Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1897-07-15
IEGISLATIVE ECONOMY.
PoPULIsTS CUT EXPENSES ONE
HALF LAST SESSION.
Senator PETER in tho Advocate Shows Up
the Ex ravagancs of the Legislature OF
1895 as Compared with 1897. a Saw
ing of Nearly $500 n Day.

While the last Legislature did not
make an altogether satisfactory record
in some respects, ITS record in other
respects shows that the members had
some regard for their constituents in
terests. 1t has already been shown
that the daily expense of the session
was S549, compared with 81, O02 at the
next previous session. 1t has been
shown that its work was done with 80
Senate and 1O2 House employees, while
in 1895 the Senate had l3l and the
House 203. 1t has been shown that
the stationery supplies cost Sl,67S,
while in 1895 the cost was S3,sSs. 1t
has been shown that the engrossing
cost $726, and that the expense for the
same purpose in 1895 was 81, 737.
Readers may wonder how these saw
ings could be made in such large
amounts. A comparison of the items
of expense for the House will throw
some light on the subject. The Ser
geant-at-arms of the Republican House
Yin 1895 did not begin keeping record
pr the stuff he bought until February
rs, which was nearly thirty days after
the session begun, so that the Populist
report for 1897 covers twice the time
that the 1895 report does. The first
item is pocket knives. In 1895, As dozen
costing $40, were purchased. In 1897
none were bought. In 1895 there were
1876 members and 2O3 employees, a total
Of 39S Forty-fve dozen, or $40, knives
would supply every member and en-
ploye, leaving 9l9, enough to supply
every employee with second pocket
knife and still have u few left Was
this necessary expense? Did the
House of 1897 suffer any inconvenience
from lack of sufficient supply OF
knives? In 1906, lOs paper weights
were bought. None were bought in
1897. Nine mirrors were purcha sed in
1895, but none were deemed necessary
in 1897. The fact that the 1895 Legis-
lature used 10 dozen towels while the
last one only used dozen may, 1t is
true, make bad showing for the Pop
ulists. Perhaps the fact that ) dozen
boxes of toilet soap were bought in
1895 compared with 9l5 boxes in 1897
makes similar showing. Five fine
toilet sets were purchased in 1895, but
no toilet sets of any kind appear in the
statement for 1897. Twelve extra fine
hair brushes with chains were paid for
in 1906, but no money was spent for
that purpose in 1897. Exactly the
same number of floor mops were re-
quired ut each session. Sergeants-at-
arms were so numerous in 1895 that it
was necessary to label them so that the
chief Sergeant could tell who was on
MS force, and it required twenty-four
badges for this purpose No badges
were necessary in 1897, because she
number of officers had been reduced so
greatly that it accustomed no trouble
to keep tab on them. Eight Office
chairs, nine Office desks, fourteen office
tables, two typewriter desks and 14S
heavy chairs were purchased in 1895,
and Notwithstanding the fact that
there was little of this left after the
members got through voting it away to
reporters and employees and stealing it
themselves, the 1897 House bought
none of this class of furniture. In the
Fist of 1895 purchases are found twelve
chamois skins, but no similar iteSS APP
pears in the 1897 list. The Sergeant
alarms reports that he found one large
water tank bought in 1895 and that is
The only thing on long list of 1895
purchases which he did find. 1t is pre-
sumable that it remained because it
was too heavy 10 be carried off.
After the above showing it is not
hard to understand how such a large
reduction in expenses could be made.
1t shows that there was disposition
to handle public funds carefully, and
that in 1895 they were handled IN the
most reckless manner imaginable. In
the matter of its own expenses, the
Advocate thinks that the Legislature
made q creditable record, and If there
isNan extra session, it hopes to be able
to note still greater reduction all
along the line. Topeka Advocate.