The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-02-15
A BIG GRIST
Starting in This Week for Leg
islatiEe Grind.
Anti-Lobby for Monday, Utilities
Tuesday, Guaranty Later.
WHAT UTILITY BILL is
Other Bills Under Way for the
Current Week.
What Has Caused Delay-EXtra
Session Likely.
WHAT UTILITY BILL is

Inc utilities bill is a long one. con-
tanning some 20 pages of printed mat
ter, but all it's important provisions
might be expressed in two pages. 1t
provides that all corporations that han
die public necessities such as heat,
light. water, telephone, telegraph, trans
portatlon, ETC., shall be good, decent,
| reasonable.
1t goes on to provide a. commission
to see to it that the provisions of the
bill are carried out and vests that COM
mission with powers. 1t also provides
| that the records and transactions of all
these corporations shall be kept open
for the inspection of the public. The
commission is to be equipped with
powerful searchight to be used at any
and all times for the purpose of explor-
| ing dark places
The bill requires that the commission
shall keep secret for 80 days such cor
poration matters where loss might en-
sue to the corporations by undue pub
| hcity. There is another provision that
requires the corporations to keep de-
probation fund from their profits which
shall be used to keep their plants in
good and efficient condition. The plan
of the bill as outlined by it's promo
ters requires the corporations handling
public necessities to furnish efhcient
service to the people at reasonable
rate of profit and so conduct their af-
fairs that the light of public inquiry
will not show rottenness within.
The advocates of the measure say the
day has come when all reasonable de-
mands by the people On the great cor
porationS must be Obeyed; Standard
Oil, the steel trust. blocks of five, the
insurance graft and a thousand other
big corporation iniquities running into
millions of dollars would have been inn
possible they say under the provisions
of this utilities bill They assert no
hardship is placed upon any decent cor
poration by this bill.
The fifty days session of the 1909
legislature will expire March 2, but it
has been the custom in the past to
continue the session six days beyond I
this date in order to make up for. the |
six Sundays for which the members |
drew pay. However, this year there are
some members who have already ex- i
pressed a desire to go home March
whether the important business of the |
session is finished or not. AS one MEM |
Der puts it, Let Stubs call an extra |
session if he wants iall the business
finished. The people voted last fall not |
to raise the pay of legislators to- the |
amount paid by other states, and If
we have to stay overtime without any
pay at all We go still deeper in the |
hole. We will get some pay at an extra
session.
This is where the shoe pinches.. Ger |
tain members of the legislature are
''sore' over the refusal of the people to
boost their pay last fall when the con-
stitutional amendments were voted on. ,
The matter has been discussed often on !
the floor of the present house and sew
eraI resolutions offered to place the
matter again before the people. There
is no doubt that So per day is a pittance
to pay a member of the legislature for
his services to the state. If the mem
bers made good their threat and go
home March 3 with the party pledges
unredeemed an extra session may be
called that would cost more than the
proposed advance in pay.
From the actions of the house the
past ten days many members would
seem to be angling for an extra seS-
sion. Every day many hours of valu-
able time are wasted in committee of
the whole in debate on bills of minor
importance while the twenty imp rtant |
administration bills sleep in committee
rooms.
public utilities tax assessment bills and
the bills to curb the corporations are
all yet to be considered. Besides these
there are seven hundred other bills on
the calendar. And yet the house spent
nearly three hours in debate on a little
bill providing exemption from taxes on
certain property belonging to churches
all amended the bill SO that the present
law was affected but little by the
passage of the bill.
This week should be the busiest and
most Important so far of the session.
Aside from the utilities bill, the
guaranty deposit bill and the anti
lobby bill, the forestry bill, the state
publication of text books bill, the leg
islatfve reference library bill. and the
measure making some provision for
the handling of the state debt, to say
nothing at all of the many appropria-
ton bills and the state fair bill, are
all on the programme for the next
twelve daysand nights.
Unless the legislature gets down to
business and proceeds along. entirely
different lines only part of these bills
will be reached by March 2.
The present session had no sena-
toriaI or state printer fights to take up
the first two weeks of its time, but for
all that it is behind in its schedule. One
cause for this state of affairs is the
fact that the old omnibus plan of dis
posing of bills has been done away
with. Every measure is now consider
ed one at time and voted upon