The original item was published from January 21, 2021 7:27 AM to January 21, 2021 8:20 AM
Governor Allen's Inaugural Address 100 Years Ago
100 years ago on January 10, 1921, Henry J. Allen took the oath of office in his second term as Governor of the state of Kansas. He began his speech:
"I take again the oath of office with a profound realization of my obligation to the people of this state for their patience, forebearance and confidence. Their gracious suffrage has given to me a deep sense of my responsibility to meet in devout spirit the continuing duties of the office. I think we all realize that the past two years have increased our problems and we encounter the need of a wise and constructive economy. We must find added revenues of government without taxing too extensively the forms of property now bearing the heavy burdens."
In January 1921 the world was in the midst of an economic recession. World War I had ended in 1919 complicating the absorption of millions of veterans back into the economy. The economy had started to grow, but had not yet completed all the adjustments in shifting from a wartime to a peacetime economy. Governor Allen's cautious words reflected the difficulties the country and the state had been going through and his plans foresaw, what he hoped would be a slow improvement in the state of things.
Among the topics covered by Allen in his 1921 inaugural speech were:
Tax reform
The Court of Industrial Relations
A proposed Kansas Department of Agriculture
Consolidation of state government agencies
Improvement of rural schools
Farm-home legislation and rural improvement
Leasing laws
An interesting read, you can view this speech online at the State Library of Kansas' KGI Online Library to get an idea of how government grappled with the problems of the day 100 years ago.
Inaugural Address of Governor Henry J. Allen [1921]