History of Wyoming - Chapter XVI

WESTERN GOVERNORS' SPECIAL

CHAPTER XVI
FROM BROOKS TO HOUX
Ninth Legislature—Political Campaign of 1908—Tenth Legislature—Election of 1910—Carey's Administration—Eleventh Legislature—Apportionment of State Senators and Representatives—Direct Primary Law—Corrupt Practices Act—Battleship Wyoming—Western Governors' Special Campaign of 1912—Twelth Legislature—The State Fair—Miscellaneous Acts—Political Campaign of 1914—Kendrick's Administration—Thirteenth Legislature—Workmen's Compensation Act—Miscellaneous Legisation—Campaign of 1916—Fourteenth Legislature—Prohibition Question—The Constitutional Ammendment—Highway Commission—State Flag and Flower—General Laws—Houx's Administration—War With Germany ... 242
    Governor Brooks took the oath of office for the beginning of his second term on January 7, 1907, and the next day witnessed the assembling of the
NINTH LEGISLATURE
    At the opening of this session, O. H. Brown, of Uinta County, was elected president of the Senate, and Scott K. Snively, of Sheridan County, was chosen speaker of the House. In his message at the beginning of the session. Governor Brooks advocated the passage of a primary election law, and on the subject of taxation he said: '"Two years ago, in my message to the Legislature, I called attention to the fact that the mileage valuations placed upon railroad property in this state for taxation purposes have remained practically unchanged for a number of years. It is generally believed among our people that railroads do not pay their just proportion of taxes. In order to bring this subject fairly before the Legislature, I some time ago requested the attorney-general to investigate the matter thoroughly, particularly in regard to the taxes levied in surrounding states, and submit a report to my office upon the subject."
    The report of the attorney-general, which was submitted as part of the governor's message, showed that in Nebraska and Utah the Union Pacific was taxed on a valuation of $11,000 per mile, and in Wyoming, $8,000; the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy was taxed on a valuation of $7,600 per mile in Nebraska and only $4,100 in Wyoming, and in the case of the Oregon Short Line, the State of Idaho placed a valuation upon it of $10,300, while Wyoming's valuation was but $8,000. Commenting on these figures, the governor announced that the average railroad tax of $163 per mile in Wyoming was from $45 to $125 lower than any of the adjacent states except South Dakota. Notwithstanding the emphasis the governor placed upon this subject, the Legislature failed to pass a law providing for a higher rate of assessment of railroad property.
    By an act approved February 9, 1907, the premises and property of the state deaf and dumb and blind asylum at Cheyenne were assigned for use as military headquarters, the office of the adjutant-general, and for the storage and care of military supplies. And on the same day the governor approved the act transferring the penitentiary at Laramie and the land upon which it is located to the State University for the use of the Agricultural College and experiment station. This act carried with it an appropriation of $5,000 for the repair of the building.
    The sum of $50,000 was appropriated for the erection of a new building for the accommodation of female patients at the Wyoming State Hospital for the Insane at Evanston, and a tax levy sufficient to raise $25,000 a year for two years was authorized to provide the necessary funds for that purpose. An appropriation of $25,000 was also made for building a girls' dormitory at the State University.
    The old law relating to compulsory education was repealed and a new one enacted. Another act of this session provided for regulating deposits in banks and the safekeeping of the public funds. By this act the governor, secretary and treasurer of state were created a "board of deposit," and banks in which the state funds were to be deposited were required to deposit approved securities or give bond in some responsible surety company.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1908
    No state officers were to be elected in Wyoming in 1908 and the entire interest centered upon the presidential campaign. The republican national convention was held in Chicago on June 16th. William H. Taft, of Ohio, was nominated for President, and James S. Sherman, of New York, for Vice President. On July 7th the democratic national convention assembled in Denver, Colorado. William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, and John W. Kern, of Indiana, were named for President and Vice President, respectively. The populist candidates were Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, and Samuel Williams, of Indiana, and the socialists renominated their candidate of 1904 (Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana) for President, and Emil Seidel, of Wisconsin, for Vice President.
    In Wyoming the republicans nominated for presidential electors John W. Hay, Fred Waegle and Thomas A. Cosgriff; the democratic candidates were Andrew McMicken, John Howard and Barnett G. Rogers; the popuhst candidates were Thomas Crosbie, William W. Paterson and John T. Hawkins. At the election of November 3. 1908, the republican electors received 20,846 votes; the democratic electors, 14,918; and the populist electors, 1,715. A few votes were cast for the socialist and prohibition candidates. For representative in Congress, Frank W. Mondell, the republican candidate, received 21,431 votes to 13,643 cast for Hayden M. White, democrat, and 2,486 for James Morgan, the candidate of the people's party.
TENTH LEGISLATURE
    The tenth session of the Wyoming State Legislature commenced at Cheyenne on January 12, 1909. The Senate organized by electing Edward T. Clark, of Laramie County, president, and the House selected as speaker C. E. Hayden. of Bighorn County.
    >During the closing years of President Roosevelt's administration the subject of conserving the natural resources of the nation was one of considerable interest. In May. 1908, a meeting of the governors of the several states was held in Washington, upon the President's invitation, to exchange ideas and views upon this question. Governor Brooks, in his message to the Legislature in 1909, referred to this congress of governors and gave his opinions upon the subject of conservation. He began this part of his message by referring to the constitutional provision that: "The water of all natural streams, springs, lakes or other collections of still water, within the boundaries of the state, are hereby declared to be the property of the state."
    "Our water power resources." said the governor, "have an enormous value and should be developed for the benefit of the whole state, rather than made a means of taxing the state for the enrichment of outside corporations. There should be no possible loophole whereby wealthy syndicates can acquire, free of cost, water rights that in future years can only be extinguished by condemnation. There is no reason in economics or good government why any state should give away property of such inestimable value, and this is not done in any enlightened country on earth except our own. Every power privilege granted in Wyoming should be in the nature of a license, subject to an annual license fee and future regulation of charges whenever the Legislature sees fit.
    "Unfortunately, the present policy relative to the conservation of this, like other natural resources, seems to be to accomplish all reforms through Federal agencies. The limelight is all on the national stage. Reforms and good policies are not to be struggled for at home, but are to be placed in the hands of Federal departments, whose chiefs are overanxious to strengthen their departments, and as they are not acquainted with local conditions, their meddlesome activity frequently acts as a hindrance to our development, and hence irritates our people.
    "Reforms, in a great measure, ought to be left to the virtue and patriotism of the state and county, and local control in these matters will bring far better and more satisfactory results. To say the state cannot and will not do the right thing is disproved by what Wyoming is doing in irrigation. It is in effect to say that self government is a failure and must be replaced by bureaucratic rule."
