The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1892-02-04
OUR COLUMBUS LETTER.
THE LEGISLATURES GREAT WORK
YET TO COME.

Farmer Members Determined to Have
Proper sheep Legislation - The De-
hciency Hobgobiin Bobs Up sereneIy.
Public Printing-Omce Seekers.
COLUMBUS, o., Jan. 90.
At the end of the third week of the
present session of the Ohio legislature,
there seems to be a scarcity OF bills in
either branch. 1t is true we have dis
cussed sheep and dogs, swamp lands,
quail and page boys, and we have passed
several local bills and partial appro-
priation bill so that we may draw our
mileage and salaries, but the great work
is still ahead. The redistricting bill and
the judicial revision bill are both far in
the future, seemingly. And then there
is the regular appropriation bill, that's
the measure that is going to turn black
hair white, before it is framed and
passed.
The "Institutions" visited.
Already the finance committee of the
house has begun its grand swing around
the circle to see what it will take to keep
the constitutions" out of the poor house
for the next twelve months. The Toledo
and Cleveland asylums, and the San
dusky home have been visited, and other
| departments are figuring out how much
they will have TO ask for in order to get
what they think they need. 1t is odd IN
how much estimation common mem
Der Of the legislature is in the eyes of
the trustees and superintendents just
| about this time o year.
The finance committee party was
! made up of Attorney S. NJ. Taylor,
Farmer r. K. Willis and Miss Willis,
Farmer A. II. Mccoy, Attorney Alex
ander Boxwell, Merchant w. l.. Kes-
singer and Mrs. Kessinger, Farmer l.. G.
Ely, Attorney ID. w. Allaman and Mrs.
Allaman and Merchant Jacob Boesel.
Editor Gaumer was the only absentee;
he probably thought that Mr.. Boesel's
| Democracy would prove strong enough
to bear up one trip in safety. It is told
by some members Of the party that other
members had difficulty in keeping them
selves separated from the inmates of the
institutions visited and, strange to say,
the latter tell similar tales of the former.
The makeup of the committee would
seem to denote that there is law, horse
sense, and business about equally
divided, and an editor as balance
wheel. Who shall say that this is not
one OF the best selected as well as the
mostimportantc committees of the house
| The Work of the Senate.
The senate has hard work to keep it.
self from dropping into innocuous
desuetude and no mistake. For three
weeks il labored and brought forth all
Of a score of bills. But it has the salts.
faction of keeping up the reputation OF
the Ohio legislature in one important re.
gard. For the past eight or ten years
there has always been a bride present
This year Senator Lamuel G. Oil,
farmer and teacher, of Mineral Ridge,
Trumbull county is the happy man,
though to say he is a farmer may lead
some to think that he is not the hand.
some and stylish looking man that he is
Mrs. Oil has already spent some time
with the senator at Columbus, and will
continue to do so for the remainder OF
the winter.
so whatever stones we cast at the sen
ate for its sleepiness and lack of noise
and wind, we must concede that it hai
rescued the present session from being
the always appearing exception thai
some people need to prove the rule.
This Years Deficiency.
And still the appropriations Tht
usual discovery has been made thai
comes regularly about this time every
year. The expected receipts of the statt
treasury are found to be Inadequate Il
furnish all the money that the commits
Bioners, trustees and scores of other stat,
servants say they will want. The dupli
cate is said to be too small; that's wha
the commissioners, trustees and othel
state officers say. They always say that
They never for once think that wha
they ask for may be too large. which
brings about the same result But thil
year the deficiency seems to take {
notion to be larger than ever. 1t may
run up to half million-before it is cu
down by the legislature. ...
One strange thing has come out in thi
matter. The decennial appraisemen
figures are now at hand. Instead of in
creasing the duplicate, StOO. 900 900 as Sc
many expected, there is found to b,
over SOS, 100000 less in valuation thai
there was in the appraisement of 1890, tn,
last one used under the appraisemen
of 1880! The state officials who wer,
banking on this tremendous increase ar,
not little nonplussed.
There is just one remedy for such
state OF things, raise the state tax rate
1t takes just SO much to run the stat
government whether the duplicate show
we have 81 ,O00, 900 or 81 600, ,000, 900; tn
only difference is that the rate will b.
just 200 times as high in the forlne
case as in the latter but the amount o
i,money raised will be the same. Now
iithen, II the whole state through its ap
praisement and equalizing boards, ha
succeeded in keeping the duplicate
down below what ii ought to be, ther
Is but one remedy to raise the sam
amount of money, namely, raise tn
rate. OF course, any such action will
not be done until it is evident that tn
present rate on the new figures will no
yield enough to pay expenses.
The whole subject is interesting mo
to say ticklish to the majority-and tn,
way the present legislature solves tn
problem either this year or next, will b
watched with keen eyes all ever tn,
state. The general impression is, how
ever, among those of both parties wht
know about such things, that it will b
impossible to scale the necessary epprO
priations down sufficiently to make botl
ends meet.
Public Prinying.
The subject of public printing is be
ginning to bob up again. 1t costs tn,
state nearly 100000 a year to get it
printing out, and then ii is gotten out 81
late and SO long after its date, that mucl
of it is valueless. As the state eonstitu
tion provides that the printing shall bl
let TO the lowest bidder, there seems t,
be no help for it. Half of the expendi
ture is for the actnal printing, the othe
/ hnI Ia fn..r .y.a. nd ht,,ls