Odell's Administration Unmasked READ— THINKACT Speech of HON. D. CADY HERRICK Democratic Candidate for Governor DELIVERED AT BUFFALO, OCTOBER 12, 1904 In opening his address at Buffalo before the largest assemblage of citizens ever gathered in that city on a political occasion, Judge Herrick began his remarks with a discussion of national issues, and particularly of the tariff question. He cited the unfair operation of the Dingley tariff, and gave figures showing that American tariff-protected products can to-day be bought abroad cheaper than the American consumer can buy them here at home. After quoting what President McKinley said on the need of tariff reforms, in his last public speech at Buffalo, Judge Herrick added : Yet in the face of all this, the tariff policy of the Republican party this year is fitly expressed in the sporting phrase " STAND PAT." We ask revision and reduction of the tariff, to protect the home market, and home consumers, from the greed of trusts and monopolies fostered and protected by the present tariff laws. We do not propose, to use the barbarous expression of the administration, to " Run amuck." We do not propose to destroy business, but to build it up, not for a favored class but for all. Not to make radical changes that will shake the business world. We do not expect to accomplish everything at once, but to make steady steps towards tariff reduction, no steps backward, with no favored classes and no trusts or monopolies fostered or protected by law, at the expense of all the people. STATE AFFAIRS. I recently said that " it is the natural tendency of a party long in power to become extravagant and corrupt ; so too there is a natural tendency for the leaders of a long successful political machine to become arbitrary and dictatorial." There is also a disposition upon the part of a political machine, to make a political asset of the government of which they have gained control, and to exer cise the power of the government for the benefit of the machine and its leaders, first, and for the benefit of the people, second ; and where its leaders are able and shrewd, it is difficult to formulate any indictment against them that will convict them of any crime, or of stealing the public moneys. The whole atmosphere sur rounding the government may be morally bad, and yet you cannot secure the legal evidence to substantiate any specific charge of crime. The wrongful taking of the people's moneys will be done under the forms of law, by statutes enacted in the name of the people. The party leaders may be personally honest, in the sense that they do not themselves pocket the money of the taxpayers, yet they permit their followers to divide amongst themselves moneys obtained in the name of the law, but in violation of the rights of the people. This is illustrated by the law compelling town boards to take the manual of highways, at a fixed price, regardless of its cost or value, or their need for them. 3& oo A member of the board of supervisors of- one of the interior counties' told me that at 'its recent, session, bills had been presented for 1,600 copies furnished to the towns of that county. The contract under this law is said to net the member of the State Committee, who holds it, over $20,000. Some little acquaintance with financial interests and banking laws satisfied me long ago that employees who never take a rest or vacation are to be distrusted ; that the benefit of the institution, the safety of the stockholders and depositors, require that they should be compelled to take vacations and their books examined. '« OPEN THE BOOKS." Our adversaries have been in power for ten long years ; they have spent enor mous sums of the people's money ; they have made and kept the books themselves. Let them now rest from their labors, that we may examine their accounts. • The expenses of the last Democratic State Government in 1894 was $15,700,- 000 ; the appropriations for the State Government in 1904 are over $26,000,000, a difference of over eleven millions of dollars, and this, too, after vetoing appropria tions passed by the Republican Legislature to the amount of $2,250,000. With the growth of the State, it is natural that the expenses should increase, but with the growth of the population the expense per capita should decrease. Population in 1890, 5,997,853; in 1900, 7,268,042. The great increase in our State expenses seems to be abnormal. I cannot give you a detailed statement of the causes of the enormous increase in our State expenditures, or the manner in which the revenues of the State have been dissipated; but this I do know, that unnecessary offices have been created, until now every county in the State is sprinkled with political mercenaries, with official titles, most»of them with nominal duties, but with by no means nominal compensation. ODELL'S " BUSINESS nETHODS." To use the language of the learned Attorney-General of the State, John Cuii- neen : " Some years ago the taxes of the State were levied and collected by local officers and the Comptroller. The local officers are with us yet. The excise laws were executed by local officers. They are with us yet. All violations of the law were prosecuted by district attorneys in the various counties. We still have the district attorneys. Violations of the fish, forest and game laws were prosecuted by local officers. These officers still exist.