The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-12-07
Supreme Court Does Not So
View Kansas.
Applicant for Divorce Must Be
in State a Year.
RULING IN ASuNG CASE
In Shawnee School Book Case
Contract Is Necessary
Before Board Has to Buy
Adopted Reading Chart.

The Kansas Ipreme court put a stop
to the plans of some attorneys to make
Kansas a second Reno by throwing
open the courts of the state to easy,
quick, clandestine and collusive di-
vorces. Anna c. Asling was a resident
i of Nebraska, while her husband lived
! in Dickinson county, Kansas. They
| had been separated for several months.
Mrs. Asling went to Abilene one day
and brought suit for divorce against
her husband. She had never lived in
| the state.
For many years the Kansas law re-
quired that before a divorce proceeding
could be brought the complainant must
have lived in the state at least year.
But the last legislature amended the
law so that it was held by attorneys
that a divorce could be obtained in
any county where the defendant couli
be served with a summons. Under this
idea woman could come to Kansas
one day, have the papers drawn for a
divorce proceeding against her husband
and then have the sheriff serve him
with the summons any time he hap
pened to be in the county, even though
he was on a train travelling through
the state. Neither one would neces-
sarily have to be residents of the state
for any time, it simply being a matter
of catching the defendant in the county
where the suit was filed.
The supreme court held that the leg
islature in amending the law did not
intend that Kansas should be a field
for easy divorces and that the amend
ment to the old law did not destroy
the requirement of a residence for a
wear before a divorce proceeding could
be brought.
Mrs Asling was refused divorce, the
supreme court sustaining the ruling OF
the Dickinson county court.
The court has no authority to com
pei a school board to buy reading
chart for use in the public schools and
pay the publisher the maximum price,
if the text book commission has mere
" adopted the chart and fixed a maxi
mum price, but has not entered into
contract with the publisher to supply
the charts as is done under the statute
regulating the purchase of ordinary
text books. This was the decision OF
the Kansas supreme court today in
case from Shawnee county by H. E.
Pendry against members of school dis
trict No. 35.
Pendry brought a mandamus action
to compel the school board to install a
primary reading chart at price of
$12. The state text book commission
adopted this reading chart for use in
the public schools.
1--WE do not understand" says the
court, that the text book commission
has entered into any contract to sup
ply charts under the provisions of the
statute, regulating the purchase of
ordinary text books for Individual
use but has merely adopted this chart
and fixed the maximum price as au-
-thorized by the statute. If this chart
is to be treated as an ordinary text
book it should be the subject of
contract by the state text book COM
mission and sale to patrons as a
reader or speller is treated, considered
in the classification with maps, globes
and other apparatus. Such a contract
is not authorized"
The decision of the lower court was
affirmed.
The Kansas supreme court today
handed down the formal opinion in
the Wabaunsee county case, which
was decided two weeks ago, in which
recount of ballots asked for by Ar
thur Capper in the governor contest
was denied. Capper claimed that
many ballots were thrown out as in
valid because the voter marked in the
circle and square in the same column.
The court held that the county
board of canvassers had in good faith
and correctly canvassed
the returns which were regular on
their face and then adjourned sine die.
For this reason the members of the
election board cannot be compelled
to reconvene and count ballots for a
state office which they had erroneous
ly rejected and returned as void. Un-
der such circumstances the county
board has passed out of
existence and cannot be revived by
their own action or by that of court.
To this opinion Chief Justice John
ston and Associate Justice West dis
sented.
THE initial count being wrong"
says the dissenting opinion. "the error
remained during the continuation of
the work by the other boards whose
action was required to complete the
canvass and authorized a certificate.
These boards were all in court and a
duty was still unperformed. 1t was
brought to their notice that a number
of legal ballots had been rejected, the
location and Identification of which
was beyond question or dispute. Con-
cerning these ballots the election
board had no judgment to exercise.
Few rights are more sacred than
the one TO have an honest ballot pro-
perly counted. 1t is setting the hands
of the clock backward to hold that
such right cannot be protected in this
case"
The receipt of light to twelve car
loads of beer at a single railroad sta
ton, all consigned to the same per-
sons, is competent evidence that some
one is violating the prohibitory law,
and that the beer is not intended for
the personal use of the purchasers
according to the decision of the Kan
5as supreme court in the appeal of
John Dollar, Herman Kruger and
John Podpechan. The three men were
arrested in Crawford county for run
ming a wholesale liquor business. The
state did not have a large amount of
evidence of actual sale of beer, but 1t
lid have a copy of the internal reve-
1ue stannp and bills of lading showing