Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II, Part 13

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716

USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II > Part 13

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Two proposed amendments were submitted to the electors in 1902 and both were rejected. The first proposed the division of Providence into representative districts for the election of members of the House of Representatives; the result would have been a division of Repre- sentatives betwixt Republican and Democratic parties, and actually a reduction of the voting strength of the Providence delegation from a solid block of twelve votes, or one-sixth, to a divided vote. The electors voted to reject 20,504 to 17,266 approve. This decisive vote prob- ably affected adversely the result of the second proposition; to substitute the Lieutenant Gov- ernor for the Governor as presiding officer in the Senate, reject 20,769 to 18,949 approve.

Governor Brown in 1893 recommended a reorganization of the judiciary, and in August of that year the General Assembly enacted the "judiciary act," establishing appellate and com- mon pleas divisions of the Supreme Court. The membership of the court was increased in 1897. The court, in 1902, in answer to a question from the Senate, ruled that the General Assembly could, under the Constitution, establish courts of inferior jurisdiction and authorize judges of these courts, not being justices of the Supreme Court, to charge juries,## in spite of the constitutional provision, "the judges of the Supreme Court shall, in all trials, instruct the jury on the law." An amendment to the Constitutiontt was approved by the electors in 1903, declaring "the Supreme Court shall have final revisory and appellate jurisdiction upon all questions of law and equity. . . . . The inferior courts shall have such jurisdiction as may, from time to time, be prescribed by law." The General Assembly appointed in 1904 a commission, consisting of John H. Stiness, Edward D. Bassett, Stephen O. Edwards, Charles E. Gorman, William A. Morgan, Nathan W. Littlefield and Ellery H. Wilson "to report on changes in the laws of the state necessary to carry into effect article XII of amendments of the Constitution." The commission reported "the court and practice act," which, besides pro- viding for a Supreme Court and a Superior Court, was exhaustive and comprehensive in reor- ganizing the court system. The electors rejected in 1905 a proposition to increase the mem- bership of the House of Representatives to 100, approve 20,167, reject 19,350, the measure failing to meet the requirement of sixty per cent.

Four years later three propositions were approved. The first* increased the mem- bership of the House to 100, elected by districts, apportioned on the basis of population with the limitations that no town should have less than one member and no town more than one-quarter of the total membership; approved 25,920-12,898. The secondt sub- stituted the Lieutenant Governor for the Governor as the presiding officer in the Senate, with- out vote except to break a tie; approved 27,390-9,151. The third# gave the Governor the veto power, subject to reconsideration and passage over the veto by sixty per cent. of the mem- bers present and voting in each house; approved 30,149-6,267. The state was districted in 1910, and the first House of Representatives elected under Article XIII met in January, 191I. An amendment§ providing for biennial elections was approved, 24,149-14,176, November 7, 19II. With the approval of these amendments, the program included in the rejected "revised Constitution" of 1898 had been practically completed, with the exception of slight changes in the Bill of Rights, and in the process of amendment. The simplified amendatory process of proposal by sixty per cent. of the members elected to both houses, and ratification by a majority of the electors, and the provision for submitting the question of holding a constitu-

##The Judicial Department, 24 R. I. 628.

ttArticle XII.

* Article XIII.

"Article XIV.

# Article XV.

§ Article XVI.

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tional convention to the electorate every ten years, both had been lost, as had the one-year residence qualification for suffrage with a literacy requirement. The electors had voted on nine proposed constitutional amendments in six elections, had approved five and rejected four. The constitutional movement was at an end for the time being.

