Walter R. Stubbs

Walter Roscoe Stubbs ( born November 7, 1858 Wayne County, Indiana, † March 25, 1929 in Topeka, Kansas ) was an American politician and from 1909 to 1913 the 18th Governor of the state of Kansas.

Early years

Walter Stubbs moved as a child with his parents from Indiana Iowa to Kansas. There they arrived in 1869 and Stubbs attended local schools in Douglas County. He enrolled at the University of Kansas, but could not study at the end because of financial problems. Subsequently he worked as a laborer in various jobs. He was also assistant a trucking company that transported with the help of mules goods. Stubbs found it favors earned itself mules and thus increased in the freight business. After he was able to secure some contracts with the railroad, things were looking up, economically and he was rich. Later he was able to go into the banking business.

Political rise

Stubbs was a member of the Republican Party and was elected in 1902 in the House of Representatives of Kansas. This mandate he held for five years, at times he was also President of the Parliament ( Speaker). Between 1904 and 1908 he was chairman of the party of the Republicans in Kansas. In 1908, he was nominated by his party as a candidate for the upcoming gubernatorial elections. This nomination was for the first time under the new law code, after the primaries, voters were able to determine the candidate of their party. This system is still common in most states and in presidential elections.

Governor of Kansas

After the successful election Stubbs could take up his post on 11 January 1909. After his re-election in 1910 he was able to officiate a total of four years. In his time the road improvements were promoted, improved regulatory control of the insurance companies, the railway tariffs controlled, and passed a law regulating campaign spending. The Maaße and weights has been unified. The child labor was banned for children under 14 years. In trains that traveled through Kansas, the serving of alcoholic beverages was prohibited, as long as they were on the territory of the State. Due to the floods, especially in the years 1903 and 1904, the flood protection has been improved. At that time a disability institution for mentally disturbed people was built. In the southeast of the state, there were some problems with the monitoring of the alcohol ban.

Further CV

Stubbs not applied in 1912 to a third term. Instead, he ran, unsuccessfully, for a seat in the U.S. Senate. 1918 failed a renewed candidacy for the Senate. In the years 1922 and 1924, respectively Stubbs applied unsuccessfully for a return to the governorship. In the meantime, he had risen to a rich man who raised livestock on a large scale in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. Walter Stubbs died in 1929 and was buried in Lawrence. He was married to Stella Hostettler, with whom he had four children.