The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1914-09-04
CONCERNING CONSTI-
TUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

| tHc coming eleClloH was louay ISSUED
by Secretary Of State Cornelius Roach
Those wishing to vote intelligently on
Number -Four should preserve this ar
ticle. The sole purpose in giving
these arguments is to furnish infor-
nation to the voter, and the Secretary
Of State is in no way responsible for
assertions made on either side Of any
subject discussed.
The champions of Amendment No.
give the following reasons why the
measure should be favored:
"The laborer is worthy of his hire"
We not only have the Divine sanction
for this, but it is universally conced-
c throughout the civilized world save
alone in the Constitution of the great
State of Missouri, which fixes the
compensation of members of the Gen
eral Assembly at five dollars per day
for the first seventy days, and one dol
lar per day for every day after that
preiod,
Five dollars per day is not only in
adequate, but seventy days is entirely
too short time in which TO properly
transact the necessary business and
legislation Of the session. There is
an average of about 1900 different
bills introduced at every session Of
the Legislature, some good, some bad,
many foolish, many i'll digested and
badly drawn, Each bill must he intro
duced, read first and second time on
scperate days, referred TO proper COM
mittees, reported back. discussed,
amended enrolled and passed. 1t
needs no discussion to show that this
cannot be properly and intelligenty
done in seventy days, and experience
shows the impossbility of keeping 4
quorum in either house after seventy
days. 1t is the duty Of the members
Of the Legislature to kill the bad bills,
fill the waste basket with the foolish
ones, amend and whip into shape the
badly drawn and i'll digested bills,
and discuss and pass the good ILLS.
Seventy days is entirely too short a
time for this work, and the conac-
quence is that at the end of the Sos
sion there is great rush and lhc
large majority of the bills are rushed
through in the last few days Of the
session, when they are voted az on
in lunches, few members kro 90 e
what they are voting for. In this
way. much bad and useless legislation
is placed upon our statutes. The last
two sessions have added nearly 2OOO
pages to our already oycrcrowdcd sta
tutes, which could and would have
been greatly reduced had there been
time to properly consider and discuss.
1t is II universally conceded maxim
that, if good work is to be eXpcc' d.
fair compensation must be paid.
Nearly every member elected spends
fully one-half his pay for Legitimate
and necessary expenses, which the law
permits, and then he receives less pay
than the average skilled workman,
ncglects his business mt home, and of.
ten pays for living expenses more
than he receives.
Missouri is the seventh state in the
Union and pays its members Of the
legislature less than any other state,
New York pays $l,5OO.OO: Penrsylya-
MIA, 81 500; Ohio, $1,000; Illinois So
600 per year, while Missouri pays
$3.50 FOR two years-Sl75 a ycaI.
We are now erecting a new state
capitol to cost three million oliars,
an to I'll with legislators with hod
carriers pay, should bring blush of
shame to every voter in the state
Opposing Argument
The reasons given by the opponents
Of Amendment No. why it should
be voted down are as follows:
lie who serves his country AID state
through patriotism, sense Of duty,
or desire to be honorcd by his fel.
low citizens, will work for the best
interests Of the state with more dill
gence, ardor and Integrity of purpose
than he who seeks an office for the
pay there is in it, The man who eecks
an office for personal gain will b,
more easily approached by the lobby
list serving the moneyed interests. As
an evidence of this fact, we may OF.
serve that our sister state, paying
large salaries, has been repeatedly
disgraced by members receiving
brides for special interests and sena-
torial candidates.