River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1911-06-22
SENATE PASSES
INCOME TAX BILL
Sent to Passage by Vote oil
Twenty to Six.
CARRIES REFERENDUM CLAUS
Many Measures Are Adopted-CoIlege
of Agriculture Permitted to Pur-
chase Stump-PulIlns Machines
For Experimentation.


senate that the sovereign people should
decide whether Wisconsin is to have
an income tax in lieu of the present
involved system. The debate on the
bill continued for five hours and it
ranged back and forth from a strict
dissertation on economics to a strong
representation of political effect.
The progressive Republicans, or most
of them, held firmly to the idea that
the bill should be passed in con-
Torrance with platform pledges, but
there were others who insisted that
the question should be submitted to a
referendum of the people.
The referendum advocates won.
Right after the roll call motion was
made for the suspension of the rules
and immediate passage. The bill was
sent to passage with but one change
in the lineup, Senator David G. James
changing his vote to aye and making
the result 20 to 6.
Thus the income tax proposition
with the referendum will go to the
assembly and be acted upon within a
few days.
The amendment to send the bill to
a referendum was adopted by narrow
vote. The roll call stood 13 to 10
when the clerk finished reading the
names. Bishop and Shower, however,
changed their votes and the result
was Is to II.
Only one member, John M. White
head, spoke against the main principle
of the bill, saying that it had been
tried in various colonies and states
in America at various times since
1901 and had been complete failure.
Senators Sanborn, Krumrey and
Bosshard made strong appeals for the
passage of the bill because of platform
pledges, while Senator Teasdale
worked successfully for the adoption
of his amendments.
The most important amendment was
that raising the exemption for married
persons from $500 to $1,000 and of
single persons from $500 to $1,000
This was presented by Gaylord, who
managed to secure it's adoption after
a running debate with several mem
beYB.
The senate, after a long debate, led
by Senators Hoyt and Bodenstab on
opposing sides, killed the Bodenstab
bill regulating the practice of OPTIC
metry.
Assemblymen Mahon's industrial
commission bill was sent to engross-
ment in the assembly with only few
dissenting votes.
The industrial commission bill,
which has been heralded by Theodore
Roosevelt as the most important So
cial measure before any legislature in
America, creates a commission to take
over all the work of the labor bureau,
including child labor, women's labor,
factory inspection, workmen's COM
pensation, truancy and several other
important details in state regulation
of working conditions. The bill is so
worded that it is expected the commits
sion will be able to meet changing
conditions in manufacturing. 1t is
expected also that there will be
stronger enforcement of factory laws
than has been possible under the COM
plicated and ambiguous labor laws OF
the past. The bill provides that the
present industrial accident board, COM
posed Of C. H. Crownhart, John R.
Commons and Joseph D. Beck, shall
compose the industrial commission.
They are to have the power to appoint
as many deputies as are needed to
carry out the provisions of the
measure.
The assembly passed the bill which
will permit Mrs. Claude to reside for
the remainder of her life in the home
on Devils lake which she has occupied
for half a century. The land around
the home is to be purchased for state
mark under condemnation proceedings
and it was the desire of Mrs. Claude
that she be permitted to live in the
old home for the rest of her life. The
Plowman bill, permitting the college
of agriculture to purchase stump
pulling machines for experimentation
and demonstration, was passed, while
the Berner bill, establishing a state
plumbing inspection system, was
killed. The bill granting state aid to
counties which build tuberculosis
sanitariums was passed without oppo-
sition.
The Bichler bill, eliminating the
compulsory features of the tubercultn
test bill, was passed. Merlin Hull s
bill designed to prevent discrimina-
t,on In prices paid for milk and butter
fat. was advanced after 1t had peen