    This message of Governor Brooks has been quoted at length, because the subject of conservation of natural resources is one in which the people of Wyoming are deeply interested. In 1908, the year before this message was delivered to the Legislature, it cost the Federal Government more than one hundred thousand dollars to manage the forest reserves in the State of Wyoming. There is no doubt that the reserves could have been managed by the state authorities for a much less sum and in a more satisfactory manner.
    Governor Brooks again called the attention of the Legislature to the inequalities existing in Wyoming's system of assessing property and levying taxes. On this subject he said: "Nearly a year ago I determined to appoint a commission of five well known citizens to examine the taxation laws of Wyoming, suggest changes, correct irregularities, etc. The commission appointed consisted of William R. Schnitger, William E. Mullen. A. D. Cook, John E. Hay and L. G. Duhig. Despite the fact that this commission would receive no compensation, and that the duties outlined would require close attention, much time and considerable personal expense, all members of the commission accepted the appointment promptly and from a pure sense of public duty assumed the responsibilities without hesitation. They have performed their work faithfully and well, and I take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to every individual member of that commission for faithful services. They have gone into the matter carefully and after thorough investigation have submitted a full report and outlined a bill for the improvement of our system of taxation.'
    In response to the governor's recommendations on this subject, and in line with the report of the commission, the Legislature passed an act creating the ofifice of "commissioner of taxation," said commissioner to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The bill provided for a salary of $2,500 per year and fixed the term of office at four years. The commissioner was to have and exercise authority over the administration of all assessments, to advise assessors and boards of county commissioners, make appraisements of all railroad property, telegraph and telephone lines, express companies and sleeping car companies doing business in Wyoming, etc. John McGill, of Albany County, was appointed the first commissioner of taxation under the new law.
    A state board of immigration of three members, to be appointed by the governor, was created by the tenth Legislature, and the sum of $11,000 was appropriated for the use of the board in collecting, publishing and disseminating information regarding the state and its resources, and state, county and other officials were required by the act to furnish the board information concerning their respective localities.
    Another act of this session created a board of three citizens to conduct experiments in dry farming. The members of the board were to be appointed by the governor and when organized, the board was authorized to employ a director of the experiments at a salary not exceeding two thousand dollars. An appropriation of $5,000 was made for the purpose of conducting the experiments.
    Other acts of the session provided for the seizure and destruction of gambling devices; for the proper ventilation of coal mines: for a system of recording brands on live stock, and repealing all laws in conflict therewith; for a branch of the Wyoming General Hospital at Casper: creating Park County; and to encourage the destruction of predatory wild animals.
ELECTION OF 1910
    In the political campaign of ic;io a new feature was introduced. During the session of Congress that began in December, 1909, a number of republican members, dissatisfied with the rulings of Speaker Cannon, united with the democrats to amend the rules of the House in such a manner as to deprive the speaker of some of his power. These republican members, most of whom were from the western states, received the name of "insurgents." Their action was indorsed, however, by a large number of republicans throughout the country and the term "insurgents," first used in derision, became popular. Joseph M. Carey, former United States senator from Wyoming, dissatisfied with numerous acts of the Taft administration during the first years of its existence, and with the republican party management of state affairs, announced himself as an independent candidate for the office of governor.
    The repubhcan state convention at RawHns on Thursday, September 15, 1910, marked the active opening of the campaign. William E. Mullen, of Sheridan, was nominated for governor; William R. Schnitger, of Cheyenne, secretary of state; Robert B. Forsyth, of Rock Springs, auditor of state; John L. Baird, of Newcastle, treasurer of state; Archibald D. Cook, of Douglas, superintendent of public instruction; Charles N. Potter, of Cheyenne, justice of the Supreme Court; Frank W. Mondell, of Newcastle, representative in Congress.
    The platform adopted by the convention indorsed the administration of President Taft, and also that of Governor Brooks; urged the reelection of Clarence D. Clark to the United States senate; expressed satisfaction with the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill enacted by the previous session of Congress; and declared in favor of the contract system for the employment of prisoners in the Wyoming penitentiary.
    On Tuesday, September 20, 1910, the democratic state convention assembled at Sheridan. A committee, consisting of one member from each county in the state, was appointed to confer with Joseph M. Carey in relation to his accepting a nomination for governor from the convention, upon a platform embodying his views on certain public questions. Mr. Carey gave his assent and made some suggestions as to what the platform should embrace. The name of W. L. Kuyken-dall was presented as a candidate for governor, but it was immediately withdrawn, and upon the only ballot taken Joseph M. Carey received 105 votes ; J. B. Henderson, of Lander, thirty-six votes, one delegate not voting. Frank L. Houx, of Cody, was then nominated for secretary of state; George C. Forsythe, of Lusk, auditor of state; Earl Whedon, of Sheridan, treasurer of state; Rose A. Bird, of Newcastle, superintendent of public instruction; Thomas H. Gibson, of Laramie, justice of the Supreme Court; William B. Ross, of Cheyenne, representative in Congress.
    The platform declared in favor of a constitutional amendment for the initiative and referendum; the enactment of a law providing for the nomination of all state and county candidates at a primary election; the passage of a corrupt practices act; the conservation of natural resources; an eight-hour day for workmen employed upon all public works; and an act to prohibit the use of large campaign funds by political parties.
    In this campaign the socialist party placed a full ticket in the field, to-wit: William W. Paterson, for governor: Lyman Payne, secretary of state; Joseph A. Johnson, auditor of state; Gabriel Silfvast. treasurer of state; Lucy Bode, superintendent of public instruction ; H. V. S. Groesbeck. justice of the Supreme Court; James Morgan, representative in Congress.
    The election of 1910 was held on the 8th of November and resulted in the choice of a "mixed ticket," the democrats electing the governor, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction, and the republicans electing the auditor and treasurer of state, the justice of the Supreme Court and the representative in Congress. For governor, Carey received 21,086 votes ; Mullen, 15,235 ; and Paterson, 1,605. Carey's plurality was the largest received by any of the candidates. Houx was elected secretary of state by a plurality of only thirty-seven votes, and Miss Bird defeated Mr. Cook for superintendent of public instruction by a plurality of 1,343. The pluralities of the victorious republican candidates were as follows: Auditor of state, 766; treasurer of state, 207; justice of the Supreme Court, 1,059. Mondell defeated Ross for Congress by a vote of 20,312 to 14,609. Morgan, the socialist candidate for representative in Congress, polled 2,155 votes, the highest number of any of the socialist candidates.
