Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1907-01-10

of former state Treasurer j. S. hartley
| The state lost, though the decision re-
/ fCrrCd to was based on "a mere technical
| ity This famous case has run the gaunt-
! let Of the courts for number Of years
| and 1t now appears that there Is no pos
| sbility Of recovering from the bondsmen
| any portion of the BARLEY shortage. Such
! being the fact 1t remains for the state
| treasury to adjust itself to the consequent
| conditions Section o. Article OF the
| constitution reads as follows:
| "All funds belonging to the state for
| educational purposes, the interest and in
| como whereof only arc to be used shall
! be deemed trust funds held by the state,
! and the state shall supply all losses there
| Of, that may IN any manner accrue, so
! that the same shall remain forever invio-
| late and undiminished."
| II is therefore obligatory upon your
! body TO make provision for the restitution
! of the depleted funds, either by authoriZ-
| ing the drawing of Il warrant upon the
! general fund for the amount. payable to
| the treasurer. or by authorizing IA special
! levy upon the grand assessment roll COW
| crinp one or more years. sufficient to meet
! the requirements. The items and amounts
of such shortage are as follows:
| Permanent school fund ...... $3.50. sac. 81
Permanent university fund. 9.775 Oh
Agricultural college endowment
tund ..,..,........... 1880 81
Normal endowment fund. ... 12,G00. 90
Total observation-disclosures 1925. 5s7 so
Railway Commission and Freight Rates.
The previous Legislature provided for
submission to the voters of an amend
nent to the constitution creating a state
railway commission of three members.
| This amendment was adopted by u large
majority ut the late election, and AT the
same time the first board of commission
ors was duly elected With reference to
the powers and duties of. the commission
the Joint resolution submitting the
amendment reads as follows:
"The powers and duties of such com
mission shall include the regulation Of
rates, service and general control of COM
mon carriers as the Legislature may pro-
vide by law" etc.
1t will be necessary for your honorable
body TO define in detail the duties of this
commission and to confer upon II ample
authority to effectively deal with the sub
iects which will come before 1t. You
are to fix salaries of the members and
make provision of such clerical help AS
may be needed, presumably one secretary
to the board. You should make 1t GER
tain by legislative requirement that the
person selected for the important position
of secretary shall have had practical eX-
porience In connection with railroad man
agement and rate making, able to meet
the railroad officials upon their own
ground and thus capable of rendering the
more valuable assistance to the board.
The people are looking to this commission
for relief from railroad oppression. The
measure of success achieved by the board
will very largely depend upon the choice
of a secretary He should be an expert.
The railroads have been Il supreme fac
tor In the development of Nebraska and
no one will gansay their right to reason
able returns upon their actual invest
ments. 1t is also right that the people
should be protected against unjust dis
ordinations and cxtortionate rates. The
| remedy of national legislation is being
vigorously applied and IL remains for the
several states to be equally active
favor such legal restraint as will operate
against discrimination and will guarantee
| equal privileges to all. Now that the peo-
pie have established II railroad commits
sion and have authorized you TO clothe 1t
with ample power marked Improvement
| along these lines is confidently expected.
Education.
The growth of our educational system
| In all its branches has been phenomenal
and highly satisfactory. Our people are
alive to the Importance of good schools
| aud have ever shown Willingness to pro-
| vide for the needs of such institutions
whenever the need has been made mani
| fest At the present time the state is
| supporting by direct taxation the univer-
sity and two normal schools. in addition
| to five junior normals. school for the
| blind and for the deaf and dumb | have
no doubt but that your honorable body
| of all these institutions and will make
such appropriations as will further their
| progress and be in line with the growth
and development of the state.
| institutional Comments.
am pleased to call your attention to
| the fact that the penitentiary Is nearly
self-supportlng In the department of
| of the warden shows that for the six
| months ending November 30, 1906 the per
capita cost of maintenance was $66.97.
| During that time the per capita earnings
| of the convcts were 5000, making the
| net maintenance cost to the state but
$l5.OS for each inmate. little less than
! nine cents per day The physical cOndi-
| ton of the prison is first class and ii
stands today as u model institution of its
! kind.
have each been created by different stat
utes and are known by different names
That at Lincoln is known as the Ne
bIaska Hospital for the Insane the one
at Hastings is designated Asylum for the
1ncurable Insane" while the one at Nor
folk is STYLED the Insane Asylum at Nor
| folk" Owing to the variations in the
statutes creating them some perpleNing
| questions have arisen, and are likely to
| continue to arise In the future, with re-
| spect to their control, management and
| legal status | deem it important that
the chapter of our statutes dealing with
| the insane be revised, that the three asy-
lums be placed on exactly the same foot
| ing. that they be styled respectively tho
| Lincoln Hospital for the Insane" the
Hastings Hospital for the Insane" and
the Norfolk Hospital for the Insane
that there be no distinction in the char
acter of the patients received at either
institution and that the state be con-
veniently districted so that each asylum
| shall receive the patients coming from its
own district. The word 'incurable" is
almost brutal in its suggestion and it
| should be omitted from the title of any
|
Ant-pa Law.
During the past two years very gen
| eral sentiment has developed against the
issuance of free railroad transportation
Such action on the part of railroad Of
| ficals is rightly regarded as unjust dis
| elimination and ns being subvcrsive of the
public veal. Both the great political
| parties have declared against the prac-
tice in their state conventions and have
| pledged themselves to definite action.
| recommend that at MS early date as is
| practicable you add to our statutes a
rigid anti-pass law, applicable to all
cases save those of bona fide railroad en-
ployes the members OF their immediate
families, and care-takers of live stock
With the exceptions noted. a heavy PEN
atty should be imposed both on the party
who issues n pass and the party who
solicits the same.
Direct Primary.
urge your honorable body to give to
the state some form of direct primary
law but with such limitations as will
make ii popular ana effective. 1t should
rigidy guard against the selection of cam
djdates who may have received plural
ity of the votes cast but not a majority.
n fasss 60,