The Globe-republican., 1905-01-12
action on the part Of the legislature, In
this matter,
JUVENILE COURT.

: action on the part Of the legislature,
this matter,
JUVENILE COURT.
, Perhaps the march Of civilization ha
not been more marked In any field
human investigation and endeavor. tina
In the field Of criminology. The relatio
, Of the public to Its criminal classes ma
, , been a subject with which every as
, has grappled. 1t Is an interesting STUD
to note the changes Of thought in refer
ence to this subject but suince 1t 10 sa
that the old notion of punishment 70
crime as q mere matter Of retributlo
has given way to the more humane an
philosophical idea that all penalty shout
DO preventive and reformatory In It
character. As an outgrowth Of this ad
vancing movement for instance, we hay
state reformatory for the incarceration
of Young men convicted Of crime, upol
the theory that II Is not wise to incarcer
ate young criminals with old ones, s.
that persons convicted of crime In thl
state who are between the ages of ]
and 9 are confined IN the Hutchlas91 Ee
| formatory, while criminals beyond IN
maximum age here given are confined Il
the pcnitentary. Criminologists are nov
suggesting another step In advance AM
indeed In some places their prQgresslv'
ideas have already been crystalized int
law, | refer to the establishment Of wha
ID known as the juvenile court system
for the benefit of young people who com
nit certain offences against the law
Under this system, where 1t has beer
tried many of these young. offenders
have been saved the disgrace Of jail ex'
pericnce, and society has been bettel
protected than under servefdr modes Of
Treatment. IN this connection | want
10 call your attention to an alarming re,
suit of recent legislative enactment
known as the truancy law. Many boys
guilty of truanCy have been ordered 10
The boys Industrial school by the county
courts greatly to the damage Of that IN
stitution and to the boys guilty Of these
Offenses Surely the olfcnse Of truancy
Is not ordinarily sufficient TO justly SUP
iect these boys to this punishment and 10
daily association with boys sent there
for much graver offenses. This is o new
and unexpected evidence of the need OF
Juvenile courts for which ] earnestly
plead | trust you will give this subject
deserved attention and put such u law
upon our statute books.
TAX REVISION.
| Every session Of the Kansas Legislature
| for many years has been called, upon
TO wrcstie with propositions for the re-
vision Of our system Of assessment anu
taxation. its imperfections are uniVer-
sally recognized and its ina1equaey to
the needs Of the state generally conceded,
-Four Years ago the legislature provided
for the appointment Of commission 10
be COMPOSED Of two members of the
senate and three members OF the house
who together with the state treasurer,
auditor Of state and attorney general,
should undertake the task Of the rev-
sion Of these laws and to formulate DIS
for submission to the next legislature,
The commission under this law met on
April lC, 1901 and at once began the sub
iect of taxation. They secured the lax
laws of many, il not most Of the states,
and they attended in body q national
tax conference which met at Buffalo, NJ
Y, In May, 1901. After the most care,
full study Of the laws Of other states ana
Of the conditions In this state, this com,
mission formulated bill covering. all
the subjects enumerated In the act which
gave it existence. This bill was submit
ted to the last legislature and eXhaus.
lively discussed, but finally lalled OF
passage SO that the present legislature
face the same conditions faced by rs
predecessors. Like Banquos snost lnis
question will not down. The laws we
now have sadly need revision, The me
qualities under the present system II tlle
various sections Of the state, even IN
counties adjacent TO each other and
even In townships In the same county,
are fragrant and ridiculous, while the
whole state suffers In reputation abroad
as we'll as in practical effect at home
by this imperfect system Of assessment
and taxation. For instance, whila the
law as il now exists provides for the
assessment of property at It's full value,
the entire assessed value OF all the per-
sonal property in the state only aggrc-
gates @,N0O0O, while the bank coMlns-
soner reports over $lW,M0,W0 In the
banks alone, and the secretary of the
state board Of agriculture reports the
value Of farm products and live stock for
the year at $}67, 3yl, NN, and there are
many other forms of personal property
not included in these figures. Not only
docs this assessment make our aggre-
gate statistics look insignificant Abroad,
but it makes our rate Of taxation appeal
so enormously high as to friglIten home
seekers, and to deter Investments by those
unfamiliar with the facts. | think 1t no
exaggeration to say that the real value
of The personal property OF the state is
Mt least six times It's assessed value.
Such statistics do the state great injus-
tlce abroad and give the outside world
no proper conception of financial comb.
lions here, In addition to these absurd |
valuations, Durposely made by the va
rious assessors which belittle the state,
many millions of dollars worth Of per-
sonal pronerty escapes taxation alto
gether il Tits legislature can devise |
some method by which to accomplish
two results, namely: The honest listing |
of personal property for the purpose of |
taxation, and the taxation Of II al its |
real value when listed, It will have done |
that which its predecessors have tried |
in vain 10 DO and which will be of In |
ca,culable benefit TO the state. But, while |
doing this ono danger should he averted |
the danger oi cxtrayagant eHpendi- |
lures which this largely increased vol
ume Of taxable property would make pos
siblc unless me power ~, W. l ,oroa 10 i az
uu u,.e ~ ,,%a, un for nublc officers usu.
a aii~ ind eon,e w9v 10 expeud all the !
a 49, NY tho "V law ollnUe them 70 levy in |
tho form NJ ,ayos' / think a few simple
c oban zoe ~ Il, The nresent laws viii greatly
IN nrevs y HEM ,n' aong The lines discussed
nhpvo an nIei That it Is wiser for YOU to
t a,tomn, ", NV do these things than 10 im-
,bo ,ast ,erisIot,lre in an attempt
ta' 10 ". sne On '% vohmInnus law as was sub
" KIT =, :" that hndv Var instance, I
,ll,'eu same ~ ''' Siun,n amendment to the
.,,lnn n, 'g law s ,t n severe uenalty for
p ai'rn t ss seee s al mi value should be
a adnutod " have elyen tbe subject much
a shonaht ana l." bel,eve Inn, county as
s sossar with ~" denntics in each township