CAREY'S ADMINISTRATION
    Joseph jVI. Carey, sixth governor of the State of Wyoming, was born at Milton, Sussex County, Delaware, January 19, 1845. His early education was acquired in the schools of his native town, after which he spent two years in Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., and then began the study of law with Benjamin F. Temple, of Philadelphia, In 1867 he graduated in the law department of the University of Pennsylvania and began practice in Philadelphia. When the Territory of Wyoming was organized in the spring of 1869, President Grant appointed Mr. Carey United States district attorney for the new territory. This office he held until 1871, when he was appointed associate justice of the Territorial Supreme Court. In 1876 he retired from the bench to devote his attention to his large live stock interests, in which he engaged in 1871 with his brother, R. D. Carey, operating in both Wyoming and the Dakotas.
    In 1880 Mr. Carey was elected mayor of Cheyenne and was twice reelected, holding the office for three consecutive terms. In 1884 he was elected delegate to Congress, which office he likewise held for three successive terms. While a delegate in Congress he introduced the bill under which Wyoming was admitted to statehood, and in 1890 he was elected one of the first United States senators from the new state. From 1876 to 1896 he was a member of the republican national committee; was one of the organizers of the Wyoming Development Company in 1885; was for a time president of the Wheatland Roller Mill Company; and he and his associates erected some of the best business blocks in the City of Cheyenne. In 1894 Union College made him an honorary chancellor and conferrred on him the degree of LL. D. In 1910 he was elected governor of Wyoming. Upon retiring from that office in January, 1915, he again became actively interested in stock raising and real estate operations. Mr. Carey's name is inseparably linked with the "Carey Arid Land Law," which was the first act passed by Congress on the subject of irrigation.
ELEVENTH LEGISLATURE
    Governor Carey took the oath of office on January 2, 1911, and the eleventh session of the State Legislature was convened at Cheyenne on the loth. Jacob M. Schwoob, of Bighorn County, was elected president of the Senate, and L. R. Davis, of Crook County, was chosen speaker of the House. In his message. Governor Carey devoted considerable attention to the subjects of the initiative and referendum and the recall of public officials.
    "The initiative and referendum," said he. "are being considered and adopted in many of the states, and I believe they will be-generally tried. I earnestly ask you to consider the matter. Representative government is not destroyed, but the Legislature is able to secure the expressed will of the people."
    On the subject of the recall he said: "The recall of an elected officer who disobeys the will of the people and who proves untnie to his trust, though adopted in several of the states, has only been resorted to in one or two instances. The power to exercise this power seems to have deterred even the unprincipled from violating their pledges. It simply means that the people reserve to themselves the right that the employer has to dismiss an unfaithful and dishonest servant."
    Section 2 of the second part of Article 3 of the state constitution provides that: "The Legislature shall provide by law for an enumeration of the inhabitants of the state in the year 1895, and every tenth year thereafter, and at the session next following such enumeration, and also at the session next following an enumeration made by the authority of the United States, shall revise and adjust the apportionment for senators and representatives, on a basis of such enumeration according to ratios fixed by law."
    In accordance with this section, it became the duty of the Legislature of 1911 to readjust the apportionment. In referring to the matter the governor said: "The census reports for Wyoming have been, so far as population is concerned, fully determined in the case of each county. It is to be regretted that these apportionments are not always followed by the best of feeling in all the counties, as the claim is usually made that the ratios are fixed so as to give some counties an undue power in the Legislature, through the manipulation of the fractions that occur by the use of arbitrary divisions."
    On February 18, 1911, Governor Carey approved an apportionment act which provided that: "Each organized county in the State of Wyoming shall constitute a separate senatorial and representative district, and until otherwise provided by law, each organized county as aforesaid shall have representation in the Wyoming State Legislature as follows:"
Counties Senators Representatives
Albany 2 4
Bighorn 2 3
Carbon23
Converse13
Crook13
Fremont24
Johnson12
Laramie510
Natrona12
Park12
Sheridan 3 7
Sweetwater 2 4
Uinta 3 7
Weston 1 2
Totals2757
    Among the acts passed during the session was one submitting to the people an amendment to Section 1, .Article 3 of the constitution, so that it should read as follows: "Section 1. The legislative power of the state shall be vested in a Senate and House of Representatives, which shall be designated 'The Legislature of the State of Wyoming,' but the people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or reject the same at the polls, and also reserve the power at their option to approve or reject at the polls any act of the Legislature."
    The proposed amendment also provided that the first power (the initiative) could be called into use when 25 per cent of the legal voters of the state, by petition, asked that any certain measure be enacted into law, such petition to be filed with the secretary of state at least four months before a general election. The second power (the referendum) could be ordered against any act of the Legislature (except those relating to appropriations) after it had become a law, when 25 per cent of the legal voters petitioned for its submission and filed the petition with the secretary of state ninety days before the election
    Seven new counties were created at this session, to-wit: Campbell, Goshen, Hot Springs, Lincoln, Niobrara. Platte and Washakie, and an act supplementary to those creating the above counties provided for defraying the expenses of their organization.
    On February 11, 1911, the governor affixed his signature to an act of fifty-three sections known as the "Direct Primary Law." Section i of the act provides that: "From and after the passage of this act, the candidates of political parties for all offices which under the law are filled by the direct vote of the people of this state at the general election in November: candidates for the office of senator in the Congress of the United States, shall be elected at the primary elections at the times and in the manner hereinafter provided."
    A political party is defined by the act as an organization "which at the last preceding general election cast for its candidate for representative in Congress at least 10 per cent of the total vote cast at said election," and the time fixed for holding the primary election is the first Tuesday after the third Monday in August. The act further provides that state conventions for the nomination of candidates for presidential electors shall be held on the second Monday in May in the years when a President and Vice President of the United States are to be elected.
    A "Corrupt Practices Act" was approved by the governor on February 17, 1911. Under the provisions of this act the campaign expenses of candidates for office are limited to 20 per cent of one year's salary or compensation for the primary election, and a like amount for the general election. Every candidate is required to render to the county clerk, within twenty days after each primary or general election, an itemized statement of the expenses incurred by him during the campaign, with a list of things of value promised by himself or others to secure his nomination or election.
    County chairmen of central committees are also required to file an itemized statement of contributions and expenses with the county clerk; district and state chairmen with the secretary of state. The act prohibits any campaign committee from receiving contributions from corporations, and candidates are not permitted to hire the services of any voter. Anyone violating any of the provisions of the act, or failing to perform the duties required thereby, is subject to a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
    Two state institutions were estabhshed by the Legislature of 1911, viz.: The Wyoming Industrial Institute and the Wyoming School for Defectives. By the act creating the former it was provided that the institute should be located by vote at the general election in November, 1912. At the election the Town of Worland received the largest vote and the institute was located there. The school for defectives was located by the Legislature at Lander, "for the treatment and education of epileptics and feeble-minded persons." The 10,000 acres of land granted to the state by the act of July 10, 1890, for the poor farm in Fremont County, with all its rental and income, was transferred to the school for defectives, and the following appropriations for the institution were made: $10,500 for equipping and furnishing; $20,000 for support and maintenance, and Sio.ooo for providing water and sewer connections.
