The Oklahoma State Capital (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 1916 Page: 1 of 4
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The Non-Partisan Election Law Carried Everything in the State But the Democratic Election Boards
VOL 1 OKLAHOMA CITY OKLA SATURDAY NOV 17 1916 NO 12
Although Final Count Shows Majority of Votes for
Presidential Electors Cast for Measure
u
AS FUMY BASIS OF SILENT VOTE ')cpublica“ d Sociaiisi siaie cbir
men Assume Law lias Passed
Fully Ten Thousand Voters Robbed of Ballot by Shortages Counted
as Silent Voters and Recorded as Having Voted Against the
Measure -Legal Fight Planned to be Carried Through to Court
of Last Resort— Battle for Right of People to be Hard Fought
WILL DEMAND RiGATS ON BOARD
has declared the fair' fore been considered as the onfv fair test of arriving
repeal measures as Ait the total vote at the election Manipulating of
The state election board
election and registration law
both having fail
votes cast at th
official canvas of the board shows the fair election' showing of the silent vote was out of all
law to have received 147067 votes in the affirmative ! tion to the vote cast on the presidential electors'
and 119602 in the negative lly counting the bal-t In Tulsa county for instance the ballot stubs were
lot stubs the election board announces that it has recorded to show over 2100 in excess of the total
arrived at the conclusion that there was a total of east for the heads of the national tickets
Names Certified To Secretary of
State — Sinclair Refused Access To
Returns On Election Law — Board
Conceals Fccords— Hrt Fight Over
Attempt to Defeat Law Is Certain
501106 votes east at this election a majority of
which would he 152054 and the board has con-
sequently declared the measure lost hy 4()S7 votes
less than a majority of all votes east
The question that the republicans and social-
ists will ask the court to determine is whether or
not the election hoard had a right to gather up the
ballot stubs and use them as final proof of the total
number of votes east 4 he republicans and social-
ists will also present evidence to the court to prove
that there were no less than 10 OIK) voters in the
state who were denied the privilege of voting upon
this matter hv reason of shortage in ballots supplied
the various precinct election boards
Attorneys for the non-partisan measures
contend that such
the
that
to
In the event that the state t
accept these proofs statutes and arguments the ally the battle grounds with the Austro-Gcrman So far us is known Mr Geissler
ease will he taken to the I’nited States supreme lorces on the offensive an I making a better show-j suited no one connected with the stale
court ing than the Ruso-Roumanians committee about the appoint im nt of
'flic largest vote east for any office was that Considerable peace talk is being heard from j Mr Robertson Nevertheless Mr
cast upon I ’resident Returns as canvassed by the both antagonists each denying however that they 1 Robertson is regarded as one of the
state election hoard and oihcia'ly announced give are anxious for peace until their foe is vanquished I er-v am nost loyal repub-
Wilsoti 148122 Hughes ’'7255 lien son 451'0 Russia has just issued a statement in which she !c“"s I"11!® s!at’ a'uI 0I'e par‘(!u‘
6 votes for prohibition electors and 244 votes insists that she is not seeking or considering a sep- !' ? lwupv'r' o I'tnr 'It!' t r a!
ir i)' -i 1 1 I fact however that Senator Heeler is
for progressive electors making a total of 2U 4J0 arate peace with (icrmany and that she would notjat
Under the terms of the state t Jection
law which the republicans anil social-propor-
i ists regard as having carried State
Chairman Arthur II Geissler has ap-
pointed Mr R L Robertson of Law-
ton and Chairman Adams of the So-
cialist committee has appointed II K
Sinclair to he the socialist member
A conference is to be hold within I
’lie m i few days to ih urimiie a pol-
icy to be pursued
In the meantime the newly appoint-
led mi mix s will et ! ready to take
tu-ir places on the hoi rd
‘ Sinclair Appointment Will Be
Referred t
The appointment of Sim hiir will be!
only temporary according to announce-!
'incut from socialist headquarters He
Avas appointed hy the chairman to till
Records
Mr Sinclair is now busy tabulating
returns on the fair election and regis-
tration law repeal measures from prac-
tically all precincts in the state
These returns were forwarded to tin
socialists’ state headquarters by so-
cialist precinct committeemen The !
certified copy of election returns left
in the hands of republican members !
will also he produced to show the ac-
tual votes on these measures while
there are hundreds of precincts in the
state where recounts will he demand-
ed “We will certainly open the eyes of
tlie people of this state" said Secre-
tary Sinclair “when we force a true
mint of the votes on these measures
Tlie ‘mistakes’ that the democratic
hoards have made in their mail efforts
to defeat these measures and perpet-
uate marhine control of elections will
stagger the confiding voters of Okla-
homa Those who have been willing
to endure this one-sided machine
made election organization will revolt
at tlie truo facts that I am satislied
we ran uncover at this election The
only thing that can prevent us from
doing it will be the rankest kind of
partisanisin in our courts
“The things I have already discov-
ered make me blush as an American
citizen The meaning of freedom and
To Meet In Oklahoma City Monday
to Settle Mooted Questions
THE CHAIRMANSHIP IS INVOLVES
Notice Has Been Short and Many
Members Not Notified — Chairman
Geissler Pockets Instructions To
Call Meeting Betwen 14th and 20th
Until Last Minute
tlie place until such time as tin party!