DIVORCE OF STATE AND NATIONAL ISSUES-The strong Democratic movement that had elected John W. Davis as Governor, 1887 and 1890, and had given him pluralities short of the majorities necessary to elect in two other years, 1889 and 1891, waned after the disappointing fiasco of 1892. For seven lean years, 1895-1901, the party- nominated annually a ticket of staunch Bourbons, who had remained faithful in spite of dissension in the national party because of the silver issue of 1896 and William J. Bryan's control of the dominant faction. Besides old loyalties, dissatisfaction with the policy of the Republican state government tended to maintain a solidarity in the state Democratic party. A comparison of statistics of state and presidential elections shows excess of presidential over gubernatorial pluralities for Republican candidates in 1896, 1900, 1904, and 1908 to be, respectively, 11,000, 5000, 16,000 and 12,000. The evidence supports strongly a suggestion that the people of Rhode Island were discriminating betwixt state and federal issues; that more were adhering to Republican national policies related to the tariff and finance, than to the policies of the dominant state Republican party. There were causes or pretexts for dissatisfaction and misgiving with ref- erence to the party that controlled the General Assembly, elected usually its candidates for general officers, and was represented in the courts by an overwhelming majority of men who before reaching the bench had been stalwart Republicans.

Not all of the pretexts for complaint were justified; in foregoing paragraphs we have summarized constitutional changes and reorganization of political machinery, avoiding even a suggestion that much that was genuinely constructive as viewed with reasonable perspective may have been prompted immediately by presumed partisan advantage. It is the province of the party out of power rather than the recorder of facts to criticise the "government"; that is democracy in practical application. There were other measures, however, that awakened criticism, and kept alive a spirit of opposition awaiting favorable opportunity for expression, among them statutes striking deeply at the roots of the strong sentiment for local autonomy that has been characteristic of Rhode Island, such as the acts creating the police commissions for Newport, 1900; Providence, 1901; Tiverton, 1902. The Newport police commission act was declared to be constitutional, ** and the commission a state, rather than a municipal agency, ff although the municipality was responsible for salaries.tį The members of the Provi- dence commission, which was placed in control of the city police department and replaced the board of liquor license commissioners, were appointed by the Governor. The offence to local self-government was appeased only by the asserted improvement of police morale under com- mission control.

Other measures that were debated more vigorously outside than in the General Assembly related to the chartering of public service corporations, the granting of franchises, and the enactment of legislation apparently at the request of and on the terms suggested by great cor- porations with capitalization surpassing millions, these including the exclusive franchise act of 1891, the transfer station act of 1896, the so-called perpetual franchise act of 1898, the limited free transfer ticket act of 1902, and the repeal of the ten-hour law for motormen, gripmen and conductors in 1902.§§

** Newport vs. Horton, 22 R. I. 196.

ttRe Newport Police Commission, 22 R. I. 614.

##Horton vs. Newport, 27 R. I. 283.

§ §Chapter XXVIII ; and supra.

R. I .-- 43

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THE YOUNGER DEMOCRATS-Meanwhile, also, a new and very aggressive type of Demo- crat was reaching majority, exercising suffrage, entering politics and seeking office. This third generation of immigrant stock, the second generation born in America, included large numbers of young men who were very well educated college graduates, some university graduates, and who were familiar with the successes attained by the second generation. They had been schooled in politics, and were familiar with the issues of the period. Many of them were skilled debaters, owing their preparation for public life to the public school sys- tem and the opportunities afforded for liberal college education. In view of the general reputation of college youth of the present generation for frivolity, the contrasted soberness of college life in the last quarter of the nineteenth century is remarkable. Yet it is true that the boys of those days were discussing more frequently economic and political problems than any other ; and that that was particularly true of the student body at Brown University, so far as it was recruited in Rhode Island. The fraternity life of the time was different from twentieth century fraternity life; there was a closer association of graduate and undergraduate chap- ters, and much intimate contact between alumni and student, whereby the urge for politics was imparted to the rising generation. The essential factor of the filibuster of 1924-the starv- ing of the party in control by interposing an impassable barrier in the path of the annual appropriation bill-was propounded by an undergraduate student at a Brown fraternity din- ner before 1900! The older politicians present gasped; they were destined, some of them, to see the filibuster in operation as an effective (or was it ineffective) measure until somebody made the serious mistake of placing a gas bomb in the Senate chamber, thus changing utterly the trend of public opinion and arousing the love of law and order that has saved Rhode Island on many an occasion. The new Democrats for a while were content to follow the counsel of veterans; eventually they challenged the veterans for leadership. Witness the snatching of control of the Providence city convention for the nomination of members of the General Assembly in 1903, and the nomination of the youthful James H. Thurston for Sena- tor. In Pawtucket the younger Democrats had established themselves in public office in the city with a forward look to state offices. One of the Pawtucket group, James H. Higgins, was to become Governor, the youngest ever elected in Rhode Island.