BATTLESHIP WYOMING
An appropriation of $7,500, "or so much thereof as may be necessary," was made by the Legislature of 1911 to purchase a silver set, or other suitable token, for the Battleship Wyoming. This vessel was launched in May, 1911, and was christened by Miss Dorothy Knight, daughter of the late Jesse Knight, one of the justices of the Wyoming Supreme Court.
    The silver service of over sixty pieces was designed by the Buechner Jewelry Company of Cheyenne and was manufactured by the Gorham Company of New York. Upon one side of the great punch bowl was the figure of Sacajawea, the Snake Indian woman who acted as guide to Lewis and Clark in 1804, and who is said to be buried on the AMnd River reservation in Wyoming, and on the other side a white woman dressed in civilized costume. In the main platter was a representation of the state capitol building at Cheyenne. Each piece in the set U'as bordered by the flower of the blue gentian, the whole making an artistic gift of the state to one of the greatest battleships in the United States navy.
    Early in the fall of 1911. ex-Governor James H. Brady, of Idaho, conceived the idea of running a special train from the states of the Northwest to the eastern part of the country, to exhibit the products and advertise the resources of those states for the purpose of encouraging immigration. He enlisted the cooperation of Louis Hill, president, and James Hill, chairman of the executive committee, of the Great Northern Railroad Company, which bore the greater part of the expense of the undertaking. These gentlemen foresaw that if the advertising of the Northwest resulted in bringing immigrants to those states, the shipment of products would naturally increase correspondingly and the cost of the "Western Governors' Special," as the train was called, would be bread cast upon the waters to be returned after many days.
    The following states were represented, chiefly by the governors: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho. Montana, Colorado, North Dakota. South Dakota, Wyoming and Minnesota. Each state was furnished space for a display of its products and resources. Wyoming occupied about half of one of the cars and her display, collected mainly through the efforts of the board of immigration, presented an interesting and creditable exhibit of the possibilities of the state. The material furnished by the several states was sent to St. Paul, Minn., the starting point of the "special."e; At 10 P. M., November 27, 1911, the train of eleven cars, consisting of new steel parlor cars, exhibition cars and baggage cars, left St. Paul and arrived in Chicago the next morning. From that point the trip included the states of Michigan, New York. Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In his message to the Legislature in 1913, Governor Carey said:
    "The exhibition cars were thrown open to the crowds at every place where there was a stop. The representatives of the states included in the train were most hospitably received everywhere. The people all along the route showed their anxiety to know of the Northwest. At each of the many towns and cities visited, speeches and addresses were made telling of the resources of the Northwest."
    At Kalamazoo, Mich., the public schools were closed while the train was in the city and hundreds of school children, accompanied by their teachers, passed through the cars. At Harrisburg, Pa., where the arrival of the train had been well advertised, 10,000 people, many of them farmers, saw the display. As they passed through the cars frequent remarks were overheard, such as: "Why, I thought the West was nothing but a desert," "I certainly am going to see that country," etc., showing the interest of the visitors to be more than mere curiosity.
    The train arrived at St. Paul on December 16, 1911, having been "on the road" for nineteen days, during which time nine states, and a large number of cities and educational institutions were visited. Just before the arrival at St. Paul those on board effected a permanent organization including the states of California, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming. North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana and Utah. James H. Brady was elected president and Reilly Atkinson, secretary.
CAMPAIGN OF 1912
    Under the direct primary act of February 11, 1911, the tirst political conventions in the state to nominate presidential electors, etc., were held on May 13, 1912, in Cheyenne. Bryant B. Brooks was chosen chairman of the republican convention, which nominated for electors William B. Sleeper, of Bighorn County: John Higgins, of Converse: and Andrew Olson, of Carbon. Frank W. Mondell was renominated for representative in Congress, and Cyrus Beard for justice of the Supreme Court. As the national convention had not yet been held, the following delegates and alternates were elected: Francis E. Warren, Clarence D. Clark, Frank W. Mondell, Patrick Sullivan, W. H. Huntley and W. L. Walls, delegates; C. M. Ebey. John Morton, C. E. Carpenter, J. D. Woodruff, J. A. Gill and John Barry alternates.
    C. L. Rigdon was elected chairman of the democratic convention. John C. Thompson, of Laramie County; Peter Kinney, of Weston; and Albert L. Brook, of Johnson, were chosen as the presidential electors, though Mr. Brook was succeeded on the ticket by Thomas M. Hyde. Thomas P. Fahey was nominated for representative in Congress, and Gibson Clark for justice of the Supreme Court. Delegates to the national convention–A. N. Hasenkamp. James E. Mayes, Roy Montgomery, John D. Clark, B. F. Perkins and P. J. Ouealy. Alternates– George T. Beck, William Reid, R. B. Hackney, J. L. Jordan, T. S. Taliaferro and C. L. Decker.
    The socialists nominated Otto Humberger, Paul J. Paulsen and John Snaja, Jr., for presidential electors; Antony Carlson for representative in Congress; and H. V. S. Groesbeck, for justice of the Supreme Court.
    On June 18, 1912, the republican national convention assembled in Chicago. The leading candidates for the Presidency were William H. Taft, who was then President and a candidate for a second term, and former President Theodore Roosevelt. The latter's friends charged the Taft managers with unfair methods in seating delegates, etc., and 344 of the 1,078 delegates refused to participate in the nomination. Only one ballot was taken. President Taft receiving the nomination by a vote of 540 to 107 for Roosevelt, with sixty votes scattering and six delegates absent. Vice President James S. Sherman was also renominated, but his death occurred before the election, and the vacancy on the ticket was filled by the selection of Nicholas M. Butler, of New York.
    The democratic national convention met in Baltimore, Md., June 25. 1912, and remained in session until the 2d of July. Woodrow Wilson, of New Jersey, was nominated for President on the forty-sixth ballot, and Thomas R. Marshall, of Indiana, was nominated for Mce President.
    The ill feeling engendered by the republican national convention resulted in the formation of the progressive party, which held a convention in Chicago on August 5-7, 1912. Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for President and Hiram W. Johnson, of California, for Vice President. In Wyoming the presidential electors on the progressive ticket were: Thomas Blyth. Helen B. Grant and Robert R. Selway. Charles E. Winter was nominated for representative in Congress, and E. R. Shipp for justice of the Supreme Court.
