Governor Bryan’s Inaugural Message
“Thursday (Jan. 4) was a big day for the
Bryans. Governor Charles W. Bryan shared the
honors with his brother, W. J.“, said the Lin
coln State Journal in its writeup of Nebraska'^
inaugural ceremonies. r. , \”
“The house chamber was packed. Unable to
gain entrance, the overflow applicants swarmed
about in the halls. The gallery was filled to
capacity. The space back of the railing much
used by'lobbyists was packed and people werp
seated on window sills, telephone booths, tfails,
tables, and even upon the floor.
“Governor Bryan came into his own at 3:25
p. m., when Chief Justice Morrissey admin s
tered the oath. This followed the farewell ad
dress by the retiring governor (Samuel R. Mc
Kelvie) and preceded the swearing in of the new
elective state officers. Charles W. Pool was the
only Democrat among them. Lieutenant Gov
ernor Barrows*presided over the joint sesSbn.
“Just before the adjournment of the in
augural session, some one shouted from the rear
of the hall the name of ‘Bryan.’ It spread like
a prairie fire over the packed hall: and in a few
moments it became an insistent shout. Gov
ernor Bryan remained in his seat on the plat
form. W. J. Bryan also remained seated for
some moments. . When it became apparent that*
it was he and not the governor who must speak
or else permit the shouting to continue, the
former Nebraskan, now*a ctizen of Florida,
took the floor. He spoke a few words of praise
and mentioned only his brother. L
“ ‘I appreciate th’s compliment,’ he said. ‘You
have expressed confidence in one member of the
family. I think he deserves it and am satisfied
that he will have given expression, as far as pos
sible; to the sentiment of the people.’
“ ‘I know h m,’ continued Mr. Bryan in ref
erence to his brother. ‘I know him probably
better than any man. I believe that h>s concep
tion of his official duty is much the same as that
of Lincoln, and that every minute of every day
he will realize that he is the hired servant of
the people of this state.’
“W. J. Bry^p and party entered the hall at
1:45 and the commoner was accorded a big
ovation. They were g’ven seats reserved for
them directly in front .of the speaker’s desk. At
the conclusion of the session, W. J. Bryan and
Governor Charles W. Bryan, with backs against
the desk, faced the crowd that surged forward.
The handshaking was exhaustive.”
Governor Bryan’s inaugural message, follow
ing the administer'ng of the oath of office, was ,
delivered in person and took 35 m nutes for its
delivery. The message is reproduced in full be
low.
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE FORTY-SECOND
SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF
NEBRASKA
Gentlemen.:
Although it is my duty and privilege as the
incoming governor to speak to you, I shall not
at this time attempt to more than outline my
views upon questions to which you should'direct
your attention. The success of our government
depends upon the sincere cooperation on the part
of the executive and legislative departments, and
we should un te in the enactment of only such
legislation as is beneficial and necessary to the
entire state. It is in this spirit that I address
you, and I will be glad to confer with you at any
time on any subject. v
The recent election was a referendum by the
people o>n the specific issues of the campaign,
and I am ready to jo n with you in carrying out
the will of the people as expressed at the polls.
The vote given me at the last election was not
due to my personal popularity but rather to a
conviction o-n the part of the people that they de
sired the enactment of the legislation which I
proposed, as the governing policy of our com
monwealth.
My first thought is the desire of doing all in
my power to bring the state government more
directly under the control of the people, to re
duce the cost of adm nistering the affa'rs of the
state, and to improve economic conditions which
are working an undue hardship on both the pro
ducers and consumers.
The members of this legislature and the chief
executive were selected by the voters to repre
sent them, without thought of our respective
Party afllliations, and the recommendations
which I shall make to you will be on a broad,
independent, non-partisan basis, for the welfare
and benefit of the people of the state as a whole,
9
and I feel sure you will consider them in the
same spirit. The people want results regardless
of the effect on political parties or political lead
ers, and regardless of the desires of the lobby
ists who try to use political party machinery to
thwart the will of the people.
The increase in and distribution of taxes dur
ing the last four years has so burdened the agri
cultural interests, the small business men, wage
earners and middle classes of the state that it is
Imperatively necessary to cut down expenses, not
only of the state government, but ateo of all its
various subdivisions. All needless and useless
governmental activities and employees must be
eliminated. When the cost of government mounts
so high that it threatens confiscation of the
farms and small homes, the activities of the gov
ernment must be halted, curtailed and limited.
Retrenchment, economy and tax reduction must
be the goal for which we should str ve.
It is my desire to cooperate with you to sus
tain and support the various institutions and
state activities. We should be neither extrava
gant or parsimonious, but I shall feel it my duty
to use the executive power to disapprove any ap
propr'ations that are needless, extravagant, or of
doubtful value.
REPEAL OF THE CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE
CODE
My first recommendation deals with the form
of government under which the state’s affairs
have been administered during the past four
years and Which was the central issue of the re
cent campaign, namely, the Civil administrative
code. From the time this measure was enacted,
four years ago, unt'l it was made the paramount
issue of the recent campaign, the people endeav
ored to get a referendum that would permit
them to express themselves by direct vote on.
this measure. The candidates for governor of
the two major parties took their stand on op
pos te sides of the question whether the code
system of government should be upheld or re
pealed. An analysis pf the vote for governor
in any or all of the legislative districts of the
state can lead to only one conclusion, viz., the
people demand that the code system of govern
ment be abolished.
x The present code system centralizes in the
chief executive all responsibility for not only
executing the administrative policies of the state
but also of determining aH admin strative poli
cies, which include-the very important and far
reaching banking matters and the bank guar
antee fund operation, also the decision as to pub
lic h'ghway development projects, insurance ad
ministrative problems and other important
functions. Such a centralization of power is un
wise, unsafe as a business proposition, and
fraught with danger to the general welfare of
the people.
