People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1898-12-13
Should Be Abolished

Should Be Abolished
The state board Of en- unes ma
always proveh source 81 Wlcn
trouble 10 Kansas po!il''- O. 4
the peculiar features nj IL.
system Of managing IN c'at.ab,
institutions OF the stare. s teft Re-
offers an inducemenI fnr r- urr
beers Of the board TO plundrrtle ,t.r
treasury at will. The his ~, q. lhe
different boards during the pas o.
teen years shows that the STAT has
been robbed OF thousands ~ dalr..
The law which prov'des i.r .h5
compensation OF the hoard, ada
ton to allowing the mcm Y-is - ...
day for the time they are engaged r
looking after the Institution ais.
allows them ten cents per me .u
mileage 10 going 10 and from lh itf-
ferent institutions. As Hedrlf gare
person who has had a pace .a Ice
board since it was created has 1d,u
on railroad pass, that ten c'ria y-T
mile has been Clear gain. And a, the
board gets three dollars per da 8NIe
enroute between the institutions. aud
each member draws his ten cents for
every mile the train goes besides. tae,
get double pay while they are travel.
ing. 10 other words the state paws
the board for riding around on "a :
road passes.
By working hard chugging along OF
jerkwater railroads, an industrlou,
board can make about nine or ten
dollars per day per member, and most
Of the boards have managed 10 d.
this. When the law was enacted IT.
was not intended to operate In this
manner, but 1t was soon discovered
that IL did operate this way ana as it
was good thing for the politicians it
has remained that way ever since.
The Topeka Journal figure ~ I
during the fiscal year enolng Jupt 30.
1898, the present board of CHAR $
drew from the state treasury $3.50 26
fol mileage. During the same time
they put in on an average 176 day,
each, many of which were spent IA
riding on the trains between the IN
stitutioDs, for which they drew total
of So, $40 as salary. The mileage and
salary both amounted to 81. 639 05 fog
each member of the board, an average
of SO 81 per day.
During a like period under the
Morrill, administration, from July /.
1895, to July l, 1896, the board of char
tiles drew S4,724.SO, but the bill,
show that only four members were
travelling a good share of the time, So
that those who did travel managed to
strike about the same average as The
present board. 1t is said that under
Governor John A. Martins admins
tration one Of the members of the
board of charities established a "ctu-
structive residence" 800 miles from
where he really lived, and 50 added
$50 to his mileage bill every time h.
made trip tU the state institutions
1t is the mileage that makes place
on the board of charities So much
sought after by men who do not wish
to devote their entire time to an office
Wherever they get their personal
business in shape they can run on
and make a tour of the state institu
tions at SO per day. Not only that
but there are many "perquisites"
which 60 to the members of the board
10 the letting of contracts and in pur-
chasing supplies.
II the state institutions were under
civil service rules and had competent
superintendents, there would b. 20
call for FIVE men to go YEARLY arouGd
to visit the institutions every week or
two. This thing alone ought to be
sufficient to bring about a new meth
cd OF handling the state institutions,
even if the good Of the inmates were
not considered, which is the greatest
argument in favor Of change.
If civil service were applied to the
state institutions, so that they would
be removed from politics, and if the
money which is now wasted on a
board of charities was used In the
institutions themselves to secure
physicians who are specialists in the
various diseases TO be found in the
asylums and other institutions, and
to provide competent nurses and at
tendaEts for the insane, the biennial
scandals which are now regular oc-
currence just before each election,
would become thing Of the past, and
Kansas would become celebrated for
the manner in which she cares for her
unfortunates instead Of notorious for
the way in which they are treated
under the present system.
Your Danger Now
r. from tho nvarworkpd condition nj