The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-02-17
Abolish State Boards.

ture may derive the benefit of the find.
ings of the commission.
Abolish State Boards.
In line with Governor Osborn's sug.
gestion in reducing the number Of
state boards and centralizing the man.
agement OF state institutions, a bill
will be introduced in the house this
week repeating the act which created
the board of corrections and charities.
The powers and duties of this board
will be transferred to the Michigan
state board of control, for the creation
Of which bill is drawn. 1t is contem-
plated in the bill to merge the eighteen
boards which now control the penal.
charitable and reformatory institu-
tons of the state into one board, con-
sisting OF three members, with q sec.
rotary and assistant secretary. This
bill, If enacted into law, will terminate
the official existence of over sixty
board members.
The bill provides for an architect,
who shall be an officer of the board,
and who shall draw plans for all i'm.
provements, betterments and new
buildings TO be erected by the state
and also supervise all building done
either by state labor or contract. This
will do away with the services Of
eighteen architects and will bring uni
formity among the buildings Of the
state In the, future.
Bank Guarantee Fund.
Representative Bricker of Ionia has
introduced bank guarantee bill in
the house. A similar measure was in
troduced in the senate by Senator
Bradley. The bill is modelled along
the plans of the Kansas and Oklahoma
laws and provides for assessments by
the various banks participating in the
scheme. Banks that become insolvent
will, If members, insure their deposit.
ors full protection of their deposits.
While some opposition is looked for
against the bill from certain bankers,
the passing of this bill will induce
greater confidence in the security of
the banks.
More Power For Tax Commission.
In order to give the tax commission
greater power to review and increase
the assessments made by the assess
ing officers of the state, Representa-
tive Lord will introduce a bill which
clearly defines the powers of the tax
commission and authorizes its mem
bers to raise any assessment upon
complaint or upon evidence that the
assessment was not made at the true
cash value. The members of the legis-
lature realize that something must be
done to raise the general valuation of
the state and thus reduce the average
tax rate.
The railroads are complaining that
the rate is too high and that the gen.
eral property of the state is assessed
far below its actual value, while the
railroad are assessed TO the full ex-
tent of their appraised valuation.
The railroads claim that unless some
effort is made by the legislature to
secure a lower tax rate, they will re-
fuse to pay their taxes in April, and
will carry their case into the courts.
This would result in tieing up the
primary school fund, and hundreds of
school districts and cities in the state
would be in a serious predicament
next fall for there would be no money
to pay teachers salaries, as the money
derived from the primary school fund
is always taken into consideration
when making up the school budget.
Representative Green's Death.
Representative Charles NJ. Green OF
Port Huron, representing the First dis
trict Of st. Clair county in the legisla-
ture, died suddenly Friday noon in his
room in this city. Mr.. Green had at
tended the morning session Of the
house, and complained to some of his
friends about pains in his chest He
left the capitol to go to his room and
was found there shortly after by a
fellow roomer, who was attractedO by
the creams CT the dying man.
Speaker Baker called an informal
session of the house and informed
the members of Mr.. Green's death
The speaker appointed Representa-.
tives Haviland of ST. Clair. Bricller Of
Ionia, Warner of Benzie, Straight OF
Branch and Henry. of Calhoun as mem.
bers of the house committee to take
charge of the body and represent the
house at the funeral.
Mr.. Green was a member of the
houses of 1897 and 1899 and is sur.
vived by a widow, two sons and one
daughter, and was prosperous farm.
er and real estate dealer.
The governor has not determined as
yet whether he will order a special
election for successor to Green or
leave the district without representa-.
ton for the remainder of the session
1t is the opinion of number of rep
resentatives that the governor will
order an election on account Of the
early period of the present session.
Insurance Commissioners Salary.
It looks as if the senate will adopt
the house bill fixing the salary of the
insurance commissioner at $500 and
providing that all fees collected by
that officer must be turned over to the