Under the provisions of the code system, tne
state officers, other than governor, are shorn of
all but mere clerical authority, although
it is physically impossible for the chef
executive to be constantly available or pre
pared to confer and decide important policies
coming up from the various code department sec
retaries, who are employees with no direct re
sponsibility to the taxpayers. It seems to me
that it is of utmost importance that the state
constitutional officers be given author'ty to sit
as an executive board at least once a week, and
oftener when needed, to decide administrative
policies and to stand as the people’s representa
tive between them and the organ zed business
groups'*which are to be affected by the laws to be
admin;stered.
I do not believe public service or public busi
ness will*be benefited by the creation of any exe
cutive officers in addition to the regularly elect
ed state officers.
I therefore recommend the repeal of the c.vil
administrative code and all amendments as
quickly as possible, so that the reorganization
work may be carried out without unnecessary
deiay. \ _ »
In lieu of the present system I recommend
that an executive board, consisting of the Gov
ernor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State
Auditor, and Commissioner of Public Lands and
Bu ldings, be created and that these officers con
stitute a board of review to be known as “The
Executive Council,” which shall have power by
majority vote to determine the state s adminis
trative policies. (I have not included the -At
torney General as a proposed member of th s
board for the reason that he must be its legal ad
viser, and, therefore, should not be required to
take sides on any disputed or controverted
question).
The^Governor is by the constitution made the
supreme power to execute and administer the
laws of the state. In order that there may be
no sb fting of respons bility for the execution of
the state's admin strative policies, and no divided
authority over appointees and employees, it is
my conviction that all department heads and
needed employees should be appointed directly by
the governor; and, that the appointive power
should also have the authority to remove any ap
pointee at will.
I believe the* government should be made*
more compact by curtailing and comlfiiiinsT de
partments, by eliminating duplications of olhcftrs
and employees connected with the adm nistrntive •
work, and that all educational effort shfiuld be
discontinued in the state’s administrative depart
ments and confined to the state’s educational *n
st tutions to avoid duplication of effort and un
necessary expense.
When the code law is repealed, useless de
partments can be aholisued, others consolidated
so that the number of inspectors, bureaus, com
missions and inspectirns can be greatly reduced
and some inspections can te handled by +ocal of
ficials. When toe regular -state officers again as
sume the responsibility of recommending to the
legislature the needed appropriations for the
various state activities, ihe duplicating:., fads, *
theories and Isms calLug for an endless number
of employees, and ever increasing and unneces
sary expenditures of the people’s money, will
cease.
The first step in restoring the government to a
business basis is to repeal the code law. Second,
regroup the state’s necessary departments with
authority in the governor to appoint the heads
and necessary assistants, and with authority in
the Executive Council to determine administra
tive pol'cies. Third, re-enact separate statutes
dealing with the subjects covered by the qriglnul
enactments which the code superseded, so that
the enforcement or administrate provisions
thereof may be brought in harmony with the
general administrative plan.
REPEAL OF INTANGIBLE TAX PROVISION
The Revenue law, known as Senate File No.
6E (1921 Session), favors one class of taxpayers
wh le it lays unjust and unfair burdens upon
others. The owners c-f stocks, bonds, notes,’ mort
gages, and other property known as “intangible”
property, are avoiding the r obligations to the
government while their less fortunate neighbor,
whose weafth is invested in a home or farm or
other “tangible” property, bears the added bur
den.
I recommend that this preferential provision
be repealed and that t be replaced by a statute
which is in accord with the state motto, “Equal
ity Before the Law.”
TAXATION
The shifting of taxes from the rich to the poor
must cease, whether it be through hiding intang
ible property, by increasing assessed valuation
on one class of property and lowering on others
or by securing low valuat'ons of public utilities
for taxation purposes and high valuations for
rate making purposes. It is impossible for the
assessor to find all intangible^roperty for taxa
tion. I suggest for your consideration the fol
lowing legislat on in order to equalize and to re*
duce general taxation, and so as to more equit
ably tax each citizen in proportion to the bene
fits he receives under the law:
Provide for a system of certifying mortgages
for taxation purposes from every record ofTice or
court in the state to the county assessor !n the
county where said 'nstruments are recorded.
Public utilities and common carriers should
be taxed on their rate making valuations.
In justice to the owners of some tangible prop
erty, a constitutional amendment should be sub
mitted by you to the people for their adoption
or rejection author zing the exemption from
taxation of such tangible property as unsold
grain on the farm.
A STATE INCOME TAX
To offset any loss in revenue that may result
from just exemptions, to reach the incomes from
tax free securities, and to permit a reduction of
taxes on tangible property, I recommend the en
actment of a graduated state income tax law
modeled after the Wisconsin law, d scriminatine
in favor of earned incomes and using the federal
income tax returns as a basis of state assess
ment.
INHERITANCE TAX
I recommend that the inheritance tax law be
amended so as to provide for a graduated inheri
tance tax running from 1 to 5 per cent.
NO TAX ON GASOLINE
A sale tax is a tax on consumption and is an
other plan for transferring the taxes from the