him from building a strong political base. During his term, Marshall focused primarily on advancing the progressive agenda. He successfully advocated the passage of a child labor law and anti-corruption legislation. He supported popular election of U.S. Senators, and the constitutional amendment to allow it was ratified by the Indiana General Assembly during his term. He also overhauled the state auditing agencies and claimed to have saved the government millions of dollars. He was unsuccessful in passing the rest of the progressive platform agenda items or persuading the legislature to call a convention to rewrite the state constitution to expand the government's regulatory powers. Marshall was a strong opponent of Indiana's recently passed eugenics and sterilization laws, and ordered state institutions not to follow them. He was an early, high-profile opponent of eugenics laws, and he carried his opposition into the vice-presidency. His governorship was the first in which no state executions took place, due to his opposition to capital punishment and his practice of pardoning and commuting the sentences of people condemned to execution. He regularly attacked corporations and used recently created antitrust laws to attempt to break several large businesses. He participated in a number of ceremonial events, including laying the final golden brick to complete the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. Democratic Party campaign literature emphasized Marshall’s record as governor, with one Democratic textbook from 1912 listing various laws enacted during his time in office by his instance. These included acts to investigate industrial and agricultural education; to permit night schools In cities; to prevent traffic in white slaves; to establish uniform weights and measures; to provide police court matrons; to protect against loan sharks; to strengthen the pure food act; to establish public play grounds; to provide free treatment for hydrophobia; to regulate the sale of cocaine and other drugs; to prevent blindness at birth; to require hygienic schoolhouses and to permit medical examination of school children; to regulate the sale of cold storage products; to curtail child labor; and to “require medical supplies as part of a train equipment, etc.” The textbook also listed various laws “intended to protect the toilers” that were also championed by Marshall. These included laws to require storm windows for locomotives; to require full switching crews; Te require standard cabooses; to require inspection of locomotive boilers; to provide efficient headlights on locomotives; to require safety devices on switch engines; to