Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-01-18

building established a capitol build
ing fund.-" against which all warrants
must be drawn. 1t is declared the,
shall be redeemed out OF none other
Proceed from the sale of granted land.
are TO form this fund. In separate
act the sale of the lands is provided
for. Of the 132, 1000 acres included in
the grants, 29,O9l acres have been ap'
proved by the secretary of the interior,
he total estimated value of which is
$3.50, 1916, or an average value per acre
Of $l240. The total of S9,I17.33 ac.
cepted from the cruisers are appraised
at 81 ,O45 1926, an average OF $Il.73 per
acre. 1t safe, therefore, to anticipate
that the grants will yield an average of
at least $40 an acre, or an aggregate
fund OF 81 100000. Plans for the con-
struction limit the cost to 1000, 600.
Thus a sufficient amount should ac-
crue TO satisfy all interest debt neces-
STATED by an immediate employment
of the principal required. AS the
moneys derived from the sale of the
granted lands enumerated can be
diverted to no other use, under the
terms of the enabling act and the law,
and as the plans comprehend an ex.
pendilure safely within the bounds of
the estimated endowment income at
present-which is less than prospect
i've valuation--no valid reason exists
why the State should not prosecute
with diligence and vigor an undertak-
ing in which eighty per cent. of the
materials to be utilized will come from
our virgin resources.
1t is recommended that a law be
passed, under section 3, art. VIII of
the constitution, providing for the is
suance of ten-year four per cent. capi-
tol building fund bonds, payment OF
interest installments and final re-
demption to depend upon the proceeds
OF the progressive land sales. 1t is
scarcely to be doubted that the peo-
pie, if enlightened rs to the actual
scope and effect of such an act, would
withhold their approval at the next
general election. As the warrant rate
of interest is eight per cent. the saw
ing to be made by the bond issue is
obvious.
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
Our military establishment should
be renovated. As law is the monarch
of Democracy, so a well organized mil
itia is the custodian of its citadel. Sc
dition or insurrection, the tyranny Of
mobs, conspiracies of violence TO per-
sonal and property rights, call it to the
defense of the commonwealth, and at
the supreme moment, when ignorance
and the evils of selfish or misguided
citizenship assail the guarantees Of the
constitution, the militia should not be
found wanting. do not wish to be
understood as intimating even that
the body of the National Guard Of
Washington is not ardent, spirited,
loyal and ever ready for unquestioning
service. On more than one occasion
its valor, patriotism and efficiency
have been fully tested and justly
lauded. What l desire to criticize,
with q view to recommending revi-
sion of the methods of organization, is
the policy OF electing superior and com.
manding officers. When the question
of the organization and control of the
militia was under debate in the Feder-
al Constitutional Convention, no one
contended for the exercise of the elect.
i've principle. On the contrary, the
right reserved to the States was ex-
pressly the appointment of the Of
ficers." 1t had been the experience of
the trying times precedent to the con-
vention that, as Madison put it
elective officers courted popularity
too much to enforce discipline" We
have witnessed in our own State and
time the pernicious and demoralizing
influence of militrry elections. Sub
stitution of the appoinlive for the
elective plan of preferment, or promo.
ton, under surveillance of the com.
mander-in. chief, would eradicate the
partisanship, favoritism and politics 80
fatal to discipline and so corruptive Of
that singleness of feeling which should
animate the soldiery of the State.
Examination as to aptitude and quail
fcations for command 10 now puerile
and perfunctory. 1t should be spe-
cific and rigid.
If the Legislature undertakes to
provide for restricted or more thrifty
management of the National Guard
the facts should be kept conspicuously
in mind that the members of the mill
tary household are at considerable
personal sacrifice, and that both their
zeal and enthusiasm are measured by
losses to themselves in purse and time.
They comprise much of the brain and
Drawn Of the best citizenship; and at
no point in its expenditures for the
maintenance of the military establish
ment does the State offer adequate
compensation for the duties voluntar-
lily assumed or the services rendered by
the citizens composing it.
ELECTION REFORM.
For the judges, clerks and messen.
gers OF q single State election the
people are taxed approximately $780,
wv. uCi tuO SOuht 10 piOiOuScu
into the night, one and one.half to
two days wages are paid. Messengers
are recompensed very much in ac-
cordance with the whims of auditing
officers. The most responsible citi-
zens should serve as custodians and
accountants at the polls. Compensa-
ton should be neither expected nor
vouchsafed. Returns from remote
precincts should be forwarded to the
County Auditor by registered mail.
All indemnity for individual election
services should be expunged from the
statutes and assignment to the several
duties made, under severe penalty for
avoidance or refusal, from lists OF tax
paying citizens submitted on stated
occasions by the County Treasurer.
Publication of the franchise would be
facilitated by this reform. A repeal of
the present compensatory provisions
of the election laws should be con-
tained in a measure designed to mini
mize aggregate precinct votes, with a
view to insuring spontaneous and
perfect inspection. The larger the
number OF voters at polling place,
the wider the cover for illegalities and
corrnpting influences. By providing
for the reconstruction OF precincts on
the basis of each preceding registra-
t;op so 10 tn limit the voting capacitv