Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1903-02-13
KANSAS LEGISLATURE.

Smith spent about four hours Sunday
looking up laws and authorities and
discovered that an income tax law
that would probably hold water would
net little revenue. Real estate revenues
could not be taxed, because real estate
pays tax, and that would be double
taxation. Railroad stocks and bonds
could not be taxed because the state
taxes the railroads. And so on down
the line. The only thing that could he
taxed would be the incomes of profess
sional men. The Waggener amend
ment to exempt mortgages and notes
from taxation will be rescinded. Mort
cages and notes will be taxed. Mort
cages will be defined as real estate
and taxed in the county where the real
estate upon which they are given lies.
A provision will be inserted that the
courts shall not issue decree of FORE
closure on any mortgage until 1t Is
shown that the taxes on the mortgage
have been paid. This may raise the
rates of interest, but Senator Smith
says the people will first have to be
show. n II 1t does, then two years hence
the legislature can exempt mortgages
and notes from taxation. But until the
people are shown, he says, it would be
dangerous to exempt that class of
property from taxation.
The senate ways and means COM
mittee has decided not to make any
appropriations for the Dodge City and
Ogallah forestry stations. 1t claims
that these stations are useless and
that to keep them up is simply waste
Of public funds. Now that the state
has an experimental station at Hays
y, the committee will recommend
that all forestry experiments be made
there, and that the state dispose OF
its stations at Dodge and Ogallah. /
Senator White, of Jewell, has re-
newed his fight on the tick" law.
This law was passed two years ago.
Senator Fitzpatrick was its author. It
relates to the quarantine Of Southern
cattle. White made hard fight against
it then, but lost. He has renewed 1t
this year. He wants the northern half
of the state exempted from its provis.
ions. This would enable Northern
Kansas cattlemen to bring in cattle
from south of the line, at the same
time barring cattle men in Southern
Kansas. The southern half of the state
could not quarantine against the north
ern half until Texas fever had broken
out. The White amendment would
virtually kill the whole law.
Among the important bills intro.
duced in the house Friday were the
following; BY MISUNDERSTANDING
that a physician shall be entitled to
license to engage in pharmacy without
taking out an additional examination
before the pharmacy board. The the
ory Is that if doctor has a license to
practice medicine he is competent to
mix up drugs. By Hale-Providing
that when a case is decided by the
supreme court, the judge delivering
the opinion shall file with the clerk
brief statement in writing of the
points decided in the case and it shall
be the duty of the clerk to publish
the syllabus of each case in some pa
per of general circulation in the state,
and also to publish the syllabus OF
each case so delivered in the county
official paper in the county from which
the case was taken to the supreme
court. BY Hale-To extend the mining
laws so as to cover the production oil
salt, COAL clay, stone, petroleum and
natural gas, and to provide for pros
pecting. By Brown, of Brown-Plac'
ing county treasurers under the con-
troll of the state auditor for examina.
ton purposes and creating state ex
aminer at a salary of $4,000 year to
examine the records Of all county
treasures. One bill like this has been
killed already. BY Waggener-Creat
| ing the office of public administrator
to take charge of the estates of per.
sons who die intestate. BY Bowman
Providing that whenever the land
along section line has been used
as a public highway for ten years OF
more the same shall be declared
public highway. BY Mustoe-Submit
ting to the people the question of levy
ing a mill tax for the construction Of
a court house in Kingman county. BY
Mckee, of Clay-Authorizing Squire
Trivett, of Clay Center, to administer
any medicines to his patients that he
may consider important in connection
with his Turkish bath. He is pro
hibited from practicing surgery. BY
Leland-Providing that nonresident
pupils of any of the state educationa
institutions shall pay tuition fees
amounting to so per cent of the pei
capita cost of maintaining the institu
tions; that in the state schools of phar
macy, law and medicine nonresident
pupils shall pay the full per capita cost
of maintaining the schools and resi-
dent pupils a fee of $40 year, anc
that each student of state education
al institution shall pay matriculatlor
fee of SIS. BY Notwithstanding the
commissioner of Doniphan county tt
levy a mill tax for four years, tt
build a $4,000 court house at Troy. BY
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