The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1873-01-23

fcient to pay for the erection of the permanent
public buildings Of the State. They did not fore
see the growth Of the State they were founding.
That Indebtedness has alrssdy been incurred, and
yet the buildings of Some Of our institutions are
only commenced and mono of them are finished.
Such appropriations are made now muss be
drawn directly from the pockets Of the people.
"Public Building Fund" ont Of which all appro-
pristi0ns fOr the erection and extension Of the
permanent Public Buildings should he made pay
able.
AGRICULTURAL.
Tho wisdom Of the Law passed last year requ-
ring the officers Of the State Board of Agriculture
riculture in the State, is shown by the report Of
the Secretary, Hon. Alfred Gray. 1t 10 . very
full and able report, containing large amount
of interesting sod valuable information. The
STATE Board undertook to collect statistics of our
various industries. The di68cultids they met
with, and the manner Of overcoming them In the
future are fally pointed out in the report. The
steps heretofore taken to obtain statistics of our
vafioas farm products have proved failures. 1t
s suggested BY the Secretary Of the State, in his
Bureau Of Statistics. The suggestion 10 Of sufB-
cient importance to deserve your attention.
Our people arc mainly, an agricultural people,
and any measures tending to the developcment
of that interest should receive your most careful
consideration.
0EOLO9iCAL CABINET.
Early in the history Of the State, the Legisla-
suited in the establishment Of the character of
the various strata Of rocks in the State and their
position In the geoglogicsl series As supple
mental to this there should be collected Cabi-
net consisting Of specimens Of all gypsums, lime
stones and sandstOnes in the State, with o des-
cription of the character, extent, locality and
feasibility of each; Of the various coal BEDS their
qualities, location and extent, aud of the variOns
ores Of value, such as lead and iron, their quail
ties extent and value. The Cabinet should be
arranged in rOsm in the State House, set apart
for that purpose. where it would be accessible to
all persons desiring to select building material or
engage in manufacturing.
It may he expedsnt to make such appropria-
tons would lie necessary to perfect Cabinet
Of this character, bnt much of the material can
be collected at very small cost and it would be
wise, to at least, provide for its foundation.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Section 1, Article of the Constitution is in
direct conflict with the Constitution of the United
States, in denying to colored men the right of
suffrage. This is q relic Of barbarisn, aud should
tutiOu. Our State, which was in the front rauk
in the fight for equal rights to all. should not
have in its Constitution or npon its Statute hooks
any provision favOring any class, race or nation-
ality.
Section 2. Article v, as amended, prohibits
persons who have borne arms against the Govern
ment from exercising the right of suffrage. This
amendment was adopted by very small majori-
ty, but the arguments then used in favor of pro-
scriptive legislation have ceased to have any
force in this State and the restriction should be
removed.
Section 2, of Article ii, provided that the Leg
isluture shall never exceed one hundred members
of the House and thirty-three members of the
Senate.
Section l, Aarticle X, provides that i'm the fu-
fur inf ms uf ha Sfafa ooch izad
county shall have at least one representative,
while Section 2 of the same article provides that
in 1865, aud every five years thereafter, there
shall be an appOrtiOnmcnt Of the State into Sem
atOrial and Representative districts. In 1871,
the Legislature, in pursuance of the last men-
toned provision, in appOrtioning the State, into
Representative districts, established ninety dis
tricts. Since the passage Of that law twelve new
counties have been Organized, and the limit Of
one hundred members has been reached and
passed.
Every county in the State should be entitled to
at least one Representative in the House, and
such amendments - may be necessary tO har-
monize the provisions of the Constitution, and
to secure just representation to every locality
should be made without delay. In my Judgment
thisca best be done by Increase the number of
members of the Legislature. Experience else
where has proved that the States which have the
largest popular representation In the Legislature
have besu the freest from charges Of corruption.
have . fair representation. il il also necessary
that the Legislature lse incr~aaesi Section 2,
Article ii, Of the Constitution should he ~
attended ~ to efrrt this result. and, to make IL
immediately effective, Secti"n Article should
he 10 amended 40 to prOvide for . reappOrtiOn-
mens of State.
Section IS. Article II, provides that the sessi"n
Of the Legislature shall be held annually. In
sixteen of tho States, namely: Ohio, Indiana,
IlIiuojs Iowa. Missouri, Kentucky, California,
Michigan, Vermont, Maryland, Dclawa Gear
cia,- Nebraska, Nevssia, Oregon and Tei,nesaec,
the Legislatures meet in regular sessiou only once
in two yean. These States seem to be ~ well
governeA - the remaining States. In our own
state We have had toO much Legislation. Con-
sasnt changes Of laws lrad to confusion and pro-
mote litixstion. The sxps.ise6 srrssdaug tu an
nusl session Of the Legislature arc heavy, and
might be diminished onehalf by biennial MOSS
ions.
The Constitution pruvides that only three
amcndments shall be admitted 8" the people in
any one year. Attentiea here has been called to
i've necessary changes in that instrument, and
thcss. IL adopted, woah Deccssitate Others. 9th
er defects have been frequently allnde'i to by my
predecessors. AZ . remedy for these evils it
srems to me that the time has arrived for hold
ing Constitutional Convention.
When the present Constitution was adopted
the Territory hnd lcss than one hundred thOus-
and people. On its submission to the people,
more than thirteen years .go' only loAS voter. %
majority II hnt 4,056. Thirty-nine Of the pres
ent organized counties Of the State had ne voice
in making the Constitution, and the whole vote
cast in its favor when it was rafined was only
about one-tenth Of our present. voting population
In will not he claimed that that small number ef
per.ons in that day understoed our wants as fully
as they are known by the present Inhabitants Of
the State. The Constitution may have served
its purpose, but we have completely outgrown
it. VOC can only provide for the submission Of
this question to the people at the next. general
election, and two years will have elapsed, should
the people endorse the measure, before the new
Constitution would go into operation.
THE SENATORIAL ELECTION.
One of your important duties win be the cleo
tion of Q United States Senator. While would
not he understood As sanctioning the reports that
have been 80 generally circulated Of the whole
sale purchase of Legislatures, in our former cleo
tions. h would be idle to deny the existence of
such reports, OF the injury they have done TO the
rood name Of our Common wealth. Would it not
be wise for you, in the language Of Scripture, TO
..sbstain from all appearance Of evil y folr ac-
tions should be governed by snch high sense Of
public duty that no man would dare risk his rep
ntatiou by intimating that you had been con-
trnllsd by Improper motives
1t is hoped that the day is not far distant when