Gubernatorial Activities
Taking office in 1893 as a minority candidate did not smooth McConnell task as Idaho's third governor. (The first governor, George L. Shoup, resigned after serving just a few months before being elected for a full term as a U.S. Senator.) Having been so recently granted statehood, Idaho had to work out many details of how the state would be governed. Thus, many problems landed on his desk
Under McConnell's administrations, the Idaho did away with a "test oath" whose effect was to disenfranchise the state's considerable body of Mormon voters. Also, the state was the fourth to grant women the right to vote, in 1896. The state also initiated the infrastructure needed to administer irrigation projects eligible for Carey Act consideration. Several years would pass before a complete and effective system could be put in place, but Idaho eventually became the single greatest success story under the Act.
During his tenure, the state suffered – along with the nation – through the severe depression called the Panic of 1893, when several major railroads and over 500 banks failed. The economic crisis naturally exacerbated the conflict between labor unions and companies, especially in the silver mines in the Coeur d'Alene region of North Idaho. The crisis in Idaho deepened with the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act – the Federal government was no longer required to purchase a set monthly amount of silver. The resulting crash in prices squeezed the mining companies, leading to layoffs and moves to cut wages. The subsequent unrest, and flare-ups of violence, led McConnell to threaten the use of troops to keep the peace.
Read more about this topic: William J. Mc Connell
Famous quotes containing the word activities:
“Both gossip and joking are intrinsically valuable activities. Both are essentially social activities that strengthen interpersonal bonds—we do not tell jokes and gossip to ourselves. As popular activities that evade social restrictions, they often refer to topics that are inaccessible to serious public discussion. Gossip and joking often appear together: when we gossip we usually tell jokes and when we are joking we often gossip as well.”
—Aaron Ben-Ze’Ev, Israeli philosopher. “The Vindication of Gossip,” Good Gossip, University Press of Kansas (1994)