Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1912-11-08
ECONOMY SHOULD
Be WATCHWORD
State Expenditures Far in Ex-
cess Of Receipts.
INCREASES WILL Be ASKED
Practically Every Department to De-
mand Larger Appropriation
From Next Legislature.
Especial Correspondence

Especial Correspondence
| St. Paul, Nov. with the election
over activity once more reigns at the
state capitol. What the next legis-
lature will do, what new laws it will
I put on the statute books and what ef-
feet they will have on the great Office
holding body is now the principal con-
Germ of those whose sustenance is the
! state treasury. The opinion is gen
eral that the new legislature is going
to do the economical act and that
! some one 8 due to suffer as a conse-
| quence. 1t will have to, as the tax
rate is now near the breaking point
and a cut all down the line will be
| necessary to prevent an increase. One
| of the things charged against the
| present administration has been its
high cost to the taxpayers of the state
and in measure the charge has not
been without foundation. Today the
state is on the borrowing side of the
ledger to the extent of nearly $4,000
| 600 and the amount is daily climbing.
! This is because of the extravaganza
of the last legislature and reluctance
on the part of the tax fixing officials
to make the rate what it should be.
The fear was that a rate in excess of
the previous year would cause trouble
at the polls. The man at the head of
the appropriations committee at the
coming session of the legislature faces
q task mar would shrink from, as he
! is going to be assailed from all quar-
tiers. There is not department con-
nected with the state government but
thinks the money at it's command is
Inadequate and each is preparing to
demand an increase. New depart
ments, too, are being proposed and
they mean an additional drain on the
states strong box. Then there are
proposed increases In salary, not to
speak of the creation of additional
Offices. All around it is going to be
strenuous three months for quite few
lawmakers. The talk now is that
there may be a reduction in salaries
instead of an increase. Something
will have to be done if the tax rate
10 to be kept down.
=: = j.
Speaking about the coming legisla-
ture and the problems it will have to
| face in the matter of demands on the
state treasury the state board of con-
troll is preparing plea in behalf of
the institutions in it's charge that will
demand attention. 1t may not be gen.
orally known, but the dependent popu-
lation of Minnesota is growing and
that at a rate which calls for the
strictest economy on the part of the
board to keep the expenses within
bounds. | am told that some of the
insane asylums are bedding patients
in the halls and that the wards are
so crowded that the attendants walk
on the beds in order to reach patients.
There Is no space between. At a pre-
vious session of the legislature one
member told of this crowded condi-
ton of the asylums and declared that
it was a shame. In the face Of this
the club women of the state are de-
handing new prison for women Of
tenders and other reforms that mean
q big outlay of money. Had it not
been for the bumper crops produced
by the farms in connection with the
various state institutions this year,
which went far to reduce the cost of
maintenance, the board of control
would have been swamped. AS it was
every dollar at it's command was ex-
pended.
The contest for the speakership OF
the next house is now on and the fight
will be kept up to the day of the open
ing of the legislature. The indica-
tons are that the scrap will be one
Of the warmest in years. Pat McGarry
Of Cass county is after the place. He
was in st. Paul last week and gave
it out cold that he would be a candi-
date. w. I. Nolan and John Lennon,
both of Minneapolis, want the job.
Nolan, who used to trot with the boys,
has joined the progressive forces and
he hopes to profit by reason of the
fact. Lennon says he is also a pro-
gressive. There is talk to the effect
that Harry Dunn, speaker of the last
house, will get into the race. The
name Of r. c. Dunn of Princeton is
also mentioned. Bob, however, says
he wants none of it.
\ !. X
There is a rumor in st. Paul to the
effect that the Schmidt and Hamm
Brewing companies have broken on
the question of political activity in
the state and that the former concern
has withdrawn entirely from the State
Brewers association. The point made
by the Schmidt company is that the
activities of the Hamm crowd has