Samuel M. Ralston
Samuel Moffett Ralston | |
---|---|
Harry Stewart New | |
Succeeded by | Arthur Raymond Robinson |
28th Governor of Indiana | |
In office January 13, 1913 – January 8, 1917 | |
Lieutenant | William P. O'Neill |
Preceded by | Thomas R. Marshall |
Succeeded by | James P. Goodrich |
Personal details | |
Born | December 1, 1857 |
Samuel Moffett Ralston (December 1, 1857 – October 14, 1925) was an American politician of the
Born into a large impoverished family, he took many jobs as a child including working in a
Early life
Family and background
Samuel Ralston was born near
Ralston, and his three brothers and four sisters, worked on the family farm to help the family subsist. The family suffered from financial difficulty and lost their farm in 1873, they then moved to
Education
As a boy he attended public school in
While attending college he met Jennie Craven and began courting her. The couple later married on December 30, 1889. Together they had three children, Emmet, Julian, and Ruth. The family was
Early campaigns
Ralston had been a
Governor
In 1912 Taggart again supported Ralston's nomination for Governor, and this time succeed and was nominated on March 17. Ralston received the endorsement of numerous groups in the state, including the women's suffrage movement and many churches.
Indianapolis riots
One of the first events Ralston became involved in was a strike by the street car workers in
When the General Assembly convened, Ralston was able to have several acts passed that led to improved working conditions for many workers in the state. Among the laws he advocated and passed were acts banning the sale of narcotic drugs for the first time, a minimum wage, conservation measures to prevent deforestation, incentives to encourage development of the livestock industry, free vaccinations for several prevalent diseases, and aid in helping the blind find work. His signature work though was his target of the tenement slums in the state. He successfully lobbied for funds to provide running clean water, children's playgrounds, and several other improvements to the living conditions of the urban poor. The final bill he signed empowered the state police to close the brothels in the state, which effectively ended any forms of legal prostitution in Indiana.[6][7]
Progressive agenda
Thomas R. Marshall, Ralston's predecessor, had attempted to have a new constitution adopted but his plans were ruled unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court who ruled a constitutional convention needed to be held. Ralston also favored creating a new constitution to enact numerous reforms that under the present constitution would have been illegal. To accomplish this goal, he began urging the General Assembly to call a constitutional convention. A bill was passed by the assembly in 1913 to permit the state to adopt a new constitution. The measure had to be submitted to a statewide referendum, as required by the current constitution, before the convention could be held. Outside of Indianapolis and the few industrial cities, there was little support for reform for industrial workers, the majority of the state's population was still rural. When the public voted in 1914, the measure was defeated, 235,140–338,947.[8][9]
His two projects with the longest impact on the state were the Utilities Law and the Vocational Education Act. Ralston advocated and obtained significant increases in education spending and began a system of free vocational education for the state's school students. The regulations he enacted on the public utility companies began a process that would take running water and electricity to the entire state.
He also made substantial contributions to the state's financial situation. The state had been in debt since the start of the internal improvements in the early 1830s and had twice verged on total bankruptcy, in 1847 and 1863, and once entered a partial bankruptcy in 1841. Although the state was not in immediate financial risk, it was still heavily burdened by debt. Ralston was insistent on paying off the state's debt and creating a rainy day fund, and advocated amending the constitution to prevent the state from borrowing funds in the future. Through a combination of spending cuts and increased taxation and with the support of the General Assembly, the government was able to pay off the entire state debt and create a $3.76 million surplus fund by the time he left office.[10]
World War I
As the United States entered
Historians note that Ralston had one of the most eventful terms in the state's history, and faced more challenges than any governor, except for
U.S. Senator
Ralston campaigned for the
Ralston won election to the
In 1924 he was the front runner and expected to be the Democratic presidential nominee, but for reasons that were unknown at the time, he dropped out of the race just before the national convention. He later revealed that due to his failing health he did not believe he was fit to become president. His steadily worsening health lead to his death on October 14, 1925, his home near Indianapolis. He was buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Lebanon.[7]
Electoral history
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Samuel M. Ralston | 275,357 | 48.1 | |
Progressive
|
Albert J. Beveridge | 166,124 | 28.6 | |
Republican | Winfield T. Durbin | 142,850 | 26.7 | |
Prohibition | Leonard M. Christ | 22,352 | 3.1 |
See also
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)
- List of governors of Indiana
References
Notes
- ^ a b c Dunn, p. 1228
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Dunn, p. 1229
- ^ Gugin, p. 245
- ^ a b Gugin, p. 246
- ^ a b c d Dunn, p. 1230
- ^ a b c d Gugin, p. 248
- ^ Kettleborough, p. 214
- ^ Gugin, p. 247
- ^ a b c d Dunn, p. 1231
- ^ a b Charmers, p. 167
- ^ "New Senator's Wife Chicken Farmer" (PDF). The New York Times. December 17, 1922. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ New International Encyclopedia. Dodd, Mead. 1915. p. 95.
Bibliography Bibliography
- Charmers, David Mark (1984). Hooded Americanism: the history of the Ku Klux Klan. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-0772-3.
- Dunn, Jacob Piatt (1919). Indiana and Indianans. Vol. III. Chicago & New York: American Historical Society.
- Kettleborough, Charles & Bremer, John A (1916). Constitution Making in Indiana: A Source Book of Constitutional Documents, with Historical Introduction and Critical Notes. Indiana Historical Commission.
- Gugin, Linda C.; St. Clair, James E, eds. (2006). The Governors of Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87195-196-7.
External links
- United States Congress. "Samuel M. Ralston (id: R000020)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Indiana Historical Bureau: Biography and portrait
- http://www.ruralhistoryproject.com/reports.asp?F=1&ReportID=14[permanent dead link]
- Indian County History - Ralston Biography
- Ralston's Biography at the National Governors Association
- Samuel Ralston at FindAGrave