Speaker Asserts Reasons Given By Poindexter For Action; Maintains ‘Governor Has Struck a Body Blow At Good Government’

Objections made by the Democratic party had great bearing on the decision of Governor Joseph B. Poindexter to veto the civil service bill enacted by the recent territorial legislature.

This belief is expressed in a statement made today by Speaker Roy A. Vitousek of the house, introducer of the measure, in which he asserts that reasons publicly advanced by the governor for failure of the bill … were not sound.

Speaker Vitousek, in his statement, traces the history of preparation of the civil service bill, and emphasizes that although the governor vetoed it, it had the approval of the legislature to the extent of 13 votes in the senate and 27 votes in the house.

He expresses belief that politics influenced the governor in vetoing the bill, pointing out he had made a personal investigation of reports that many Democratic leaders were objecting to the measure and were carrying their objections to the governor.

Speaker Vitousek says he found many Democratic leaders were violently opposed to the bill for two reasons:

"They felt that the Democratic party would be deprived of some juicy patronage in the nature of many new positions created by the legislature and that the governor had not discharged a sufficient number of old employes of the territory and employed in their places deserving Democrats and that further time should be given to eliminate from the payroll old employes and put members of the Democratic party in their places.

"The bill by its terms prohibited the levying of assessments on public employes for political campaign funds."

———

Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.