RAILWAY STRIKE AS AN ISSUE-The street railway strike in Rhode Island, 1902, hap- pened at a time most opportune for the Democratic party. The ten-hour law for motormen, gripmen and conductors became effective June I. Company defiance of the statute was fol- lowed by a strike early in June. All the popular resentment against the street railway com- pany that had been smouldering because of franchise and transfer legislation, which the com- pany had sought for advantage in dealing with the municipalities of the state, urged to action, and the sympathy of the general public for strikers in what was believed to be a just strike to force the company to obey the laws of the state was expressed most emphatically by boycott. With strong police protection for street cars in Providence there need be little fear of vio- lence; yet the people refrained from riding, and cars once thronged with passengers were empty as men, women and children walked rather than patronize them. Registration for the fall election closed June 30; those who sympathized with the strikers against the com- pany were urged to register and help to elect an administration that was favorable to law enforcement.

Seldom in Rhode Island's long and unique political history had an issue reached a crisis at the period for registration. The latter transcended experience; the polling of more than 60,000 votes on election day was not only without precedent but most extraordinary for other than a presidential year. Had the strike occurred one month later, in July, reg- istration would have closed before the strike and would have been probably no more than

#Counting ballots rejected as defective.

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normal. Governor Kimball, candidate for reelection, polled the normal Republican vote; the increase of 12,000 in the total vote over 1901 seemed to have gone to Lucius F. C. Garvin, Democrat. He was elected.

Governor Garvin might be said to epitomize all of opposition to the state Republican party in Rhode Island. He was an old campaigner, veteran of many elections, and had repre- sented the town of Cumberland in the General Assembly for years. Even after his term as Governor, following the example of John Quincy Adams, who returned to Congress after having been President, Governor Garvin returned to the General Assembly. He had been prominent in reform movements of various types, and was a staunch advocate of the Single Tax as a solvent of most social, economic and political problems. He attended public meetings in all parts of the state, and spoke frequently as opportunity presented an audience; yet he never failed to turn his address, whatever the topic or purpose of the meeting might be, into an exposition of and plea for the Single Tax. He was an ardent supporter of movements for constitutional reforms. He advocated also proportional representation as a device for repre- senting minority parties in the administration of public business. His plan for proportional representation in the election of councilmen in Cumberland was declared unconstitutional .*

In his message to the General Assembly in 1903 he named four "abuses of government," to wit: Enactment of laws that cannot be repealed, thus referring to the perpetual franchise act; (2) the creation of police commissions in two cities and one town, with control of from one-eighth to one-quarter of the municipal revenues; (3) post-election sessions of the Gen- eral Assembly, such as the session of November, 1902, in which the ten-hour law had been emasculated ; (4) "an irresponsible third house dominating both branches of the General Assembly and causing legislation, which should be just and solely for the public welfare, to become a mere matter of sale to the highest bidder." The last referred to the allegation fre- quently made in public that corporations had paid sums of money for legislation to persons who were not members of the General Assembly. The Governor also directed attention to "unjust representation" under the apportionment prescribed by the Constitution; and to the practical transfer of the appointing power from Governor to Senate by the enactment in 1901 of a general statute covering a long list of appointments,; practically all except the executive secretary and the members of the barber commission ( 1903). Under the statute appointments were to be made "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate," but if the Senate chose not to approve a nomination made by the Governor it had a right to fill the vacancy by elec- tion. The Governor recommended (I) a modified veto for the Governor; (2) allowing registry voters to vote for city councilmen; (3) a constitutional initiative whereby a reason- able number of electors might propose amendments to the Constitution; (4) three-cent fares on street railways; (5) reenactment of the mandatory ten-hour law for street railway employes. The Republicans controlled both branches of the General Assembly; the Gov- ernor's program did not find favor with them, and no part of it was enacted into law. The Democrats had a substantial membership in the House, and exercised to advantage the oppor- tunity for discussion of public questions. A particular attack was launched upon the sheriff of Providence County, Hunter C. White, who was accused of deriving from the fees collected through his office and from bonuses paid by deputy sheriffs for appointment an income suffi- cient to pay the normal campaign expenses of the Republican party. The Republican answer was election of the sheriff for a period of three years with an annual salary of $5000 in lieu of fees. Later each of the county sheriffs was elected on three-year tenure with annual salaries.

