Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1885-01-22

tanned except from testimony, or from
the conflicting statements of interested
parties not under oath. And yet there
is no provision made for compelling the
attendance of witnesses, and the mode
OF procedure is vague and indefinite.
THE CRIMES ACT.
Our crimes act, originally brought over
from Missouri, in 1855, has never receiv-
ed much attention from the Legislature.
It needs revision and amendment. Blu 1
your attention will now be called only
to one important point that has been the
subject of much embarrassment in some
OF our courts, namely, the difficulty of
distinguishing between manslaughter in
the fourth degree, under sec. 26, and ex-
cusable homicide under the second clause
dissection 10. 1t is also submitted that
this last mentioned clause goes too far in
entirely exempting from punishment
one who takes the life Of another under
circumstances highly blamable.
DEFECTS IN 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and repealed years before.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the acts intended to be repealed are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 1883, 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 will mar the Session Laws of 1885.
DECENNIAL CENSUS.
By the terms of the Constitution, the
third decennial enumeration of the in
habitants 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 it was
repealed by chapter 81 of the Session
laws Of 1875, Gan act supplemental to
chapter 1877, Of the Session laws of 1873,
relating to the collection of Statistics"
etc. The census of 1875 was taken under
Z of the supplemental act of
the Session laws of 1877, and this is 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. | venture the sugges
ton that these several acts, commencing
with that of 1873, are inadequate in
their provisions for regular decenn:al
census, which ought to follow, as nearly
as may be, the forms used in the Federal
census, so that comparisons may be
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
census as, in your wisdom, you shall
make provision for.
LEGISLATIVE APPoRTIONMENT.
Section 2, Article X, of the Constitu-
ton, requires reapportionment of the
State in 1886, based Oh the census of the
preceding year. But under the amend 4
ments to our organic law providing for
biennial sessions CT 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 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. You may
perhaps, be able to devise some measure
by means of which the necessity for an
extra session in 1856 may be avoided.
ENROLMENT OF SOLDIERS.
The Legislature of 1888 provided for d
biennial enrolment of the soldiers of
the late war, their widows and orphans,
now residents of this State. This en-
rollment was hastily, and, in some coun-
ties, very imperfectly made, by the
Township Assessors, and the lists re-
turned by them were consolidated by
the County Clerks and forwarded to the
AGjutant General. Nothing, l 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 postotfice
address of all Union soldiers 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 General, 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 mis- ht 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 c!ti-
zens, as we'll as those Of thousands OF |
faithful soldiers scattered all over the |
country, might be established. | sim
cerely trust you will adopt measures for
perfecting the enrolment made in 1888,
and for systematically recording the
names thus ascertained, SO that the Adj
jutant General can furnish to any appli- |
can't the pos.otice 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, IF fhot line from tho month or |