Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1907-01-11

these nominations. The present SyS-
tenn of permitting any citizen to de-
clare himself candidate for nomina-
zion by the mere filing of nomination
, fee suggests possibility Of having a
| totally unfit and unworthy man to be-
come the nominee of the political
party with which he aftiliates. A sug-
gestion worthy of consideration Is that
| nomination for the primary election.
| Or the right of citizen to have his
| name placed upon the ballot, should
| be by petition only. The number Of
| petitioners should be sufficient to pre-
vent frivolous candidates., but not so
high as to bar worthy aspirants. There
are many who advocate the extension
| of the primary election law so as to
include state officers. While this Is
! correct in theory, and should ultimate
| ly be accomplished, believe that its
! extension to state officers should be
| deferred until the law is corrected in
its application to it's present field of
! operation.
Labor Legislation.
l desire to renew a previous sug
| gestion to the legislature upon a sub
| ject which is of great interest to the
working people Of the state and which
| is generally described as the common
| law doctrine as to the non-liability of
a master to servant for injuries oc.
curing through the negligence Of
fellow servant.
Whatever may have been proper as
| to this common law doctrine In the
past the present law is certainly not
suited to the present time, when high
geared and dangerous machinery per-
forms such large part in the produc-
tion of manufactured articles and in
the construction Of buildings.
Your intention is invited to the sue
cess that has attended the opening OF
free public labor employment agency
under the auspices of the state labor
department and to the wisdom Of an
| agencies.
In connection with the subject OF
labor legislation I also wish to sub
| nit to you the desirability OF increas-
| ing the number of labor inspectors,
not only for inspection of shops and
! factories, but for prevention Of child
labor and enforcement of the truancy
laws, to the end that there may be an
Inspector in each of the nine congress.
sional districts of the state.
Governor johnson here devotes con-
siderable space to the various state
| departments and to the subjects OF
good roads, drainage and forestry and
suggests what he believes would be
improvements in existing laws. He
also recommends the adoption of a
uniform divorce law and calls atten:
ton to the merits of the advisory
initiative and referendum.
Public Ownership.
Public ownership of public utilities
Is fast becoming an accomplished fact
in many of the cities and villages of
the state. If city, village or town
desires to conduct it's public utilities
by and for the public, after having 50
decided by a majority vote, there can
be no objection to allowing the munic.
ipality to raise the money necessary
to purchase and operate in any way it
sees fit. Under our present laws it is
permitted to bond all the property OF
the community for this purpose. If,
on the other hand, it can find persons
who are willing to loan the money
upon the property Of the public utility
desired to operate, pledging only the
property of the public utility loaned
on, there can be no objection on the
part of owners of other and general
property. This plan would remove tho
objection sometimes urged against mu.
n1cipal ownership, that it Injuries the
credit of a city or village and that it
Is not fair to tax non-users Of these
utilities for the benefit of the users
This expression of an advanced public
opinion is found in our neighboring
state Of Illinois in. the enactment of
the so-called Mueller law, which has
been sustained in the courts, and ap.
plies in that state to the acquisition
by municipalities of street railway
properties. The idea is just and cor
| AONL ouu SudCLuCuL Ill ILLS SLdL0
would undoubtedly have the effect OF
regulating in no small measure our
privately owned public utilities, If not
in acquiring them for the public use.
Fight on Harvester Trust.
During the past two years the state
prison Irvine plant has been materially
enlarged; the output amounting during
this period to 24,500, 900 pounds, which
was sold at price amounting to 3d..
100000. It is conservatively estimated
that the farmers of this state have
been benefited to the extent of at least
8 cents per pound, amounting to ap.
proximately $750,000. while the state
at the same time has made a net profit
Of 100000, thus yielding during the
two years a net profit to the state and
the citizens thereof of more than ST.
100000. The National Cordage COM
pany, a subsidiary corporation of the
International Harvester company, has