No call that I have ever made upon either side of
these controversies has ever gone unheeded.
"We are in the midst of unprecedented conditions, but if we
devote ourselves to the single thought of making government the
agency of justice and the instrument of bringing swift
punishment to those who violate the laws of this commonwealth,
we will pass through the storm safely.
"No man must be permitted to define the rules of his individual
conduct. The law is supreme. I shall expect its enforcement by
local officers. When they have rendered their utmost effort and
failed to meet conditions, then the state will act promptly."
In every city in Ohio, save one, this warning was sufficient,
but in Canton it became necessary for the Governor to remove the
mayor. His successor speedily re-established the peace.
CHAPTER VI
HOW HE HAS DEALT WITH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
The story of the result of Governor Cox's treatment of
industrial issues is told in his parallel of statements from
Thomas J. Donnelly, Secretary of the Ohio Federation of Labor,
and W. S. Thomas, a leading manufacturer.
Statement by Donnelly:
"Before Ohio had a Workmen's Compensation Law, only twenty per
cent of the injured workers, or the widows and children of
deceased workers, were paid any compensation or damages. Eighty
per cent got nothing whatever. When Cox was first elected
governor, about five per cent of the workers of Ohio were
covered under an optional Workmen's Compensation Law.
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