Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-01-24

1 from Missouri, In 1855. has never EeceiV-
I ed much attention from the Legislature
/ Itneeds revision and amendment Blu
I your attention VIII now be called only
/ 70 one important point that HIS been the
i subject of much embarrassment in some
/ Of our courts, namely, the difficulty Of
/ distinguishing between mansi2ughter Ia
+ the fourth degree, under sec. %, and eZ-
/ cusable homicide under thesecond clause
! OF section 10. 1t Is also submitted that
| this last mentioned clause goes too far In
/ entirely exemptlng from punishment
( one who takes the life of another under
I circumstances highly blamaDi6-
DEFECTS N LAWS.
Many defects in our laws have arisen
from haste and want Of care on the part
Of the Legislature Acts have frequently
/ been passed purpOrting to amend certain
sections OF the General Statutes Of 1868,
for example, which had been amended
and repealed years before. Sometimes
the acts intended to be repealed are
otherwise improperly cited, as in chap
ter 81 Of the Session Laws of 1888, re-
lating to cities Of the third class. And,
notwithstanding the strict requirement
Of the Constitution, the titles of some
acts are so indefinite that no person but
their author can tell the subject of the
legislation by reading them. Such errors
and defects are often very misChievOus
IN their consequences, and it is to be
hoped that no mistakes Of this charac-
ter viii mar the Session Laws of 1855.
DECENNLAL CENSUS.
By the terms of the Constitution, the
third decennial enUm eratiOn of the in
habitsnts of the State must be taken
during the present year. The first State
census was taken under chapter 20 of
the Session laws Of 1865, which act was
afterwards republished as chapter II Of
the General Statutes of 1868. But il was
repealed by chapter 81 of the Session
laws Of 1873, Gan act supplemental to
chapter 137, Of the Session laws of 1873
relating to the collection of statistics"
etc. The census Of 1875 was taken under
the last two named acts. Section
7 Of the supplemental act Of
1875 was amended by chapter 1872 Of
the Session laws Of 1877, and this is the
only change made in the law since the
census of 1875 was taken. Chapter 100
OF the session laws Of 1888, however,
provides for the biennial enrolment of
the soldiers Of the late war, their wild
OWs and orphans. i venture the sugges-
ton that these several acts, commencing
with that Of 1873, are Inadequate in
their provisions for a regular deCennial
census, which ought to follow, as nearly
as may be, the forms used in the Federal
S0-A-9N-Eg ~ -l--lsg NO--4 pa 4lO441 may DC
made with it, thus giving US the benefit
Of a complete census every five years.
Your attention Is respectfully invited to
this subject, and to the necessity Of an
appropriation for the expenses of such a
census as, in your wisdom, you shall
make provision for.
LEGISLATIVE APPoRTIoNAENT.
Section 2, Article X, of the Constitu-
ton, requires q eappOrtiOnment OF the
State IN 1886, based on the census OF the
preceding year. But under the amend
ments to our organic law providing for
biennial sessions Of the Legislature, no
regular session Will be held in 1856, and
this requirement of the Constitution can
be complied with only through the
agency of a special session. This is one
Of the anomalies of our organic law
growing out of its frequent amendment,
and the difficulty Of adjusting these
amendments to all sections of an ORIGINAL
~ CONSISTENT instrument. GU may
perhaps, be able to devise some measure
by means of which the necessity for an
extra session in 1886 may be avoided.
ENROLMENT OF SOLDIERS.
The Legislature of 1888 provided for
biennial enrolment of the soldiers. of
the late war, their widows and orphans,
now residents Of this State. This en-
AO4ALlSL4G anu AZ 1D-4-C
ties, very ImperfectIy made, by the
Township Assessors, and the lists re-
turned by them were consolidated by
the County Clerks and forwarded to the
Adiutant General. Nothing, / believe
has since been done with them.
The purpose of this enrolment was to
secure a complete record, by States, regi-
ments and companies, of the pOstOffice
address OF all Union soIdlers OF the late
war residing in Kansas, TO the end that
they, and the surviving soldiers in other
States, might on application to the Adj
jutant Genera. ascertain the address OF
comrades who could furnish evidence
necessary to establish pension and other
claims growing out Of service in the
Union army. Several hundred thousand
pension claims are now held in the Pen
sion Office at Washington, awaiting
proofs that might be furnished if the
applicants could learn the post
Office address of surviving comrades.
Every regiment of the Union army, and
probably every company, Is represented
in the population OF Kansas, and if the
work begun in 1888 was perfected, the
Just claims of thousands Of our own cIti-
zens, as we'll as those Of thousands of
faithful soldiers scattered all over the
country, might be established. 1 Gin
cerely trust you will adopt measures for
perfecting the enrolment made IN 1888,
and for Systematically recording the
names thus ascertained, so that the ADD
iutant General can furnish TO any appli-
cant the Postofice address of any soldier
of the Union residing In Kansas.
OUR EASTERN BOUNDARY LINE.
Our eastern border is defined in the
organic act the act of admission and in
our State Constitution, as the western
boundary Of the State of Missouri. The
location of that line from the mouth Of
the Kansas river to the north line of the
State, Is not definitely understood by our
people nor by the Inhabitants of Mis-
souri,. By the treaties between the
United States and the SaCs and Foxes,