The Delta independent., 1907-01-11

! with the work OF the different depart
. ments.
The. governor is a member OF one
board, however. the duties OF which
could. In my opinion, be placed upon
the secretary of state. and that is the
auditing board. The purchase of all
supplies comes through that depart
ment. and 1t Is usually necessary for
him to attend the meetings of the
board. so that the Legislature could.
with entire propriety. and without det.
riment to the public good. place the
secretary Of state on that board. thus
relieving the governor Of a small por-
ton OF his board work.
Land Board.
The land board is one of the most
important boards OF the state. 1t re-
| quires constant care and the duties are
becoming more and more arduous and
eXacting, and even then 1t is possible
| for abuses to creep in which could not
| IL the board were able to devote its
whole time and attention to the work.
The members OF the land board can
not, even by extreme industry. become
familiar with all the lands OF the state.
their location and value. This endow.
ment of .hc state is constantly increas-
ing in value and | believe the time is
now ripe when provision should be
made for a separate board to manage
the affairs OF this department. The
board should be an elective one with
term OF either four or six years. the
longer term being preferable. This
will require constitutional amend
ment. and II would be at least four
years before such a board could be
come operative. but I hope this Leg
islature will take the preliminary steps
toward the change in the management
Of the LAND board. However. this
should be remembered. that the state
superintendent OF public instruction
should ALWAYS be member OF the
state board OF land commissioners. on
account of the fact that this inher'-
tonce Is FOR the benefit of the public
schools NJ the state. | believ" a con
stitutional amendment providing for
the election OF two members OF such
board. with the superintendent OF
schools as the third member. would
prove very satisfactory. and that In the
end II wouli be n great saving to the
state.
Certificate Of indebtedness.
II is TO be hoped that the present
Legislature will provide for the pay
ment OF the certificates of indebted
ness issued recently on account OF III"
various Instructions in this state. The
non-payment OF these certificates has
been a considerable source OF embar.
rassment to the present administration
and steps should be taken for the liqu'-
d,tion OF this indebtedness. In case
another such emergency should arise.
which -e all sincerely hone will not be
the case. 81 would simply be impossible
for TIA" state to get credit.
b"licvc this indebt edness can best
b" taken care OF bv bond Issue II
should he 50 arranged that the in
creased tax burden will fall rs lightly
rs possible upon the citizens of the
state
Coal Mine Inspector.
The rapid development of'our coal
areas In The past few years has added
greatly 20 the rcsponsil ilitics OF our
coal mine inspector. who is now oper'
a,ing under law passed twenty years
ago. which provided for only one dep.
u'v. At that time one was sufficient.
but II has aow become an absolutely
physical impGs sibility for Two men TO
do III" work required under the law
In making insneCtions of coal minin.
property II, should be provided with
tn" LEGISLATURE The safety Of III"
men working underground requires Il.
and 7 hone there will he no delay In
coming to the relief OF this depart
ment. | am Of the opinion. however.
that all deputy coal mine inspectors
should be required to pass the same
examination as the inspector himself.
a revision OF the law governing coal
mines would not be amIss. ns the law
under which they are now operating is
somewhat old. and | believe many i'm
provcments could be made which
would tend to prevent accidents ari
protect The livos OF the workmen as
well as being OF material advantage 10
the operators themselves II is the
duty OF the state to fully protect its
citizens and believe here is an oppor.
tun!ty to do efficient work
State Board Of Pardons.
have found the state board Of mar.
dpns n great help to me IN deciding
upon cases worthy OF cIemency. Tho
services Of these gentlemen Is Eratui.
touslv given to the state. their only
reward being the consciousness of hav.
Ing faithfully performed good sorv.
Ice, which, many times. is Of much
more value than n money considcra.
tion.
Tho secretary and clerk of the bonr1
OF Charities and Corrections are made
secretary and clerk OF the board OF par.
dons without additional compensation
The work in both departments OF late
v"ars has grown to such proportions
that It would seem almost imperniiv.
TO make n segregation OF the two dc.
pnrtments. although ] believe the work
could be continued for some time to
come II provision was made for an ad-
ditionnl clerk In the Office to attend TO
the pardon work. placing the clerk IN.
der the direct supervision Of the sccre
tnrv Of The stnte board Of charities and