Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-07-09

GOVERNOR HARMON CATCHES FISH as WELL
AS VOTES.
were placed in a single board of four,
while a single fiscal agent replaced the
nineteen stewards.
The advantage of purchasing sup
plies for all institutions in bulk and
the reduction in employees will save
the state 100000 a year. This law
makes it possible to utilize the work
of prisoners and also creates a market
for their manufactured products by
compelling all Ohio political divisions
to purchase such supplies as they
need from the penal institutions.
Employers and employees locked in
a struggle over a wOrkingmen's COM
pensation act, and when it seemed
there would be no bill passed Gov
ernor Harmon stepped in and acted as
arbitrator. A bill was framed and
drafted that has been approved by
both employees and employers.
The compulsory provisions which
made the New York act unconstitu-
tiOnal were not incorporated into the
Ohio act. Instead the employer could
elect either to pay into the cOmpensa-
ton fund or not to pay. If he should
! not avail himself of the law, however.
the employee may sue for damages for
! injuries, or his legal representative in
case of death may maintain the action.
And in such suits the employer is de
prived of the common law defenses of
fellow servant rule, assumed risk and
contributory negligence.
The employee cannot resort to the
courts for damages when injured in
the factory of a corporation which
pays into the state compensation fund
except when the injury is caused by
the disregard of a law, ordinance or
order issued by an authorized public
officer providing for the protection OF
employees or by the vtIful wrong OF
an employer. his officer or agents
The employer contributes 90 per cent
of the compensation fuHd and the en-
ployecs 10 per cent Awards range
from So. 400 to 81. SEQ and are graded
on the scale of wages paid employers.
The taxing laws of the state were II
| joke when Mr.. Harmon was Indurtru
into office and the taxpayers had
no means tu rhcrk "XtIava gaHcr Of
their public officers THrse men drrid
ed on the amount OF money they were
going to spend IN y"ar ana then
do nj
Taxpayers could 60 nothing hut pay.
THE authority winch drrnanGS must
be curbed." said the CXccu;iye III q
message to the genera assembly That
body obeyed and PASSED the Smith bill
which limited the ma Xinum lax r0tp
that could be levied 10y public officers
in each district to ! per cent OF tax
duplicates. That WAS sufficient, thu
governor held. for an economical ad
ministration. If more money were
needed there was incorporated in the
Smith bin a provision for reteren-
dunn vote on higher RATE.
There were Il large number of tn King
boards composed Of various state OIL
| GERS Will Jul lNbiNl lpll wv u CAClSG anu
other corporate taxation, but different
boards were made up of different Off.
GERS so that there could be no uniform
and consistent action. Auditors in
eighty eight Ohio counties had nearly
eighty eight different rules of apprais-
ing property, with the result that no
one got Il square deal.
Governor Harmon had a bill drafted
to abolish all these boards and to place
the entire taxing machinery of the
commonwealth in the hands Of a SIN
gle state commission of three mem
bers. Other new tax laws make 1t
possible to chase out of hiding millions
of dollars of property and also strength
en- and broaden the inquisitorial pow4
ers of the state tax commission.
Ohioans expected big things from
Judson Harmon when they elected him