GEMS OF GUBERNATORIAL WISDOM CULLED BY HARVEY WALKER FROM GOVERNORS' MESSAGES

OF 1931

Some you will agree with; some you will not agree with; some, .. .. .. .. .. .. .. -. .. perhaps, you will not understand. :: ..

The credit of the state is beyond question. No bank has ever failed to let us

Prohibition is no experiment. It is a noble principle.-Miller, Alabama. It must be kept economically possible for a man to avoid going to prison.-

G-reen, Michigan. The wisdom of our Fathers was never more strikingly demonstrated than in

the sound constitutional provision which prevents the state from assuming bonded indebtedness in order to meet the financial demands of expanding modern government.-Leslie, Indiana.

It is a well-established principle of the government of the United States that territory as well as population has a right to representation in legislative bodies.- Emmerson, Illinois.

Only when administration fails should we turn to legislation.-Brucker, Michigan.

We are the recipients of a clear mandate from a noble constituency. . . . -Turner, Iowa.

We are only one link in the chain of state administration.-Wdring, Kanam. Any man who could foretell the outcome of business ventures unerringly would

be worth $1,000,000 a year to the financiers of Wall Street. He would not be available for the office of securities commissioner a t a salary of $4,500.- Christianson, Minnesota.

The platform is an obligation second only to the constitution itself.-Sterling, Texm.

Party platforms are solemn covenants with the people.-Moody, Texas. This tentative program . . . is based upon the platform promises and pledges

on which the administration was elected to office. It is, in other words, the mandate of the people . . . which neither you . . . nor I . . . have the right or authority to disregard.-Seligman, New Mexico.

Excessive taxes were an important contributing factor in creating the present economic depression.-Adam, Colorado.

There is a certain ferocity for righteousness which brings about turmoil and strife to no end and this is to be altogether deplored as inconsistent with the general well being of the people.-Rolph, California.

have all that we have asked for.--Graves, Alabama.

The poorhouse should be abolished forever.-Meier, Oregon. Perhaps the people of the state should not look a gift horse in the mouth, but

they can be permitted a little skepticism when upon closer examination it resem- 393

394 NATIONAL MUNICIPAL REVIEW

bles a nice large white elephant. (Referring to an offer of the federal government to turn over certain public lands to the state.)-NmbZad, Oregon.

Administrative functions carried on by ex o6cio committees and boards have proved diabolical, extravagant, incompetent and unbusinesslike.-Hadley, Washington.

I have viewed with gravest concern the continued efforts of federal departments and bureaus to encroach upon the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the state.- Hunt, Ari2ona.

We should protect our Christian Sunday and prevent it being commercialized by amusement operated for gain.-Graves, Alabama.

I have been enjoined by the courts more than any governor in the history of the state.-Richards, South Carolina.

Many a man is sent to prison, but it is his wife and children and the taxpayer who are punished.-Conley, West Virginia.

The automobile is an inherently dangerous instrumentality.-Ely, Massachzi- setts.

The two main factors entering into good administration are thorough organiza- tion and a force of employees well trained, loyal and industrious. . . . No administration can succeed without the SUPPOI? of public opinion.-Fisher, Penn- qylvania.

It should be easy for the people to see their governor.-Pinchot, Pennsylvania. The old governmental system of guilds is one of the best forms of government

ever devised.-Larson, New Jersey. Remember that the purpose of government is to protect the people by restrain-

ing unwise and evil conduct and by encouraging wise and virtuous action, not to repeal the laws of human nature nor to suspend the laws of economics.-8hufer, North Dakota.

I recommend that all discrimination between citizens be wiped from the statute books by the repeal of the intangible tax law, so that the citizens will be one hundred per cent American in the manner in which they pay their taxes as well as in their patriotism.-Bryan, Nebraska.

You are fresh from the people. Their wishes as expressed at the ballot box are fresh in your memories. There can be no mistake in their command.-Horton, Tennessee.

The collecting together of thousands in a university does not a t all improve it. . . . The average university graduate acquires a taste far beyond his ability to satisfy. . . . No university ever made a brain.-Munay, Oklahoma.