Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1913-03-01
NEWS FROM THE LEGISLATURE
WHAT THE LAWMAKERS ARE DO
ING AT TOPEKA.
Interesting and Important Happen
ings in House and Senate
During Past Week.

The house of representatives after
an entire afternoon of fighting passed
the Nine-Hour Day and Minimum
Wage for Women bills. The Nine
Hour bill was passed by a vote of
IS to 81 after a dozen attempts had
been made to make the bill worth
less
The bill prohibits any manufactur-
ing, mechanical or mercantile estab-
lishment, packing house, laundry, no.
tel or restaurant, telephone or tele-
graph company employing more than
hve persons keeping their employees
on duty more than 81 hours a week
or more than ten hours in any one
day The only exemption is in train
ed nurses who are receiving sal
airy of more than SIS a week
The bill also requires that suitable
seats be supplied to all women en-
ployes and that they must be al
lowed to use the seats at any time.
The Minimum Wage bill was passed
by vote of 65 to 4S. 1t fixes Sc
week for a 9-hour day as the mini
mum wages of all women and girls
employed in all occupations in Kan
sas, except domestic servants and in
cases where the employer furnishes
dormitories or restaurants for the use
of his employees
Girls just starting in employment
are to receive $3.50 a week for the
first month and then to be increased
fifty cents each month until at the
end of six months they are to re-
ceive not less than the minimum wage
of Sc week for nine hours work.A
The bill provides for minimum
adiuGtQr a qnnnintp6
by the state factory inspector, to take
up complaints of the apprentice
clause in the bill and to determine
whether or not the girl employe I'M
der the apprenticeship provision is
receiving a square deal from her en-
ployed.
State insurance for the homes of
Kansas was proposed in bill intro
duced by Henry Davis Of Bourbon
county. Some time ago Senator Da-
Wis introduced a bill providing for
state life insurance, the premiums to
be based on the American mortality
table and the funds to be invested by
the state. The new insurance bill
provides for insurance against fire,
lightning, windstorm or tornado for
every residence and business property
in Kansas. The local assessors are
to determine the actu@l value of any
building and if the owner desires
state insurance he may make out an
application which the assessor will
send to the state insurance commits
sioner. The commissioner then de-
termines the class of property and the
rate to be charged and when the pre-
MUM is paid the money is to be in
uected in Kansas bonds The nro-
MUM rates are to be fixed each year
and the value of the property is to
be fixed by the assessors at the time
of making real estate assessment
every two years. The safe is to IS
sue insurance only up to three-fourtns
of the actual value of the properly.
The Senate has repealed the law
passed by the 1911 Legislature estab
fishing the sanitarium for tuberculo
sis at Newton. A subcommittee OF
the Senate and House ways and
means committees made an investi
CATION of the sanitarium proposition
In a report it urged that no appro
priation be given for the building a
the institution because the Santa Fe
railroad, the Newton water company
and the Newton electric light com
pany were attempting to hold up
the state on rates for water and cleo
tricity and the Santa F'e wanted abou
three times too much for building {
switch to the site. 1t was also charg
ed that the price asked for the lanC
was exhorbitant. bill was intro
duced and passed without debate Il
abolish the institution entirely.
A hospital for every county in the
state for the care of the sick and 70
general hospital purposes is propose'
in the bill which passed II Hous'
the other day. The bill was intro
duced by Representative Carnahan o
Clay county. About two-thirds of tn
Kansas counties have poorfarms, blu
there are only fifteen real hospital
in the state for the care of the sic
and for general hospital work. Tt
bill provides that two hundred prop
erty owners of any county may pet
ton the county commissioners to cal
an election for the voting of a TIA
to build the hospital. The tax canno
exceed two mills for the establish
ment of the institution and one nail
for it's maintenance
Senator Frank Nighswanger Q
Sedgwfck county has introduced i
the senate bill prohibiting the ereC
ton of spite fences or any solid boar
fence over five feet high in any inco