THE WAR could take a referendum vote to de-
The European war still rages with a gain of a j termini its choice of a member of tliei
lew feet or a few yards by the allies one day and hoard under the new law Mr Sin- independence is evidently beyond this
’ r ’ ' ' of the socialist or-! bunch of pirates”
to
lard
lie
liberally
and
he insists that tlie vote of Henson and
j socialist nominees have not been cor-
! rectly reported
I unites 'Vw ieiisii
1640 votes for
making a total of 262426 arate
votes cast in the presidential election The fair elec- do so under any circumstances
tion law received a majority of these votes and the England is now preparing for
highest vote east upon any one office has hereto- -against a food supply shortage
TUMl’LTY CAHINKT MEMHK1L
It is now reported on good authority
that Joseph Tumulty is to he Host-
master General when the President
makes up his new cabinet No rural
present t he republican member of carrier in the United States at least
the hoard anil has friends on the state w ill care if a change is made for they
anizing I committee may result in a fight over i certainly have no special love for the
I tlie appointment present Postmaster General
A resolution was adopted at the
meeting of tlie republican state com-
mittee held in Oklahoma City on the
Saturday before election directing that
tin chairman call a subsequent meet-
ing between the fourteenth and twen-
tieth days of this month On last Fri-
day evening Arthur II Geissler made
public a call of the meeting for Mon-
day The call of the meeting was hurried
in a solid page typewritten letter and
many of ties committeemen missed it
by failing to wade through a long un-
interesting introduction In soino en-
velopes at least the chairman enclosed
j blank proxies w ith a request that they
he signed anil sent to him in blank
'Other notices were supplemented hy
long distance calls asking for proxies
Tlie resolution which was passid at
tlie last meeting of tlie committee wa
submitted with a recommendation
j tluit the matter of tlie suspension of
John Appleby as secretary he left
for consideration at this meeting Mr
'Appleby was removed as secretary at
1 1 lie instance of Mr Geissler without
notice Mr Geissler announced the
appointment of G N Kneeland aa aec-
rotary to succeed Mr Appleby but
members of the executive committee
deny that Mr Kneeland’s name was
lever submitted to them and that they
authorized his appointment Mr Ap-
pleby was elected secretary of the
'committee over the protest of Mr Geis-
i sler and removed upon Mr Geissler’s
Continued on page 3
ENSE of Government
(This article was written some outlines government and summarizes the remedy and the means of apply
months ago for publication in a na-j the direct and intangible cost the sec-ling it The statistics in this article
tianal magazine Owing to the flood' onil discusses the cost of government ' have been submitted to present and
of war and current political subjects J as an issue the attitude of public ad- former state auditors and examiners
it was leiut ned for i c at some future j ministrators and takes up the all-im-jand inspectors the governor lieuten-
date The State Capital is conse-1 portant discussion of the looseness i ant goveinor and other oficials and
qaontly giving the article to its read-J of our governmental organization the ex-oflicials of Oklahoma for criticism
era ill three installments to appear third and last installment completes j and correction and has their w ritten
coasoeutivelv Tlie first installment the general discussion and points out i approval— IM)
i !
By Eugene Gill
The govennment of this country has a va-
riety of meanings to the public mind Its the-
oretical side monopolizes much of the attention
of the student and many who would or may he
classed as economists deal extensivedy with its
abstract propositions To the average citizen
however government is one of the many con-
siderations that make up his affairs — more a
question of what it does for him and what it costs
than what it seeks to compel him to do or the
methods by which its mandates are to be en-
forced The functions of this government are reason-
ably well defined and established and idealism is
largely incidental to their administration To
perform these functions government constitutes
various agencies organized along the lines of na-
tioivwidc business institutions and these agen-
cies arc effective and efficient in precisely the de-
gree to which the ordinary rules of business arc
applied to them
The large business organization is made up
of a principal and subsidiary or branch institu-
tions Government is similarly organized — each
subdivision is a subsidiary of national govern-
ment Concretion and correlation are as neces-
sary to tlie success of one as the other
The directors of the successful business act
upon a balance sheet and detailed statements of
the workings of each branch Policies arc de-
termined by costs and results expenditures by
requirements and resources and the measure of
their success depends primarily upon their ability
to’climinate confliction duplication and waste A
failure to apply similar methods in government
bears the same relation to its success as would
a failure to apply them in business
It is impossible to compile a balance sheet
and detailed statement covering government in
the United StAtcs since figures approximating
such a possibility arc not available The nearest
approach is the prorated expense of national gov-
ernment to one state together with the cost and
operation of its state and other subdivisions of
government Such a statement can serve only as
an illustration as there isa variance as between
government in the different states Neverthe-
less the differences in organization and cost of
government between what may be termed an
average state and other states arc not so marked
as to make the general application of such facts
and figures impractical If for no other reason a
comprehensive formula may answer an important
purpose
The Direct Cost Division and Incidental Burdens
of Government