    On November 5, 1912, occurred the election. The democratic presidential electors carried the state, the vote being as follows: Democratic, 15.310; republican, 14,560; progressive, 9,132; socialist, 2,760. The republican candidates for Congress and justice of the Supreme Court were elected.
TWELFTH LEGISLATURE
    In organizing the twelfth Legislature, which was convened at Cheyenne on Tuesday. January 14, 1913, Birney H. Sage, of Laramie County, was elected president of the Senate, and Martin L. Pratt, of Park County, speaker of the House. In his message Governor Carey expressed his regret that the constitutional amendment providing for the initiative and referendum failed to receive a majority of the votes cast at the recent preceding election, and on the subject of taxation he recommended the creation of a state tax commission "consisting of at least three persons who should devote their entire time and attention to the questions of taxation and revenue in the state, in the counties, in the cities and in the school districts. The powers of this tax commission should be advisory, directory, and if necessary, compulsory."
    He announced that the tax lew for the establishment of the Wvoming Industrial Institute at Worland had resulted in a fund of about one hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars during the years 1911 and 1912; suggested a change in the laws relating to practice in the courts, to avoid delay ; commended the Kansas "Blue Sky Law," and referred to the operations of the Penn-Wyoming Oil Company, through which millions of dollars had been obtained from credulous people without giving anything in return.
THE STATE FAIR
    For several years prior to 1913 the state fair had been held annually at Douglas. In his message to the Legislature in 1913, Governor Carey said: "The ground upon which the fair buildings stands belongs to the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company and is probably worth fifteen thousand dollars. The company leased the land to the state at a nominal rental at the time the state fair was inaugurated and the state has improvements thereon to the value of about twenty thousand dollars. The time has arrived when the matter of the state owning the land should be seriously considered.
    "The Fair Association and the governor have had the matter up with the proper authorities of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and they have offered to give the lands to the state if the state will agree to make $50,000 worth of improvements thereon, the land to revert to the railroad company whenever the state ceases to use it for fair purposes."
    Appropriations for the benefit of the state fair were made during the session as follows: $22,000 for premiums and expenses of the fair for the years 1913 and 1914; $20,000 for the erection of permanent buildings and general improvements : $7,245, or so much thereof as might be necessary for paying off the indebtedness of the State Fair Commission of 1912.
MISCELLANEOUS ACTS
    Two constitutional amendments were submitted to the people by the twelfth Legislature–one authorizing the Legislature to provide by law a fund for the compensation of injured employees in extra hazardous occupations, or for the benefit of their families in the event of death by accident, and the other to provide for a special tax on live stock, the proceeds to be used for the destruction of predatory animals.
    An appropriation of $10,000, or so much thereof as might be necessary, was made to pay Wyoming's share of the cost of an interstate bridge over the south fork of the Snake River on the Idaho-Wyoming line.
    Another act provided for the establishment of an experimental farm in the County of Sweetwater, to consist of not less than 160 nor more than 320 acres, at an altitude not exceeding 6.300 feet, to "demonstrate the adaptability of the soil and climatic conditions for producing different classes of grain, grasses, vegetables, fruit and shade trees, etc.. at such an altitude."
    What might be termed a "pure food law" was passed at this session. It provided for the inspection and sanitation of all places where food products are manufactured, stored, collected or sold, such as canning factories, cheese factories, slaughter houses, hotels, restaurants, etc. The state dairy and food commissioner and his deputies were authorized to make inspections as often as they deemed necessary. Employees in such places were required to wear clean clothing, and penalties were provided for adulterating milk, selling or offering for sale diseased meats, feeding offal to animals intended for food, etc. An appropriation of $3,500 was made to carry out the provisions of the act. For the first violation of any of the provisions of the law the penalty was a fine of from ten to fifty dollars, and for each subsequent offense a fine of from fifty to one hundred dollars, to which might be added imprisonment in the county jail for thirty days, at the discretion of the court.
    Other acts of this session were those requiring coal mining companies to install and keep in working order a system of party line telephones in each mine; creating the fifth and sixth judicial districts; making it the duty of the county commissioners in each county to provide an office for the county superintendent of schools; extending the right of eminent domain to pipe line companies: ordering cities and towns incorporated under special charters to surrender the same and reincorporate under the general law; creating the Oregon Trail Commission and appropriating $2,500 for marking the trail: and to license and register automobiles.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1914
    In 1914 a full state ticket was to be elected and the first nominations were made under the direct primary law of February 11, 1911. The republicans nominated Hilliard S. Ridgely for governor; Birney H. Sage, secretary of state: Robert B. Forsyth, auditor of state; Herman B. Gates, treasurer of state; Edith K. O. Clark, superintendent of public instruction; Richard H. Scott, justice of the Supreme Court; and Frank W. Mondell, representative in Congress.
    The democratic candidates nominated by the primary were as follows: John B. Kendrick, for governor; Frank L. Houx, secretary of state; Campbell H. McWhinnie, auditor of state; Fred L. Thompson, treasurer of state; Iva T. Irish, superintendent of public instruction; Charles E. Blydenburgh, justice of the Supreme Court; Douglas A. Preston, representative in Congress.
    In the primary the progressives voted for John B. Kendrick for governor, and the remainder of the progressive ticket was as follows: E. C. Raymond, secretary of state : Mortimer N. Grant, auditor of state; F. S. Knittle, treasurer of state; Minnie Williams. superintendent of public instruction; Fred H. Blume, representative in Congress. No nomination was made by this party for justice of the Supreme Court. Mortimer N. Grant withdrew and the vacancy on the ticket was filled by Thomas Blyth, who had been one of the progressive candidates for presidential elector in 1912.
    The socialists nominated their candidates by a state convention, to wit: Paul J. Paulsen, for governor; William Hill, for secretary of state; John A. Green, for auditor of state; William W. Paterson, for treasurer of state; Robert Hanna, for superintendent of public instruction; E. D. MacDougall, for justice of the Supreme Court; and Antony Carlson, for representative in Congress.
    John B. Kendrick received 23,387 votes at the general election on November 3, 1914, to 19,174 cast for Ridgely, the republican candidate, and 1,816 for Paulsen, socialist. Frank L. Houx was reelected secretary of state by a plurality of 170, and the republican candidates for all the other offices were elected.
