The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-02-09
WHEN THEY HEAR
What Happened to Their Bill,
What viii
The Miners of Kansas Say
About 1t?
A. BAD MISTAKE MADE
From q Political Standpoint by
House Majority
Is the Way POpuIists Look at
the Matter.
| BAD MISTAKE MADE

The members of the house who aided
in killing the F'ogle mining bill yester-
day seem TO be having trouble IN find
ing an excuse to give to the miners 1or
their action. The principal argument
used among the opponents or the Dill
was that the law creating the State
Society of Mines, which the Fogle bill
amended, was Populist measure ana
they had better leave it as the Popullsts
had passed it in order that the Popu-
lists might receive the blame for what
ever bad features it might possess one
of these bad features is that the min
imum number of miners who could form
a society to elect a delegate to the
State Sociey of Mines was too low. An
other objection to the present law Is
that it allows five subordinate societies
to demand the removal of the mine IN
spector and the election of a new one.
These two objections the Fogle law was
intended to remedy, by raising the min
imum number of miners who could form
a subordinate society from five to ten,
and by providing that it should require
a majority of the subordinate societies
to demand the removal of the inspector.
Under the present basis of represent
tation, Mr.. Fogle said, if the miners of
his county alone should organize With
that purpose in view, they could have
1.50O representatives in the state society
of mineS-enough to control the society.
Miners, like other human beings, ne
continued, have sectional differences.
and if five local societies could demand
the removal of an inspector there would
be a new inspector every few weeks.
The Republican leaders were quick
to see that these were weak points in
the law. for which the Populists We're
responsible, and by leaving the law
alone they could throw the blame for
whatever evil effects might result from
it on to the Populist extra session
OF course, the miners will be just as
quick to see that the Republicans could
have helped them and didn't
Another feature of the present law
which was objected to by its opponents
on the floor of the house was that the
state mine inspector is a state executive
officer, and the law places his election
in the hands of a single class of men.
The hardest point for the opponents
of the F'ogle bill to get around is the
fact that the miners convention just
the day before had passed resolutions
asking for the passage of the bill. AL
though the resolutions were read in the
house they were completely ignored by
the opponents of the bill in discussing
it.
After the bill had been defeated some
of its opponents got together to study
up reason for defeating it which
would sound plausible to the miners.
They decided to throw the blame back
on to G. c. Clemens, who drafted the
original bill passed by the special ses-
sion, and was, in fact, the originator of
the idea of a state society of mines
AS q matter of fact although Mr.
Clemens drafted the original law. he
saw the weak points in it after it had
passed, and drew up the new bill for
Mr.. Fogle to introduce at this session
to rectify those weak points. After
hearing that the FogIe bill was defeated
last night Mr.. Clemens said:
I'VE can get along with the present
law-it is far better than the old one
but it would have been better to have
had the improvements made"
Two of the Republican representa-
tiveS from mining districts were among
he a RT7f yx-hh ha IA1
which decided the fate of the bill. Medill,
the Republican who represents the |
Leavenworth miners, boIted the steer
ing committees instructions and voted
for the bill. Dawes, the other Leaven-
worth Republican, led the opposition |
against the bill