GOVERNOR WILLIAM GLASSCOCK AND PROGRESSIVE POLITICS IN WEST VIRGINIA

CHAPTER FIVE The Evolution of a Progressive Governor

c H A p T E R F I THE 1910 CRASH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY " ... truth crushed to earth will rise again."! v E FOLWWING THE ADJOURNMENT of the Dawson legislature, Governor Glasscock toyed with the idea of calling an extra session and considered suggesting to the lawmakers a county local option law, a gas production tax, and a public service commission. After much deliberation, however, he concluded that it would be better to wait for the regular session, as the mood of the people was not conducive to additional legislative action at that time. He further reasoned that failure to pass the above laws would "stand out as a monument to our weakness and put us in a worse position than we are now:'2 Deciding to wait until 1911, when the legislators would meet again, the governor laid plans for the election of 1910. He had two goals: to educate the public about the need for reform legislation and to secure the nominations of those candidates who would represent his views in Charleston. With the first goal in mind, Glasscock spoke out strongly in support of a production tax on gas during the summer of 1909. In his attempt to stimulate interest in the proposal, Governor Glasscock relied upon the expertise ofWest Virginia State Geologist, Dr. 1. C. White, who had informed the public in 1908 that as much as two hundred fifty million cubic feet of natural gas within the state was escaping daily into the air, wasted. This was the equivalent of ten thousand tons of coaP At a Board of Trade meeting in Huntington during the fall of 1909, the governor also presented an elaborate compilation of data to support his view that West Virginians were not receiving a fair return on this valuable natural Glasscock to J. O. Henson, 14 November 1910, Glasscock Papers. 2 Glasscock to W P. Hawley, 17 December 1909, Glasscock Papers. 3 Ambler and Summers, West Virginia: The Mountain State, 466. 74 THE 1910 CRASH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY resource, used mainly outside the state. The figures to which he referred showed the value of the state's total production of natural gas consumed within the state, the value of the production used outside its borders, and the relative percentage of each to the total production:4 Value of Gas Value of Gas Percent of Gas Percent of Gas Year Consumed Within Consumed Consumed Within Consumed State Outside State State Outside State 1897 $791,192 $121,336 87 13 1898 914,969 419,054 69 31 1899 1,3lO,675 1,025,189 56 44 1900 1,530,378 1,428,664 52 48 1901 2,244,758 1,709,714 57 43 1902 2,473,174 2,917,007 46 54 1903 3,125,061 3,757,298 45 55 1904 3,383,515 4,730,734 42 58 1905 3,586,608 6,489,196 36 64 1906 3,720,440 lO,014,903 27 73 1907 3,757,977 12,913,185 23 77 Earlier, many West Virginians had hoped that the abundance of the state's natural resources would provide employment for its people. Governor Glasscock himself firmly believed that the state's leaders should push the Mountain State to go into the manufacturing business and to "work up its raw material:'s Senator Elkins was in accord with this line of thought and felt that it was unfortunate that nothing could keep the owner of the natural gas from sending it out of the state. As Elkins observed to Glasscock, "This deprives us of a great source of wealth, because natural gas is the finest fuel in the world:'6 The senator concluded that the best alternative was to impose a production tax. 4 Charleston Daily Mail, October 13, 1909; William E. Glasscock, Speech Delivered by Governor Glasscock, before the State Board ofTrade, Huntington, West Virginia, October 12, 1909 (Charleston: Union Typographical Label, n. d.), 7-8. 5 Charleston Daily Mail, October 9, 1909. 6 Senator S. B. Elkins to Glasscock, 28 August 1909, Elkins Papers. 75 CHAPTER FIVE In calculating the advantages of such a levy, Governor Glasscock estimated that a tax of half a cent on a thousand cubic feet would produce annual revenue of $600,000, and a tax ofone cent would net the state more than $1,000,000. He concluded that the price of the fuel would...