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1903-The fall campaign of 1903 was preliminary to the election of a United States Senator in 1907, with Samuel P. Colt as Republican candidate for Governor

*Elections by Proportional Representation, 21 R. I. 579. ¿Held constitutional, 28 R. I. 602; 28 R. I. 607.

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against Governor Garvin, candidate for reelection. Governor Garvin's plurality of the pre- vious election was reduced nearly 6500, but Colonel Colt "fell outside the breastworks," as the result of the election was caricatured in one of the newspapers. The total vote exceeded 62,000, and was the largest cast in the state up to that time. The campaigning was vigorous; Colonel Colt had been liberal in providing funds, and Republicans duplicated the Democratic effort to increase registration, and otherwise spared neither money nor work to perfect plans for success. So confident of victory were the Colonel's immediate friends that he was greeted by some of them as "Governor Colt" at a campaign dinner on the Saturday preceding the election. Party leaders and workers from all parts of the state had been gathered at the din- ner, which was so sumptuous that it was likened by one newspaper to the "feast of Belshaz- zar," wanting only the handwriting on the wall. Colonel Colt lost not only the office but the advantage that possession of it would have given him as a candidate for Senator. George H. Utter, Secretary of State, 1891-1894, who had been the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, was elected, and thus became the logical candidate for Governor in 1904.

In the presidential year the total vote exceeded 69,000 and Governor Garvin was defeated by 856 plurality. The second year of Governor Garvin's administration was marked by open conflict between the Governor and the General Assembly. The latter adjourned at the clos- ing of the January session to November 15, 1904, thus indicating a purpose of resuming the post-election session, which Governor Garvin had condemned in his annual message in 1903. With the purpose of forestalling the post-election session, Governor Garvin issued a call for a special session to meet in September. For the special session the Governor had prepared a message. Both houses met on the day stated and adjourned, without receiving the Governor's message, to meet according to previous adjournment in November. Governor Garvin was a candidate for election once more in 1905, but was beaten by Governor Utter decisively by 5500 plurality. The total vote had receded 10,500, and the Democrats had lost 7000.

THREE YEARS LATER-The campaign of 1906 related to the annual election of general officers and General Assembly and anticipated the choice by the latter at the January session of a United States Senator. Because of the contest for the Senatorship# the campaign was unusually stirring, although as it proceeded, James H. Higgins, Democratic candidate for Governor, succeeded in making a state issue dominant in the contest between him and Gov- ernor Utter. Higgins was thirty years of age at the time, had been educated in the public schools of Pawtucket, and had been graduated from Brown University eight years before with the class of 1898, the last to receive diplomas from the hands of President E. Benjamin Andrews. Orphaned by death of his father, young Higgins contemplated leaving college, but was per- suaded to remain by Andrews, who had recognized unusual qualities in Higgins and suggested measures that eased financial embarrassment. Thus a strong loyalty was born, and the youth was inspired by the teachings of "Bennie," as Andrews was known affectionately by every- body in the university. After two years at the law school of Georgetown University, Hig- gins was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in 1900, and formed a partnership for the practice of law with John J. Fitzgerald, also a graduate of Brown and of Georgetown Law School, who was at the time Mayor of Pawtucket. Higgins represented Pawtucket in the General Assembly, 1902, and the following year succeeded his law partner as Mayor of Pawtucket. In high school and college he had excelled as a debater, being a member of both high school and college debating teams. In the practice of his profession he had won distinction for forensic ability, and, through active participation in several political campaigns, had become an excel- lent campaign orator. "Boy" he was called as a candidate for Governor, and "Boy Gov- ernor" he was called after his election.

