The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1904-11-05
THE AMENDMENTS.

Is voters ought 20 De Studying w
amendments to be voled upon Nov
II 8, so they may exercise an lntelligen.
choice at the polls. These amend
IS ments viii he found published in full
!, 10 this issue Of the INTELLIGENcER
Read them and deliberate carefully
The INTELLIeENCER has reviewed
o these amendments several times, anC
while it is not enthusiastic about any
e Of them, there seems to be room fol
diversity of opinion upon at least two
r of the proposed changes--the first
e and the fifth.
The first proposed amendment re-
l lates to the pensiOnlng Of disabled
, policemen in the cities Of over 100, 900
l inhabitants out of funds provided
by the cities themselves 1t cannot
/ go INFO effect without being voted
upon favorably by the cities. As
an abstract proposition the INTEL
LIeENCER is not very friendly to a
civil pension list, but If these cities
want to pension their disabled police
men and to pay for 1t out Of their
own resources, it may not be the
proper thing for US Of the country to
refuse them the privilege.
The fifth amendment relates to an
extra tax Of four cents on the one
hundred dollars valuation for a period
Of FIVE years for the purpose Of erect
Ing a new state capitol building at
Jefferson City. The only objection
to this amendment arises from a
doubt as to whether the revenue will
prove sufficient to build such a capt.
toll as Missouri deserves to have, The
main part Of the present building
was erected nearly three quarters Of
a century ago. 1t is anything but
creditable TO the state Of Missouri,
and il the proposed tax would yield
sufficient revenue in i've years for the
purpose intended, there would be
scarcely a valid objection to be offered.
But it would be a great mistake for
Missouri to build a cheap building.
This is the fifth state in the union In
wealth and It is destined to advance
to a higher rank. We should not be
content with less than a SIS, 900, 900
capitol building. The one we build
next should not be 5000 outgrowu. 1T
has been estimated that the proposed
tax would yield from SO, 900, 900 to
So, 500, 900. And it would not be inn
possible to vote an additional sum at
the end Of the five years.
There is much less room for diver
sity Of opinion as to the second, third
and fourth amendments. The second
would establish the Initiative and
referendum, a nostrum Of Missionaries
which has proved Of no practical
where it has been tried The
third would commit the state to the
secondhand school book business.
There is no occasion for such a
If we had compulsory educa
tion in Missouri, the argument would
be stronger but still not necessarily
Under the present system
local school boards are authorized to
furnish school books to those who are
unable to pay for them. This
proposition is in line with a great
many other similar Bocialistic
schemes. 1t is better to draw the
line before it is to late.
The fourth amendment is the most
preposterous proposition ever submit
ted to a vote of the people. 1t
would compel the railroads to furnish
transportation to public officials SO ]
that public officials may not be bribed
by the railroads giving them trans ]
p%ortation voluntarily | This PROPOSE.
-
zion will doubtless be followed up BY l
one to compel the baking powder
to furnish public officials !
al the baking powder they can use '
that they may be removed from
temptation; and to compel the insur- i
ance companies to insure their prop. {
arty free Of charge for a similar /
reason. 1t is incredible that this {
proposition should receive any con. '
siderable vote in its favor. .
The Jackson Examiner reports the =
discovery Of natural gas at Indepep. :
The owner NJ To v