KENDRICK'S ADMINISTRATION
    John B. Kendrick, who was elected governor of Wyoming in 1914, was born in Cherokee County. Texas, September 6, 1857. He grew to manhood on a ranch, receiving his education in the common schools. In March, 1879, he became a cowboy on the "Texas Trail," and that season trailed cattle from the Gulf coast to the Running Water in Wyoming, a distance of fifteen hundred miles. In August, 1879, he located in Wyoming as foreman on the ranch of his father-in-law, Charles W. Wulfjen, where he remained until 1883, when he established the Ula ranch. He became foreman and part owner of the Lance Creek Cattle Company in 1885. Two years later he accepted the position of range manager for the Converse Cattle Company and in 1897 succeeded to the business. About that time he became interested in the development of the Sheridan County coal mines. From 1900 to 1902 he was president of the First National Bank of Sheridan and was also extensively interested in real estate operations. In 1910 he was elected to the state senate; was the democratic candidate for United States Senator in 1912; was elected governor in 1914, and in 1916 was elected United States Senator, defeating Clarence D. Clark, for the term beginning on March 4, 1917.
THIRTEENTH LEGISLATURE
    Governor Kendrick took the oath of office on January 4, 1915, and the thirteenth State Legislature was convened on the 12th. Edward W. Stone, of Laramie County, was elected president of the Senate and James M. Graham, of Fremont County, was chosen speaker of the House. Governor Kendrick's message at the opening of the session dealt with the usual topics relating to the financial condition and general progress of the state. Governor Carey, in his message of 1913, had urged the construction of new wings to the capitol building. This matter was taken up at some length by Governor Kendrick, who indorsed the utterances of Governor Carey of two years before? He also recommended the establishment of more experimental farms and announced the completion of the Institute buildings at Worland.
WORKMANS COMPENSATION ACT
    "At the last general election," said Governor Kendrick in his message of 1915, "an amendment to our constitution was carried by a majority of the electors of the state, providing for a workmen's compensation act. The vote on this amendment was duly canvassed and the proper proclamation of its adoption was made by my predecessor. Governor Carey. An amendment to the constitution is a direct mandate from the people, and is therefore an obligation to be assumed by the Legislature at its earliest opportunity.
    "I would recommend in framing such a law. that due care be exercised to fulfill every function contemplated, that every provision be included to render a just compensation to the injured, or, in case of death, to those dependent upon him. But, at the same time, such a law should be calculated to avoid, so far as possible, the working of a hardship on the industry that pays the tax."
   On February 27. 1915, the governor approved a compensation act providing for the establishment of a "State Industrial Accident Fund."' Extra-hazardous occupations were defined and an appropriation of $30,000 was made at the state's first contribution to the fund. Section 15 also provided that "There is also appropriated annually, until otherwise provided by law. out of any moneys in the state treasury not otherwise appropriated, a sum equal to one-fourth of the total sum which shall be received by the state treasurer from employers under the provisions of section 16 hereof, not, however, to exceed the sum of $40,000."
    Section 16, above referred to, provided that every employer engaged in any of the occupations defined as extra-hazardous should pay into the Industrial Accident Fund a sum equal to two per cent of the wages earned by all his employees. By a supplementary act. approved on February 19, 1917, the state appropriations were discontinued and the tax on employers was reduced to one and one-half per cent. The amendatory act also fixed a schedule of compensation for all classes of injuries, ranging from $75 for the loss of a toe (except the great toe) to $1,000 for the loss of an arm above the elbow ot a leg above the knee. In cases of permanent total disability the injured person receives $1,400 if single and $1,600 if married, with $60 per year for each child under the age of sixteen years until such child is sixteen. Where the total disability is only temporary, the injured workman receives $18 per month if single, $24 if married, with an addition of $5 per month for each child under the age of sixteen years, until able to resume work.
    In the event of death by accident, the surviving widow or invalid husband is entitled to receive $1,200 and $60 per year for each child under sixteen years of age until said child reaches the age of sixteen. Fifty dollars for funeral expenses are also allowed in addition to the above.
    County assessors are required to furnish the state treasurer with a list of employers in their respective counties and the state treasurer collects the 1½ per cent assessment. Refusal on the part of any employer to pay the assessment subjects him to a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars. The attorney-general is authorized to institute proceedings in the name of the state and if judgment is given by the court the assessment is doubled, together with the costs.
    A report of the Workmen's Compensation Department of the state treasurer's office for the fifteen months ending on December 31, 1917, shows the receipts to have been during that period (including a balance of $246,502.57 on hand on October 1, 1916) $520,763.24. During the same period the amount paid in compensation and expenses of administration was $107,999.80, leaving a balance in the Industrial Accident Fund of $412,763.44.
MISCELLANEOUS LEGISLATION
    Two constitutional amendments were submitted to the people by the thirteenth Legislature, to wit: One authorizing the investment of the state public funds in farm mortgages, and the other providing for the construction and improvement of highways by the state.
    Following the recommendations of Governor Kendrick, the Legislature appropriated $5,000 for an experimental farm in Uinta County; $5,000 for another in Sweetwater County, and $13,000 for a third one in Goshen County. The farms thus established are so located that the soil and climatic conditions in different parts of the state can be studied and the results made known to farmers of all classes.
    By an act approved on February 19, 1915, a tax of three-eighths of a mill on each dollar of the assessed valuation of property throughout the state was levied for the purpose of building additions to the capitol at Cheyenne. The capitdl commissioners were authorized to obtain plans and provided for the erection of the new wings at the east and, west ends of the building. The commissioners at that time were Robert B. Forsyth, Herman B. Gates and James B. True. They employed William R. Dubois as architect and the contract for the erection of the wings was awarded to John W. Howard. They were completed in 1917.
    The sum of $12,000 was appropriated for the purchase of the military armory at Lander, and $10,000 "to be used under the governor's direction" in making examinations and surveys of arid lands with a view to their reclamation.
    Another act of this session provided that no woman employed in any manufacturing, mercantile, baking, canning or printing establishment, or in any hotel, restaurant or telephone exchange, etc., should be required to work more than fifty-six hours in any one week. Any employer violating any of the provisions of the act was rendered liable to a fine of from twenty-five to fifty dollars, to which might be added imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than thirty or more than ninety days.
    County commissioners were given power to acquire real estate for fair grounds, parks, and for other purposes, and to maintain and develop the same. They were also authorized to render financial assistance to fair associations.
CAMPAIGN OF 1916
    Under the primary election law of igti, four political state conventions were held in Wyoming on May 8, 1916. The republican convention met at Cheyenne and was presided over by John Dillon. Dwight E. Hollister, John Hay, Patrick Sullivan, Curtis L. Hinkle and Thomas Sneddon were chosen delegates to the national convention, and Dr. H. R. Lathrop, C. P. Plummer, Mrs. L. E. Hamsberger, C. A. Zaring, H. J. Chassell and T. A. Dunn, alternates. The presidential electors nominated were John L. Baird, W. E. Chaplin and Jacob A. Delfelder.