- But to-day much of this business has been brought to the capital at Albany. The Comptroller has a large force of appraisers and lawyers engaged in col lecting taxes all through the State ; the tax commission employs a large force of clerks and experts ; the forest, fish and game commission employs a force of law yers, protectors and other officials scattered through the State; the Bureau of Elections in New York makes it necessary to duplicate the city police ; the election laws, the agricultural laws and the pure food laws now enforced from the Attor ney-General's office make it necessary to employ lawyers in all parts of the State. These are a few illustrations of the changes that have taken place in the last ten years, and which have increased the public expenditure unnecessarily. The effect of it all is to bring into existence a large army of officials and place-holders, who owe allegiance not to the people of their own localities, but to the Governor, who may bring them all into activity when it is necessary to control elections or primaries in his own party. See what this leads to — more officeholders whose tenure is affected by the election, more electors prevented from exercising their impartial judgment at the polls, more free and independent citizens converted into mercenaries. UNNECESSARY OFFICES. I give you simply a sample of the unnecessary offices created, and the in creased compensation of officeholders. Chapter 326, Laws 1904, entitled " An act to amend the Insanity Law, provid ing for the examination of immigrants at the port of New York, to ascertain tlieir mental condition," creates what is termed in the act, " A board of alienists whose duty is the examination of insane, idiotic, imbecile and epileptic immigrants." The board consists of a chief examiner and two assistant examiners to be appointed by the commission in lunacy. The salaries fixed in the act are $5,000 for the chief examiner and $3,000 each for the two assistants, making a total of $11,000 annu ally. In addition to these expenses of the commission, it is provided in chapter 730, Laws of 1904, on page 1867 of the Session Laws, that each of the port war dens of the port of New York shall receive for services in assisting the board of alienists, a salary of $1,000 eac,h, a total of extra compensation for port wardens amounting to $9,000. It is also provided in the general apportionment bill, chap ter 728, Laws of 1904, on page 1799 of the Session Laws, that there shall be paid the sum of $7,000 " for the deportation of alien and non-resident lunatics to other countries and States, and for the transfer of patients from one hospital to another to relieve overcrowding." This makes a total of appropriations of $27,000 in connection with the. exami nation and deportation of insane immigrants. I understand that through some oversight the bill omitted to provide for a secretary, but that this omission is to be corrected at the next session of the Legislature, and that a leader of an Assembly District in New York is to be the secretary, at a salary of $4,000 per year. This board can have no duties to perform, because the examination and de portation of insane immigrants is a duty devolving upon the commissioners of im migration of the United States under Federal laws, and the Federal authority in the matter is recognized in the act, chapter 326, Laws of 1904, which provides that the board of alienists shall notify the proper authorities of the United States hay ing control of the enforcement of the immigration laws at such port of such immi grants as are found to be insane, idiotic, imbecile or epileptic, and shall arrange for their deportation in accordance with the provisions of such laws. It is very apparent that this board can have nothing to do, and that the ex penses of the board are to strengthen a political machine. PATRONAOE PROVIDED. The Civil Service Commission is compelled to keep a list of all the State officers and employees, their number and compensation. This is published yearly. In the brief time I have had to prepare this discussion I have not been able to make a complete investigation of these lists, but I have looked into a few of the departments of the State Government, with this result : Employees in 1893. 1904, Ogdensburg State Hospital 195 300 Poughkeepsie State Hospital 281 383 Rochester State Hospital 102 142 Utica State Hospital 174 196 Willard State Hospital 292 414 1,044 1,435 Under the administration of Governor Flower, with these institutions gov erned by local boards of eminent citizens, 1,044 performed all the services required, but with these institutions in politics, under what may be considered to be the direct management of a business Governor, it takes 1,435 employees to render the same service. The only economy practiced in these institutions, where the help less wards of the State are cared for, is apparently in seeing with how little cloth ing their nakedness can be covered, and the minimum of food upon which life can be sustained. But we will pass to a few other departments of the State Government : 1893. 