and well-grounded that the best government is the one closest to the people, with the constitutional safeguards and limitations found to be necessary by the experience of the ages, the sense of respect for the law and obedience to its precepts is high and must not be offended. The chief duty of the executive is to see that the laws are faithfully executed. This duty will be performed unflinchingly to the end that the dignity of the state may be upheld and its citizens protected by the uniform enforcement of its laws throughout the commonwealth.
It is well that this sense of responsibility should rest upon all of us - citizens as well as law-makers, judges and executive officials. In a benevolent despotism the obligation of the subject is slight; it is his to obey, not to question. Centralized authority makes the laws for him, appoints his officials, levies his taxes and spends his revenues for him.
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His sense of responsibility grows constantly less and therefore his worth as a citizen is by so much diminished. It is not impossible that in a benevolent autocracy a higher degree of mere routine efficiency and scientific skill for a time may be attained than in a government by the people; but this greater efficiency would be only temporary. It is the lesson of a thousand years of toil and battle and struggle for free gov- ernment that this temporary efficiency gives way to slothfulness, needless multiplication of officers, political cabals and extravagant expenditures. Efficiency is desirable in government and it can be attained without autocracy ; to deny this is to indict free government of incapacity and to assert that government by the people is a myth. Efficiency is im- portant, self-government is vital. The remedy for any possible weak- ness of government by the people is the cultivation of a spirit of sleep- less vigilance not only as a matter of sentiment but as a matter of self- interest and patriotic devotion to duty. Every possible advantage of efficiency in a centralized government would be more than overbalanced by the inevitable weakening of national character through non-exercise and consequent atrophy of the power of self-government.
There may have been instances where slaves were better fed or more skilled than free men; but upon these facts no sensible person can predicate an argument for slavery. Freedom and the strength of civic character which come only from the exercise of self-government are paramount to efficiency. Evils in government can be corrected, reforms instituted, sanely progressive legislation formulated and economical and efficient administration established without excessive concentration of power or a denial to local communities of their historic and constitu- tional rights of self-government.
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