    The democratic convention was held at Casper. The delegates to the national convention were: Governor John B. Kendrick, Victor T. Johnson, J. J. Cash, Peter Kinney, P. J. O'Connor and J. Ross Carpenter. Alternates–Davis Lewis, Mrs. T. S. Taliaferro, J. J. Spriggs, N. Farlow, Alexander Nesbit and Mrs. Mary G. Bellamy. Benjamin Sheldon, John L. Jordan and T. S. Taliaferro were named as presidential electors, but Mr. Sheldon and Mr. Taliaferro were afterward succeeded on the ticket by James P. Smith and A. M. Brock.
    The prohibition convention nominated as presidental electors C. J. Sawyer, Luther J. Wood and Mrs. Ella Watson, and the socialists nominated Matilda Hautamaki, W. S. Oeland and Joseph Dunning.
    The only nominations made by the primary election in August this year were the candidates for United States Senator and representative in Congress. For United States Senator the republicans nominated Clarence D. Clark for reelection; the democrats selected as their candidate Governor John B. Kendrick: the socialists, Paul J. Paulsen; and the prohibitionists, Arthur B. Campbell. Frank W. Mondell was again nominated by the republicans for representative in Congress; John D. Clark was the democratic candidate; the socialists nominated George E. Bateman; and the prohibitionists, Orman C. King.
    In national politics the republicans opened the campaign by holding their national convention at Chicago, beginning on the 9th of June. The progressive national convention was held at the same time and place and a conference committee from the two conventions tried to arrange a plan by which the two parties could "get together." The progressives insisted upon the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt for President, and after several meetings of the conference committee the attempt to establish harmony was abandoned. On the loth the republican convention nominated Charles E. Hughes, of New York, for President on the third ballot, and Charles W. Fairbanks, of Indiana, was named for Vice President. The progressives nominated Theodore Roosexelt for President and John M. Parker, of Louisiana, for Vice President. Roosevelt declined to accept the nomination and the national committee of the party then indorsed the candidacy of Hughes and Fairbanks
    President Wilson and Vice President Marshall were both renominated by acclamation by the democratic national convention, which met at St. Louis on June 14, 1916.
    The prohibition candidates for President and Vice President were J. Frank Hanley, of Indiana, and Ira Landrith, of Massachusetts. Allan J. Benson, of New York, was nominated by the socialists for President and George R. Kirk-patrick, of New Jersey, for Vice President.
    At the general election on November 7, 1916, the democratic presidential electors carried the state, receiving 28,316 votes to 21,698 for the republican electors, 1,453 for the socialists, and 373 for the prohibitionists. Governor Kendrick defeated Clarence D, Clark for United States Senator by a vote of 26,324 to 23,258. Frank W. Mondell was again elected to Congress by a plurality of 537. Two constitutional amendments were adopted by substantial majorities—one authorizing the investment of the public school funds in farm mortgages and the other relating to the construction and improvement of highways by the state.
FOURTEENTH LEGISLATURE
    On Tuesday. January 9, 1917, the fourteenth State Legislature was convened at the capitol in Cheyenne, Joseph W. Todd, of Johnson County, was elected president of the Senate, and W, K, Jones, of Laramie County was chosen speaker of the House, The session lasted until February 17th. In his message, Governor Kendrick reviewed thoroughly the condition of the state finances and the public institutions, and devoted considerable attention to the
PROHIBITION QUESTION
    "Within the last decade," said the governor, "there has been a tremendous reversal of opinion throughout our country upon the economic aspects of the liquor traffic. There has never been anv question as to the moral issues involved, nor as to the desirability of prohibition from that standpoint. But the new angle from which the traffic has been attacked has developed a veritable wave of negative sentiment, until today. Wyoming stands in a vast dry area, as the one state which permits the sale of intoxicants with little or no restriction.
    "In view of the many petitions presented to the Legislature two years ago and the great interest manifested by the people in the question during the last election, I am confident that there is a growing conviction in the minds of the people of Wyoming, that the time has come for the state to move into line with her neighbors. Therefore, I earnestly favor early action on the part of the Legislature at this session which will afford the citizens of the state an opportunity to vote upon this question. In fact, the right to vote upon this, as upon every other vital public issue, involves one of the fundamental principles of our government. All of which makes clear the part of duty and indicates an obligation resting with the Legislature which is but little less than mandatory."
    In response to the governor's recommendations upon this subject, the Legislature passed an act, approved on January 20, 1917, submitting the following constitutional amendment to the people at the general election in 1918:
    "Section 1. On and after the first day of January, 1920, the manufacture, sale and keeping for sale of malt, \inous or spirituous liquors, wine, ale, porter, beer or any intoxicating drink, mixture or preparation of like nature, except as hereinafter provided, are hereby prohibited in this state. Provided, however, that the manufacture and sale and keeping for sale of such liquors for medicinal, pharmaceutical, mechanical, sacramental and scientific purposes, and the manufacture and sale of denatured alcohol for industrial purposes may be permitted under such regulations as the Legislature may prescribe. The Legislature shall, without delay, enact such laws, with regulations, conditions, securities and penalties as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this section."
HIGHWAY COMMISSION
    On this subject the governor said in his message: "In a new and sparsely settled state of widely separated communities, no problem is more important than that involving the construction and maintenance of highways. Congress, a few months ago, passed a measure providing Federal aid in the building of highways in the difi'erent states. At the last election, the voters of Wyoming adopted an amendment to the constitution making it possible for our state to participate in this Federal aid, and the responsibility now devolves upon the Legislature of providing the necessary machinery for working out the best plan for participation. * * * A highway commission should be provided, with an active secretary who would be the principal executive, who would give his entire time to the work, and who would, among other qualifications, be a competent civil engineer."
    n act creating a state highw-ay commission was approved by Governor Kendrick on February 19. 1917, two days after the adjournment of the Legislature. by the provisions of that act, the state was divided into five highway districts, to wit: 1. The counties of Laramie, Albany, Platte and Goshen; 2. The counties of Carbon, Sweetwater, Uinta and Lincoln; 3. The counties of Niobrara, Converse, Natrona and Fremont; 4. The counties of Hot Springs. Washakie, Bighorn and Park; 5. The counties of Sheridan. Johnson. Campbell. Crook and Weston.
