Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-02-13


In answer to your inquiry, gentle
reader, we must say that it is too
early yet to judge of this legislature
1t is true the chaplain of the house
informed the Lord the other day that
the conduct of the legislature was
such as to cause joy throughout the
state, but we are satisfied the Lord
considered the statement somewhat
premature, to say the least. In fact,
the statement was made more, we
think, for the purpose of pleasing the
fellows who had voted to give him his
job than as matter of information
to the Deity. Our judgment is that
the legislature will be a diSappoint-
ment. 1t won't economic in expend-
itures ana will spend its time consid-
ering impractical schemes. Take the
course of the senate so far. First was
a preJension of economy, a proclama-
tion, 50 to speak, that useless clerks
would be cut off. But every Populist
senator was chairman of u committee
of some kind and wanted clerkship,
and then, we suppose, in order to
close the mouths of Republicans, the
majority decided to go back to the
old rule and allow every senator a
clerk. Every man who is familiar
with the business of legislature
knows that not over four committee
clerks are needed in either house. In
the senate the other thirty-siX COM
mittee clerkships are simply donations
of $3.50 each to thirty-siX individuals.
1t is simply gift of s., 400 out of the
state treasury. There is no juStifica-
tion for the expenditure. If it is
given as matter of charity it could
be better bestowed. The people who
are given clerkships are not objects of
charity. They simply want to stay
at Topeka during the legislature and
have a good time at the states eX-
pense, or the clerk is probably some
member of the senator's family, whose
appointment adds to the senator's
salary. 1t won't do for the Populists
to say they are simply doing what the
Republicans did before. If the people
of Kansas had any Justification under
heaven for electing Populist legis-
| lature, it was the promise that the
I
expenditures and right things where
the Republicans had gone wrong. No
amount of talk can satisfactorily ex-
plain or justify the squandering OF
over $1,000 on clerks that the senate
has no more use for than sandhill
crane has for stills. The legislature
will spend good deal of time discuss
ing a maximum freight bill, which
will be great deal more apt to dc
harm than good. There may be some
men in the house or senate who know
something about railroads, but we
doubt it. The proposition to allow
an inexperienced body of men to fix a
schedule of rates is about as reason
able as it would be for parcel OF
preachers who hardly know the differ
ence between a jack plane and saw
buck to fix-an arbitrary scale of prices
for building houses. or parcel OF
native-born Kansans who had never
seen a body of water large enough to
be nayigable for two-pound catfish
during all the season to fix schedule
of rates for ocean traffic on all the
salt waters of the globe. The legis-
lature will pass some interest laws
and Embarrassment laws to prevent
the collection of debts. notwithstand-
ing the fact that experience has
proven that usury laws never did con-
troll the price of money. and laws to
prevent the collection of debts are a
premium on dead beats and hard
ship to poor men who are honest