The "Boy" placed his opponent on the defensive early in the campaign, but he was attack- ing a masterful speaker, for the Governor had an unusual gift for plain speaking and clear pre-

#See Chapter XXIV.

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sentation of issues, and a fine voice. Higgins chose "bossism" as the dominating issue and forced it. Traveling up and down the state in a campaign that was extraordinary for the number of public meetings that were held by both parties and for the quality of speaking and the enthusiasm displayed by orators and listeners, Higgins accused the Republican state organ- ization of being dominated by General Charles R. Brayton, who was the party's acknowledged leader, and had been for years. Blind at the time and nearing the end of a career which had opened in youth with a brilliant military record as a soldier in the Civil War,* Brayton was a prominent figure at the State House while the General Assembly was in session. Outstanding he would have been because of his stature in any group of men; tall, well proportioned, and erect because of his army life, with a massive and finely poised head. Hair whitened with age, and blind, General Brayton was even more conspicuous. He was a master politician, who never broke his word nor gave it unless he could fulfil his promise; a man who made friends and bound them to himself in remarkable loyalty. In his later days, less active because of his disability, he held court in the office of the sheriff at the State House; and thither men went to report, to receive instructions, and to solicit General Brayton's favor.

Bossism was somewhat in disrepute at the time in Rhode Island, and General Brayton must bear the onus of dissatisfaction with the Republican party's record in the General Assem- bly, because of its alleged friendliness for the public utility corporations, particularly the street railway companies. Higgins promised that if he were elected as Governor he would drive the "blind boss" from the State House; he accused Governor Utter of submitting to the orders of the "blind boss." He ended every address with several questions for Governor Utter, one of which invariably inquired what steps Governor Utter would take to drive General Brayton from the State House. Governor Utter at first ignored the questions, making his campaign in its early stages upon the record of the Republican party for constructive legislation, of which there had been a considerable volume. Eventually the Governor, pressing his campaign in the cities and larger towns, encountered hecklers, who asked him the same questions that had been propounded by Higgins. He was faced with the same questions from flaring billboards and transparencies, and from the headlines of daily newspapers, for the Democrats in this cam- paign, in which the election of a United States Senator was as much an issuet as was the contest for state officers, had come into the possession of "sinews of war" and had support in the public press that was without precedent.

Toward the end of the campaign Governor Utter faced an audience in Pawtucket, whose favorite son, "Jimmy" Higgins, was his opponent, and there the Governor answered the question ; he, too, would take measures to drive the boss from the State House. That was the anteclimax in the campaign; Governor Utter had deserted General Brayton, and the result of the election, so far as the Governorship was concerned, thereafter was a foregone conclusion. James H. Higgins was elected Governor with a plurality of 1300, while the rest of the Repub- lican ticket for general officers was elected comfortably, and the Republicans controlled both houses of the General Assembly and sixty-eight of 110 seats in joint assembly.

A BOY GOVERNOR-Governor Higgins in his message to the General Assembly returned to the issue of the campaign, as he had fashioned it, with this reference to lobbying: "I would also recommend a stringent law on the subject of lobbying. . . The evils of lobby- ing have been practiced in Rhode Island to a disgraceful extent. The difference between lobbying in other states and that in our commonwealth is that in such other states the corrupt work had been done by many lobbyists, while here it has been reduced not only to a fine art, but to an exclusive and oppressive monopoly. One man alone does practically all the lobbying in the Rhode Island legislature. And to facilitate the carrying on of his corrupt practice, in past years he has been established permanently with full equipment in the high sheriff's office,

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Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II, Part 13

Author: Carroll, Charles, author Publication date: 1932 Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716