1904. Banking Department 23 32 Board of Charities 14 40 Comptroller's Office 34 104 Department of Agriculture 54 179 Engineer and Surveyor 58 181 Attorney-General 10 20 State Museum 14 21 207 577 3 I shall not spend time to comment upon this, which is merely a sample of the increase of the official force of the State. It may be said as to the increase in the State Engineer's office that it is due to the necessity for making preparation for the canal improvements; but in 1902, when there was no such necessity, the force then employed in that office was 118, an increase of over 100 per cent, over that of the last Democratic administration. SALARIES SWELLED INDIRECTLY. We know, too, that the salaries of State officials are swelled by allowances for traveling expenses, which are frequently not incurred, and the amount of which is never audited. The following will give you some idea, and the list is not by any means complete: Court of Claims— each judge (for expenses) (3) $800 $2,400.00 Secretary of State — Deputy 500.00 Comptroller 1,000.00 Comptroller— Deputy 1,000.00 Comptroller— 2d Deputy 750.00 Treasurer 1,000.00 Treasurer — Deputy 500.00 Attorney-General 2,500.00 Attorney-General— 1st Deputy 1,800.00 Attorney-General— 2d Deputy 1,800.00 State Engineer 2,000.00 State Engineer— Deputy 1,000.00 Agriculture Commissioner 1,500.00 Civil Service Commissioners (3)— each $600 1,800.00 Excise Commissioner— (c. 312, L. '97) 1,800.00 Excise Department 1,500.00 Health Commissioners 1,000.00 Insurance Commissioners 1,700.00 Insurance— 1st Deputy 2,300.00 Public Works Commissioner 2,500.00 Public Works — Deputy Commissioner 1,000.00 Railroad Commissioners (3)— each $2,500 7,500.00 Fiscal Supervisor Charities 1,500.00 Secretary of State 750.00 Three special examiners and appraisers for the canal, salaries not to exceed $5,000 per year, and $2,500 for expenses. Of course, the obvious purpose is to increase the salaries of the party officials, and delude the public that it is for the purpose of meeting their expenses in the discharge of their official duties. THE FURNACEVILLE IRON CO. CONTRACT. We know, too, that contractors have been paid for work which they never performed, to make up to them the profits which they hoped to make under their contracts, but which hopes had not been realized. The State has paid for rock excavation where sand was shoveled. The claim of the Furnaceville Iron Company is a sample of this kind of thing; that was a claim for rock excavation instead of earth; it had been rejected by one board, and was brought up before another. The Attorney-General of the State was familiar with the locality from boyhood; he had personal knowledge that there was no rock or hardpan to be excavated; he produced witnesses who were engaged upon the work, who testified before the board that there was no rock or hardpan excavated, but only earth, and yet the board allowed the claim. When the Attorney-General was summoned as a witness for the Governor, he called attention to the fraudulent character of the claim which had been allowed by the State officers, and the answer of the Governor to this is as follows — I take it from the daily press : " Mr. Cunneen objected to the award, but was the only one of the board who did so, the others, I understand, voting for its payment, perhaps not entirely under the belief that his contentions were entirelly erroneous, but that certain money 4 was due for losses which had occurred by reason of the failure of the State to permit the contractor to continue his work. This is often done in business mat ters. It certainly was not improper for the canal board to view from this stand point if they deemed it wise, to do so." This is an illustration of the__conception of their public duties by many public officials— they seem to think;. tFTat they can do with public moneys as they would with their own. We may be charitable or generous with our own ; we may give it or throw it away ; but when we are acting as trustees of other people's money we have no right to treat it as our own; we have only the right to dispose of it to meet necessary and legal expenses. Generosity, charity and liberality have no place with the custodian of public funds. Do the people, with their experience of the wasting and stealing of $9,000,000 upon so-called canal improvements, but which left the canals in worse condition than before, need to be told that the expenditure of $100,000,000 requires careful watching? Will it not be well to hriv State officials, the canal board, of opposite political -faith from that of the advisory board appointed by the present Governor? PLAIN "GRAFT" AT ALBANY. The Canal is a fruitful field for extravagance and plunder. This is a little sample of extravagance : EXPENSES OF ALBANY OFFICE. Fiscal year 1903 $23,648.61 Of which salaries and clerk hire was 18.85Q.00 Fiscal year 1894 9,249.16 Of which salaries and clerk hire was. . . . -. 