The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1913-01-10
SENDS MESSAGE
Recommendations for Welfare of Minnesota
Sweeping Reforms Also Urged.


| lands, timber and minerals, as we'll
! as waterways, water powers and
/ drainage. Time will not permit of nv
| going into detail to outline the neces-
sary legislation for this department.
Permit me to suggest only that ar
rangements should be made whereby
state lands should be handled and
disposed of as private lands upon
| proper appraisal. The commissioner
| in charge should have authority to
sell state land to active settlers at
any time and be able to furnish them
all the information which will guide
them in the intelligent selection of a
| home.
Department of Agriculture.-Minn
sofa is great agricultural state and
all its prosperity is directly or in
directly dependent upon agriculture.
No department can, therefore, be of
! greater importance to the people of
the state than one which will unite
under a proper head all our agricul-
tural activities and in the best pos
/ sible way apply them to the improve
ment of our farms. The duties of
this department should be admins
trative rather than educational and
should insure the practical application
| of agricultural knowledge to every
acre of farm land in the state. Its
] first great duty should be to enlist
our agricultural experts in the max
! ing of complete soil survey of the
! state. BY means of our experimental
! farms, it has been completely DEM
f, onstrated that the soil of Minnesota,
properly treated, could be made to
yield from two to three times as large
returns as it is yielding today, but
these results cannot be obtained un-
til the soil has been thoroughly test
ed, so as to determine what ingred-
tents are necessary to make it more
fertile. Another very important func.
| ton of this department is to unite
the administration of our agricultural
activities SO as to prevent duplica-
| ton and waste.
In the organization of this depart
ment, it would be well to pattern
after the department of agriculture at
| Washington or those of several other
! states which have operated such de-
/ partments during the past few years
| with extraordinary success. In some
of these states, since the establish
ment of a department of agriculture,
soil fertility and farm yields per acre
have been increased from twenty-five
to fifty per cent. No state depart
ment under our federal plan of gov
eminent is of greater Importance to
the whole nation than the department
of agriculture, and there is no serv-
| ice which you can perform at this
! session, that will bring greater farm
prosperity to the state than the Gre
alton of such a department. Under
it's jurisdiction should be included
the administration of many activities
now performed by separate state
boards, such as the agricultural and
horticultural societies, the live stock,
sanitary board and other similar &C.
tivities which have direct connec-
ton with the agricultural develop
ment. Consequently, it should also
include the dairy branch of the dairy
| and food department, while the reg
| ulation of foods should be the duty
, of the department of health.
Both departments should be placed
on civil service basis.
Legislative Reapportionment.
A just reapportionment of the legisla-
tive districts according to population
is one of the most important duties
imposed upon this legislature. Sec
tion 2, Article w, of the constitution
states specifically that 1.-The represent
tation in both houses shall be appor-
! toned equally throughout the differ
ent sections of the state, in proper
ton to the population thereof" At
the last election on a referendum
vote the people decided not to change
the constitution with reference to leg
islative representation The reappor-
tionment must, therefore, be made
in accordance with the provisions of
the present constitution and this leg
islature should proceed without
further delay. A refusal to grant this
relief is not merely the Sinking of
a great responsibility, it is the most
willful neglect of a plain duty i'm
posed by the constitution of the state.
The last legislative apportionment
was made in 1897 or sixteen years
ago. Longer delay is absolutely mex.
cusable.
For the third time / have urged in
my message to the legislature that
every section of the state be given
a fair representation in the legisla-
ture. ] am anxious to see the state
develop, but it cannot possibly do SO
to the best advantage unless every
section thereof is given a fair repre-
sentation in the making of the laws
upon which such development must
necessarily depend. Unfair represen-
tation is no better in principle than
no representation. There is perhaps
no action to be taken by this legis-
lature which will be watched with
greater interest by the people of the
state than that relating to reappor-
tionment and for which the members
will be held more strictly account
able
Congressional Reapportionment.
In accordance with the new congress
sional reapportionment, Minnesota
has ten representatives in congress,
and it is the duty of this legislature
to reapportion the congressional dis
tricts of the state so as to provide
for ten districts with as nearly equal
population as possible
Presidential Preference Primaries.
There is no principle which | more
strongly favor than that the people
shall nominate their officers by a
direct primary election, and this prin-
ciple has now become firmly estab-
lished in this state. There is no valid
reason why this system of direct
nominations should not be extended
to the Office of President of the United
States. The people are competent to
elect their officials and it follows that
they are also equally competent to
nominate. The selection of delegates