Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-01-22
Right Now Mighty


ton which was to have been in
troduced, but Representative j.
W. Burke of Saline county was il
on the ground floor with the
same kind of a bill and his bill
went on the calendar first. This
bill makes the office of state tax
commissioner elective and abol-
ishes the office of county asses
sOr. Gov. StubbS favOrs max
ing the office of state tax COM
missioner elective. The three
tax commissioners are now ap-
pointed by the Governor. On th'
other hand, Governor Stubs rec
ommends that the utilities CON-
mission positions be appOintive.
There is opposition to the max
ig of the tax commissioners
elective positions and it will de-
velop when the bill comes up for
consideration.
If the state legislature does not
raise the salary of F. D. Coburn,
the efficient secretary of the
state board of agriculture, to
$1,000 per year, it will not be be-
cause the farmers of the state
are not for it. Among the resO-
lutiOns which were adopted at th'
annual session of the board of
agriculture, one to this effect was
unanimously adopted.
And as the farmers of the state
are in favor of giving Mr.. COburl
more, it might as well be done.
The agricultural class represents
sixty-five per cent Of the total
population. And too, the farmers
are a unit in demanding a bet
ter salary for the man whose un-
tiring work adds to their rev.
enues.
After a long conference with
Warden Haskell and the peniten-
tiary board, Governor Stubbs has
announced that it was definitely
decided not to renew the eontract
with Oklahoma for the care of
that states prisoners another
year, even in the event that such
a contract is offered by the new
state. With the departure of
the Oklahoma prisoners contract,
labor at Lansing will soon be a
thing Of the past. No new con-
tracts of this kind will be enter
ed into and the system will pass
away with the expiration of
the present contracts. When ask
ed about supplying coal to the
state institutions the governor
said he did not know what would
be done about that matter at this
time. With the Oklahoma priso-
ners gone it would be impossible
to supply them all in cold wealth
er. The governor declared that
experience with the new cOndi-
tions at the prison would have
to decide future plans as regards
labor and the supplying of coal
for Kansas charitable institutions
The largest and most disas-
trOuS fire that the city OF Tope-
ka ever endured was the burning
of the Copeland hotel, known
tamiliarly as Copeland county.
The hotel was one of the largest
in the state, and owing to the
fact that the inauguration of the
new state officials had Just TAX
en- place, that the legislature had
just assembled, that the state
agricultural association was in Sc
sion, as well as several other
state societies, the hotel was fill
ed with guests. The fact also
that the fire had gained some
considerable force before being
discovered, makes it rather re-
markable that not more lives wei
lost than that of Mr.. Lambert,
whose untimely death caused a
\ gloom to fall over the entire
state. Numerous narrow escapes
were recorded and several acci-
dents resulted, the most serious
being that sustained by Hon. A.
W. Smith, former speaker of tn
house, who fell into an area way
in jumping from an improvised
rope by means of which he had
partly descended from his room
ALI the injured persons are re-
ported to be progressing favor.
ably. We have frequently read
accounts of fires and how those
caught would cry for help, but
this was the first time we wert