8,212.19 These figures are included in above item of " general expenses." Total tonnage during season of 1894 3,882,560 tons. Total tonnage during season of 1903 3,615,403 tons. Decrease 267,157 tons. So that it cost an additional $10,137.81 in salaries at the Albany office, with 267,157 less tons to care for. PROTECT THE CANAL APPROPRIATION. The people of Buffalo are interested in canal improvement. How much were the canals benefited by the expenditure of $9,000,000 ? Now we are to spend $101,- 000,000. $101,000,000 ! Just think of it ! What a vista opens before us, what an oppportunity for a saturnalia for the contractors ! What a revel ! Boyd, the superintendent of public works, under whose supervision the con tracts will be let ! The law savs the contracts shall be " entered into by the Super intendent of Public Works on the part of the State." (Chapter 147, Laws 1903.) Boyd, who is described in what is called the Red Book for 1902, edited by Mr. Murlin, one of the clerks in the Governor's office, as a college mate of the Gov ernor, where, as he says, they "became warm friends and -chums." His old college chum became the personal appointee of^he Governor to su pervise the public works of the State. This old .college chunr then will let the contracts. Every one who knows Boyd says that he is a good fellow. But a man who is habitually described as a good fellow is a dangerous man in public office, too apt to yield to influence of personal and political friends, too apt to be per suaded to be gracious and accommodating to those who are seeking public favor, too apt to be kind and generous to those who are engaged in rendering p'ublic service and who desire to do a minimum of work for a maximum of profit. The law referred to further provides, section 10 : " All measurements, inspec tions and estimates shall be made by the State Engineer and the engineers and inspectors appointed by him. The superintendent of public works may, in the performance of the duties devolving upon him by this act, rely upon the certificates of the State Engineer and his assistants as to the amount, character and quality of the work done and material furnished." The faithfulness with which contracts are executed, and whether the con- ' tractors shall be paid for work for rock or sand, depends upon the State Engineer and' his assistants. If, then, the present Governor's State ticket is elected, his old college chum will let the contracts, and Lou Payn— I beg pardon, Mr. Van Alstyne, 5 of Columbia County and Furnaceville, will see that they af'e properly performed. Will Furnaceville be in it? The canal law provides for an advisory board. Its members have been ap pointed by the Governor. Their term of office extends until the completion of the canal improvement. Will it be safer for the State to have them acting in con junction with the Governor's State officers, or "with those in opposition to them? Will they be more vigilant in watching their political and personal friends, or their political foes? THE SEARCH FOR NEW REVENUES. Of course, with the increase of expenses it became necessary to raise more money, or with increased revenue new ways had to be devised to expend it, as you may choose to consider it. Which ever way it was, or is, every year we witness unceasing efforts to dis cover new sources of revenue for the State. Nearly every kind of personal prop erty now pays a direct tax to the State, so that for the support of school district, county and city government, there are practically no resources left, except the tax upon real estate. In this persistent search for new sources of revenue, nothing has heen spared. The estates of the dead, the deposits of farmers, mechanics and workingmen in the savings banks of the State have not escaped, and even mortgages, in which, to a large extent, the moneys of trust estates are held, for the benefit of widows and infants, have been the subject of repeated endeavors to tax, in order to increase the revenues of the State. REPUBLICAN HINDSIGHT. From the tax upon savings banks the State derives a revenue of over $700,000 per year. This money practically belongs to the provident workman and farmer. There are over 2,400,000 depositors in the savings banks of this State. Their average deposits are $477, thus clearly indicating the class of people who are the principal depositors in these institutions. Strenuous opposition to the passage of the law taxing savings banks was made; its injustice was pointed out, but it was of no avail; and equally strenuous efforts have been made to secure its repeal, but these efforts have failed. Now, upon the eve of election, when those who procured the passage of the law taxing these institutions find themselves in distress, we are promised that it will be re pealed, if it is found practicable to do so. STATE CHARITIES. Even the charities of the State have been diverted from their beneficent pur poses and made a cog in the political machine. From all over the State have come letters to me complaining about the con duct of these institutions, and asking for