The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1907-01-11

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 its present field Of
operation.
Labor Legislation.
/ 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 a servant for injuries oc-
curing through the negligence of a
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 a 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
a free public labor employment agency
under the auspices of the state labor
department and to the wisdom of an
expansion of such free employment
agencies.
In connection with the subject of
labor legislation l 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
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 a city, village or town
desires to conduct its public utilities
by and for the public, after having SO
decided by a majority vote, there Gan
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 the
objection sometimes urged against mu-
nicipal 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
4, nnipinp &c found in OI1r ~hnrip O
state of Illinois in the enactment of
the so-called Mueller law. which has
been sustained in the courts, and APP
plies in that state to the acquisition
by municipalities of street railway
properties. The idea is just and cor
rect and its enactment in this state
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 SOlu dC d pllCS dlIlouHLiuS W PS,
$50, 900. 1t 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 $3.50, 600, while the state
at the same time has made a net profit
of $4,000, thus yielding during the
two years a net profit to the state and
the citizens thereof of more than ST.
100, 600. The National Cordage COM
pany, a subsidiary corporation of the
International Harvester company, has
commenced making Irvine from fax
fibre in this state for the evident pur-
pose of competing with the state prod
uct. To meet this situation and to
protect the state interests the law
should most certainly be amended to
permit the sale of the prison made
Irvine outside OF the state in order
that we may meet any effort made by
the Irvine trust to throttle our plant
inside of state lines. Further, there
seems to be a feeling upon the part of
our citizens in favor of making farm
machinery at the state prison to COM