    The governor was authorized to appoint a commission of five members, one from each of the above districts, and not more than three of which should be of one political party. Governor Kendrick appointed M. R. Johnston, of Wheatland; Joseph Kinney, of Cokeville; Robert D. Carey, of Careyhurst; Gus Holms, of Cody; Francis C. Williams, of Sheridan, as the members of the commission from the respective districts, and Z. E. Sevison, of Cheyenne, was employed as secretary and state highway engineer. Although the governor recommended the appointment of a commission composed of citizens interested in good roads, who would serve without compensation except actual expenses, the act provides that each member shall receive an annual salary of $600.
    The act of Congress, approved on July 16, 1916, "to provide that the United States shall aid the states in the construction of rural post roads," etc., was accepted by the Wyoming Legislature and the state highway commission was authorized to enter into contracts with the United States Government relating to the construction and maintenance of public highways, the roads thus designated and improved in cooperation with the United States department of agriculture to be known as "state roads."
    By an act of the fourteenth Legislature, approved on the last day of January, 1917. a state flag was adopted. The flag is thus described:
    "Be it enacted, etc., That a state flag be, and is hereby, adopted to be used on all occasions when the state is officially and publicly represented, with the privilege of use by all citizens upon such occasions as they may deem fitting and appropriate. The width of said flag shall be seven-tenths of its length; the outside border to be in red, the width of which shall be one-twentieth of the length of the flag; next to said border shall be a stripe of white on the four sides of the field, which shall be in width one-fortieth the length of said flag. The remainder of said flag to be a blue field in the center of which shall be a white silouetted buffalo, the length of which shall be one-half the length of said blue field; the other measurements of said buffalo to be in proportion to its length. On the ribs of said buffalo shall be the great seal of Wyoming in blue. Said seal shall be in diameter one-fifth the length of said flag. Attached to the flag shall be a cord of gold with gold tassels. The colors to be used in said flag as red, white and blue shall be the same colors used in the flag of the United States of America."
    Section 2 of the act provides that "All penalties provided by the laws of this state for the misuse of the national flag shall be applicable to this flag," and section 3 sets forth that the act shall be in force from and after its passage.
    On the same day that this act was approved, the governor approved another act designating the castillia linariaefolia or "Indian Paint Brush" as the state flower of Wyoming.
GENERAL LAWS
    Among the laws of a general nature passed at this session was one providing that no new county should be organized, nor any organized county already established so reduced as to contain fewer than three thousand bona fide inhabitants and have an assessed valuation of less than five million dollars.
    An appropriation of $750 was made for the purpose of removing Jim Baker's cabin from Carbon County to Cheyenne, to preserve it as a relic of Wyoming's early days ; a branch fish hatchery was ordered to be established at Daniel, Lincoln County; cities and towns were authorized to establish zoological gardens, in or within five miles of said town or city, and the state game commission was directed to furnish any city or town establishing such a garden with animals and birds, the cost of collecting the same to be borne by the town or city making the request.
    A resolution was adopted commending President Wilson for his action in severing diplomatic relations with the German Government, and recommending that all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one years be compelled to take at least one year of intensive military training. That resolution was adopted several weeks before the Congress of the United States declared war against Germany, but it shows the trend of public opinion in Wyoming at that time. After the declaration of war, Wyoming was one of the first states in the Union to pledge, by her action, the loyalty of her citizens to the national administration.
HOUX's ADMINISTRATION
    Governor John B. Kendrick resigned his office on February 26, 1917, to enter the United States Senate, and on the same day Frank L. Houx, secretary of state, by virtue of his office, became acting governor.
    Frank L. Houx was born near Lexington, Mo., December 12, 1860. His early education was acquired in the common schools, after which he attended business college in Kansas City and then read law for two years. From 1876 to 1885 he was employed in commercial pursuits. He then went to Montana, where for ten years he was engaged in the cattle business. In 1895 he removed to Cody, Wyo., then a young town, and engaged in real estate and fire insurance, at the same time taking a keen interest in irrigation projects. He was elected the first mayor of Cody when the town was incorporated in 1901 ; was police judge during the years 1902-03; was elected mayor again in 1905 and held the office continuously for four years; was elected secretary of state in 1910 and reelected in 1914. When Governor Kendrick resigned, Mr. Houx assumed the duties of governor.
WAR WITH GERMANY
    The principal activities of Governor Houx's administration were in connection with the "World War." Congress passed the declaration of war on April 6, 1917, and soon afterward the President called upon the governors of the different states to recommend persons to serve on the boards having charge of the registration of men for the selective draft. Governor Houx recommended members of these boards in each of the twenty-one counties of the state. His recommendation virtually amounted to an appointment.
    To carry on the work of the war, each state appointed a "Council for National Defense" to act in harmony with the Federal authorities and carry out their orders and suggestions. Governor Houx appointed the Wyoming Council for National Defense on April 13, 1917, just a week after the declaration of war.
    As no funds were available for the use of this council, the governor made arrangements with a number of the banks in the state to borrow such sums as might be necessary from time to time, trusting that the Legislature of 1919 would indorse and legalize his acts in this respect and make an emergency appropriation to reimburse the banks. Some changes were made during the year 1917 in the membership of the council, which on May 1, 1918, was composed as follows: Maurice Groshon, Cheyenne; Robert D. Carey, Careyhurst; P. C. Spencer, Lander ; T. C. Diers, Sheridan; Mrs. R. A. Morton, Cheyenne, H. M. Rollins, Lyman; J. M. Wilson, McKinley; J. H. Berry, Basin; J. W. Bozorth, Burns: E. A. Swezea, Cheyenne.
    A declaration of war means the raising and equipping of soldiers. Under Governor Houx's administration, and largely through his personal efforts, the Third Regiment of the Wyoming National Guard was recruited to war strength of 1,900. It was one of the first volunteer regiments to be offered to the United States for service abroad. The regiment was merged with the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Field Artillery and the One Hundred and Sixteenth Ammunition Train and was ordered to France among the first of the military organizations to leave the United States.
    Upon assuming the duties of the chief executive. Acting Governor Houx endeavored to enforce the laws of the state fairly and impartially, especially the laws affecting public morality. To this end he became a consistent advocate of prohibition as one of the means of winning the war. and he encouraged local officials in closing up notorious resorts and shortening the hours that saloons could keep open during each twenty-four hours.
    A few months after Mr. Houx became acting governor, the State Board of School Land Commissioners, composed of the secretary and treasurer of state and the superintendent of public instruction, adopted the policy of placing all the income derived from the state lands into a permanent fund, the proceeds of which are to be used for the benefit of the public schools and other state educational institutions. This ruling was made to apply with special force to the oil lands. The time may come when the yield of oil will decrease to such an extent that the fields can no longer be profitably worked, but under this decision of the land board the state will have reaped its share of the profits, which will form the basis of a fund for the education of the young people of Wyoming in the vears to come.