The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-01-27
NOTES OF SENATE
Constitutional Amendments TO
Upper House Today.
Judiciary Committee Recon-
mends Four to Body.
NEW INHERITANCE BILL IN
Exemption Limit of $4,000,
TrOutman's Idea.
May Decide Against Stanton
This Evening.
new INHERITANCE BILL IN

Emerging from the stormy committee
rooms of the judiciary body of the SEN
ate today comes the report that four
constitutional amendments will be rec
commended to the senate as a whole
when the upper house convenes at 4
o'clock this afternoon The amend
ments to be approved:
Initiative and Referendum.
State income tax.
Four-year terms.
Corporation license tax.
The judiciary committee also has
threshed over the Bale Waggener pro-
position to call constitutional conven-
ton and has placed it's stamp of ap-
proval on this measure.
This means that the keystone fight in
the Kansas legislature has been opened.
The promises of the Democratic admin
istration and the anxiety of the ma
jority to force through these platform
planks is the big task of the 1913 ses-
sion.
Thursday has been chosen as 'field
day. for the hostilities. At this time
the committee as the whole will take
up the amendments and start prelim-
mary skirmiShes in the adoption of the
three that are allowed. If the Wag
gener constitutional convention plan
passes the senate, it means that in
short time Kansas will abandon her an
tiquated more-than-f n-fifty-year- con-
stitution and form a compact that will
fit present conditions and the wishes
of the people.
The report of the judiciary committee
and the action taken on the report by
the senate and house as whole is the
vital action of the present set of state
lcw makers.
Senators from all the larger cities in
the state are receiving protests on the
minimum wage bill as applied to fe-
males Their desks are piled high with
petitions. kilograms, letters and many
have been visited by delegations.
At last the new inheritance tax bill
is prepared. In the senate late this
afternoon Senator Troutman, of Shaw
nee plans to offer a substitute for the
law recently repealed in the upper
house. The new bill provides for eX-
emptions as follows:
To the widow-S30.00O.
The children-S10 900.
I.ineal 900.
Under the law repealed no maximum
were recognized although 1t was believed
generally that all heirs with a legacy
of less than Sc, 900 were not affected
by the tax
Senator Troutman would exempt the
wife unless she received more than $3O,-
0O0 the children SlO,0OO and the DrOln-
ers. sisters, etc, $1,000.
This gives Kansas the largest exemp-
ton of any state in the union. One
state has a s25 900 limit Most of them
range from $4,000 to $4,000.
A bill calling for a refund of all taxes
maid since the old law was III effect
presented by Senator Waggener is
sister to the Troutman act tooay.
In all probability late this afternoon
the election committee report on the
rnseating of Senator Stanton, of CraW-
ford county, will be approved. Sena-
tors Klein and Kinds, absent When tne
vote was taken Friday. are on hand
today and declare they Will uphold the
committee report presented by Sena-
tor price. of Greenwood. This would
mean vote of 21 to 10, If the vote of
FRIDAY still holds with the voters In
This event the committee report could
he adopted Senator Stanton would be
ted and former Senator Porter,
of Pittsburg, could come back to the
senate for the remainder of the ses-
sion. Senators in Topeka today report
stormy visits tor their homes over Sun
1av The Socialists in the counties re-
sided in by senators who opposed the
resolution to bring the investigation be-
fore the senate, made it point to
visit their district representatives and
file their protests.
Following out an agreement of the
district court clerks of Kansas recent
". Senator Jouett Shouse, of Edwards, |
mas prepared a bill for the senate to |
be offered late this evening, fixing the |