Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1897-01-20

| Morrill, that the board should be abolished
| We have state architect. whose duty it Is
| to make the plans and specifications for our
| state buildings.
Sharp Irrigation Criticism.
"a few years ago the people of the West
ern part of the state became interested in
the subject of irrigation, and the cry of
| 1rrigate or emigrate' was used by those
| who believed that the salvation of that por-
| ton of the state depended upon the success
or failure of irrigation. Two years ago a
| board of irrigation Was established by the
| legislature and an appropriation was made
for the purpose of experimenting along the
line of irrigation from wells
| Il have been unable 10 procure a COPY of
the boards report, bGt am informed that
| in several places wells have been put down
| wind mills erected and allowed to go to
| rack and ruin If there have been any
results obtained that would justify the out
| lay of the appropriation, 1 have not been
| informed as to wh2t they were. People
| from the western part of the state, in in
| tervtews ond conversation, are divided upon
the question of VIII ether irrigation from
| this source can be rsade success or not.
some go so lar as to say that il is
| failure and delusion; others saw that A
! continuation of the experiments ought to
| be made in order to give it a fair trial. I
| would recommend to the Legislature that
! this receive careful investigation at your
| hands If, from the experience of the board
| and its results obtained so far together
| with that of individuals who have tried 1t to
| their own satisfaction, it is found that irri-
| gauon OF this kind cannot be made a suc-
cess, would recommend that the board he
/ abolished l do not make this recommended
| ton to discourage the people of the western
part of the state. The admir- able advant-
| ages offered stoCkmeu are probably supe-
| r1or to those engaged in agriculture at
| umes An adaptation of means to ends will
enable the people to avail themselves of all
the resources of that quarter of Kansas
Forestry and Silk Stations.
'The state forestry stations, established
| In the western portion of the state for the
| purpose of testing whether trees of certain
| kinds could be successfully raised have
been in existence for several years. In nv
| judgment, the question, If it ever can be
solved, has been solved, and I would recon-
mend that unless the provisions of estab-
! llshment make its continuance for a speci-
fed number of years obligatory and the
| contract has not been filled on the part of
| the state so that its adjustment would lose
| the state the title to the land, that it be
abolished" The same recommendation is
made with regard to the silk station at
| Peabody
Live Stock Sanitary Commission.
| In my judgment one of the most import
| ant If not the most important industry of
| our state, is our cattle interests. The an
/
received my careful attention, and believe
| that it has done efficient work during the
last two years. would ask of the legislature
| that the needs of this important board be
| attended to- to the end that we may have
| feeling of security amongst those who are
interested in this great industry. The sta
| tlstics show that Kansas is forging ahead as
cattle raising state. In western Kansas
especially, the finest cattle and beef are pro-
duced at nominal cost, and I predict that
n fnrr
Will enjoy an extensive DEVELOPMENT of this
business. 1 would recommend the careful
study OF the boards report and that all
necessary appropriations be made to carry
on the work of protecting this great in
dustry.
Consolidation of Boards.
Il would recommend that the law govern
ing the appointment of the penitentiary
board be so amended that it can also SUPER
wise and control in addition to the peniten-
t1ary at Lansing, the Hutchinson reforma-
tory and, If not abolished, the reform school
Tor boys al Topeka At present this institu-
ton is under the supervision of the state
board of charities The Hutchinson REFORM
atory is under separate board To make
the matter plain, L would have all of the
penal institutions under the charge of the
board OF directors for penal institutions and
all OF the charitable institutions under the
supervision of the state board of charities.
haiirOa0S Criticized.
THE question of the regulation of trans
portatlon companies has been one that has
commanded the attention of the legislatures
OF the various states since railroads were
first introduced. These corporations have
received their charter rights from the yari-
Gus states, and these states naturally con-
cIuded that they had the right to regulate
and control the corporations that they thus
mad created. This view of the case was con-
Stantly combatted by the corporations who
claimed, as they were private corporations
they were not subject to state legislation so
Tar as their charges were concerned
a view that they have not vet
abandoned. When, however, the courts
OF the states began to hold that they were
public corporations, and therefore amend
able to the legislature of the states they ap-
pealed to the federal courts. claiming.
nrst, that they were private corpora TONS
and, secondly, that if they were Quasi-pub-
nc corporations, the regulation of them
could only be had through the federal Con-
gress. The courts having sustained this
view the people of the various states then
demanded that the federal Congress should
pass such legislation and create such
boards of control as were necessary to Sc
cure to the people their just rights in the
matter. In obedience to this demand Con-
gresS, eleven yearG ago. created that subter-
Iuge Tor justice called the interstate COM
merce commission, and enacted legislation
that was supposed by the people to be for
the purpose of securing their rights and con-
trolllng these corporations. After eleven
years OF weary waiting, the people are now
told by this commission in its tenth animal
report, just issued, that the law under which
tney were acting was defective and had
oeen held by the court of last resort as in
operative and unconstitutional
Thus, after fifty years of effort in this
direction, we find that practically nothing
mas been done toward the control of cor
porauons; that the question has been
dVolded and delayed as much as possible
through the courts. and finally, at the end.
we nnd the will of the people thwarted and
the corporations resting upon the bosom of
the supreme court with the same feeling of
commence and security that an infant re-
poses upon the bosom of a wet nurse
The Supreme Court Criticised.
II the Congress OF the United States pass
an amended law the torpid snake of itiga-
ton will again begin to crawl slowly through
the maZeS of the law towards the court of
nnal 1ur1sdictio and if the leaden heel of
justice is as slow and if the meditations of
the court are as great and If they shall pom
der as long over the constitutionality of the
law In the future as they have done in the
past. posterity will have arrived in time to
near their next decision. and the existing
generation Will have ceased to take interest
IN transportation matters on this earth be-
cause they WILL by that time have been
transported beyond the Jurisdiction of the
court Therefore, it seems to me that if re-
lief is desired by this generation they can
not wait upon the slow evolution of the fed
eral congress and federal courts. but must
seek Tor relief without reSorting thereto
Il therefore recommend that the leeisIa-
ture pass maximum freight law that will
be fair to corporations and inst to the pfso-