The Mena weekly star., 1913-03-13
MODERN METHODS
 FOR STATE RULE
Kansas Governor Recommends Com mission Form of Government Be EXtended-Legislature of s
 or 16 With Recall Check.

Topeka, March Ex-Governor Hodges sent a special message to the Kansas legislature yesterday urging the commission form of gov ernment for the state of Kansas.
 He did not send the message with any idea that bill covering it would be considered at the present session, but with the purpose of putting the proposition up to the members and to the people of the state for their consideration in the next two years.
 A Board of s or 16.
 The governor suggests that a commission of eight, and at most i6 men, paid decent salaries by the state, could handle the legislative work of Kansas much better and would more nearly meet the needs of the people and conditions that may arise than the present legis- lative system. The message in part follows:
 AS the legislative duties of the legislature of 1913 draw to close, l desire to congratulate the mem bers of both branches on the mag niflcent work which they have ac- complished.
 But in common with large and growing number of thoughtful peo- pie, am persuaded that the in sLrumentalities for legislation pro- Vided for in our state constitution have become anticipated and in efficient. Our system is fashioned after the English parliament, with it's two houses based upon the dis tinclion between the nobility and the common people, each house representing the divers interests of these classes.
 No such reason exists in this state for a dual legislative system, and even in England, at the present time, the dual system has been practically abandoned and the up- per house shorn of it's importance, and I believe that we should now concern yourselves in devising a system for legislaling that will give us more efficiency and quicker re- sponse to the demands of our econ omic and social conditions and to the will of the people.
 Convinced by His Own Experience. 'I have been led to this conclu- sion by an experience of eight years as a member of the senate of this state, and my conviction on this subject are by no means of recent date. As far back as March i2, 1911, in an interview printed in one of the great dailies, l advocated that our present legislative system be abandoned and that a legislative as sembly of 30 members from 30 legls- lative districts, under the check Of the recall, be provided for in its place.
 The suggestion made at that time met with much favorable com ment and I firmly believe that there is growing public opinion in its favor.
 X Small Boy Works Better.
 For myself, l can see no good reason why this new idea of govern ment by commission should not be adopted for the transaction of the business of the state. Two years ago suggested a single legislative assembly of 50 members from 30 legislative dis tricts.
 "I am now incluined to believe that this number is too large and that a legislative assembly of one, or at most two, from each congress sional district, would be amply large.
 My judgment is that the govern or should be ex-ofllcio a member and presiding officer of this assem- bly, and that it should be permitted to meet in such frequent and reg ular or adjourned sessions as the exigencies of the public business may demand; that their terms ol office be made four or six years, and that they be paid salaries sufficient to justify them in devoting their entire time to the public business.
 Such legislative assembly would not, I believe, be more ex- pensive than our present system. It would centralize responsibility and accountability, and under the check of the recall would be quickly re- sponsive to the wishes of the peo- pie.
 No Ill-Considered Laws Then.
 "A legislative assembly such as l have suggested could give ample time to the consideration of every measure, not only in relation to it's subject matter, but to the drafting of it in plain, concise and easily un- derstandable language. It would be ready at any time to deal with new conditions, and to provide relief Tn emergency cases, and with time to inform itself about conditions, and to study the needs of the people, and of our state institutions, there seems to me to be no question but what 1t would ,be vastly more efii- cient than our present system, as we'll as vastly more economical,
 Willing to Trust the People.