To present a complete and accurate item-
ization ot the expenses of government to the peo-
ple of this state it has been necessary to compile
this information direct from the various offices
Official reports seldom cover all items charge-
able to government Departments and offices
maintained by license tax fees penalties or other
indirect impositions arc wholly or partially
omitted from such reports and it is therefore
necessary to trace through the branches of each
subdivision all duties levied or imposed hy gov-
ernment and expended for government in order
to arrive at the final cost
In the absence of official figures it is not
violent to assume that a comparison would be
favorable to this state A compilation of all
revenues collected by direct and indirect taxa-
tion fees and penalties and disbursed for all
purposes of government exclusive of state and
municipal improvement show the total expense
to the people of Oklahoma for the fiscal year
ending June 50 1615 to have been $46450656
apportioned as follows
National government pro-rated on a basis
of one and seven-tenths of the total population
of the United States $19067375
State government $4258667
County government (an average of $100772
for its seventy-seven counties) $7759485
Township government (an average of $1926
for each of its 1040 townships) $2003329
City and incorporated town government
$5481364
Schools (an average of $1375 for 5880
school districts or $1787 per capita for the en-
rollment last year of 498908) $7879906
Of the total the expense of natonial govern-
ment was 4103 per cent state government 917
per cent county 1668 per cent township gov-
ernment 431 per cent city and town govern-
ment 1185 per cent and for schools 1696 per
cent
The per capita cost of government to the
people of this state for the year was $2732 At
the ratio of one to seven it was $19121 per annum
or $1510 per month to the actual contributor
This state depends largely upon agriculture
and wheat and cotton are its principal crops To
the returns from its forty-five millions of bushels
of wheat in 1915 it was compelled to add a sub-
stantial sum to meet its expense of government
Federal reports for the year fix $198000000 as
the total value of its agriculture products and
$97000000 as the value of its mineral and other
products of which the cost of government last
year represented approximately one-sixth
The constitution of this state limits the ad
valorem tax levy to thirty-one mills upon a cash
valuation with the provision that special levies
may be voted for school purposes The levy limit
is required with few exceptions for the mainte-
nance of public offices and institutions and de-
ficiencies are an almost invariable rule Over
40 per cent of all school districts held special
elections last year for the purpose of voting
necessary extra levies Consequently such im-
provements as arc made out of current revenues
arc more than off-set by refunding bonds and
judgments all other improvements are dependent
upon bond issues and the weight of this burden
is responsible for a public bonded indebtedness of
$7109102399 which if the state’s pro-rata of
national debt of $17676648 is added is $5223
per capita or a liability of $36554 to the indi-
vidual who must bear the burden
There are thirty thousand persons in Okla-
homa drawing pay in the service of the federal
state county city township and school govern-
ments not including 1S96 regular soldiers and
10818 school teachers whose salaries are paid out
of public funds and 17640 non-salaries school
officers
The federal government employed in this
state last year approximately 8500 persons
there are 3365 salaried and fee officers and at-
taches of institutions and departments of state
government including deputies and justice court
officers there arc 6984 employed in county gov-
ernment cities and incorporated towns have paid
officers and employes including police and fire-
men totaling over 5000 of the 12480 township
officers over 5000 drew pay from public funds
and there are approximately 1500 officers em-
ployes and attaches of school districts who drew
salaries not including teachers and non-salaricd
officers
About 70 per cent of the thirty thousand in
the service of government last year drew regular
salaries while the remainder received fees costs
or irregular employment If 80 per cent of the
total expended fur government exclusive of
schools was invested in salaries the average to
the employe was $89998
The total vote cast in this state at the last
election was 258631 of which thirty thousand
governmental attaches is one for every 862 vot-
ers If regular soldiers and school teachers are
added the ratio is one to six
The Intangible Burdens of Government
The burden of government upon the re-
sources and energy of the public is not fully cov-
ered in the above There is a vast intangible
outlay that must be considered The duty on im-
ports and expense incident to its payment are a
part of the original cost to the importer and prof-
its are there and thereafter computed upon the
basis of the original investment By similar pro-
cess a substantial cost above receipts attaches
to practically all indirect revenues To illustrate
the enormity of this intangible expense of gov-
ernment a few concrete examples follow
This state imposes a 2 per cent tax on gross
insurance premiums and entrance and license
fees The total gross premiums collected last
year amount to $10769336 and the insurance
department derived from insurance companies
$268516 The laws exact many reports and im-
pose other expenses upon insurance companies
The state insurance board approves a load of
from 5 to 7 per cent in gross premium charges
to cover this expense The cost to the policy
Continued on page 4
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Appleby, John D. & Gill, Eugene. The Oklahoma State Capital (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 1916, newspaper, November 17, 1916; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1792380/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.