some expression of opinion from me as to their management, and promise of relief. I can simply say to those gentlemen that at present I have not sufficient knowledge of these several institutions to know how they should best be managed ; that if elected I shall desire at the earliest opportunity to consult with those engaged and interested in these charitable and benevolent institutions as to the proper method of correcting the evils which are now said to exist. While I do not profess to know how they should be conducted, one thought has occurred to me. Why was it necessary to take the financial affairs connected with these institutions away from the supervision and control of the comptroller, the constitutional officer of the State, entrusted under the Constitution by the people to manage and control the fiscal affairs of the State? Why was it neces sary that a so-called fiscal agent should be appointed at a salary greater than that given to most of the constitutional officers of the State? Why should not the fiscal affairs of these institutions be restored to where it seems to me they properly belong— the comptroller's office of the State of New York, together with the con stitutional authorities provided for that purpose, instead of being controlled by the Governor of the State through his appointee? In the brief time I have had at my command, I have only been able to peep into the books. A complete examination will entail much time, great labor and care. But surely the samples given are enough to demonstrate that our present 6 examCineedmntS "^ '" the PUbHc interests> to take a rest that their work mW he Let the people enforce a vacation, that we may know how our reports stand. BEQQINa THE QUESTION. }u iS"n° a,nswer 4? the charges that are made of waste and extravagance, to say that you re another, to point to the acts of the Democratic administrations ot years ago. I am not here for the purpose of defending those administrations ; that is not the purpose of this campaign. Whether they were right or whether they were wrong, the people believed they had done wrong, and the independent voters and the independent Democrats of the State thrust us from power because they thought we had been in power too long, and because they thought that we had done those things that we ought not to have done. The -people rose in their might and smote us hip and thigh and there was no help for us. Oujf party, our public men, have been continually chastened by defeat, and we appeal to the same sentiment, the same class of voters that hurled the Demo cratic party from power ten years ago to assist in destroying the political machine that has seized control not only of its own party, but of the Government of the State, and is using both State and party organization for selfish, if not corrupt purposes. AT ROCHESTER. At Rochester, on the evening of October 13, Judge Herrick in his address spoke as follows -on the Tariff question : EFFECT OF A PROTECTIVE TARIFF. A protective tariff enabled our manufacturers to almost absolutely control the home market, and the home market sufficed for the consumption of all they produced. Every consumer in the land was forced to contribute for the purpose of protecting our home manufacturers and industries against a possible competition from abroad. Whether in the beginning it was wise or prudent to make the people of the country pay more for the purpose of maintaining these favored classes, I shall not stop to debate ; what I simply desire to consider upon this occasion is not the whole tariff question, or, as to whether a protective tariff is as a matter of fact a good thing, but to call your attention to the fact that conditions have changed, and that we need at least a new application of old principles, or the adoption of new ones to meet these changed conditions. r Our industries have ceased to be infant industries that need protection. It is no longer necessary that we should have a high protective tariff to prevent competition from abroad ; this is illustrated by the fact that to-day we are selling at a profit in foreign markets the products of our manufactories and in dustries in competition with theirs, at far cheaper rates than our own people are compelled to pay for the same articles. Our manufacturers sell goods to the home consumer at prices which rarjge from 25 to 100 per cent, higher than they sell the same things for abroad. Tlie following are a few examples : Home Price. Export Price. Cultivators $11.00 $8.40 Plows 14.00 12.00 Axes, per dozen 8.25 7.20 Wire nails per 100 lbs 2.25 1.35 Horse nails per 100 lbs 17.00 14.00 Barb wire per 100 lbs 3.00 2.00 Sewing machines (of a cheap grade) 18.00 12.00 Sewing machines "(medium grade) 22.00 17.50 Meat choppers 2.00 1.50 Hoes, per dozen .' 13.00 10.00 Rivets, per 100 lbs 10.00 5.55 Typewriters 100.00. 60.00 Mr. Schwab, late president of the United Steel Company, wrote to Mr. Frick, another steel magnate, on May 15, 1899 : " I know ppsitively that the English producer cannot make steel rails at a lower cost than $19. We can sell at" this price and ship abroad so as to net us $!