The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1914-09-25
CONCERNING CONSTR
TUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Jefferson City, Sept. l9.-The sew
enth of the series Of arguments on
the measures to be submitted to vote
at the coming election was today is
sued by Secretary of State Cornelius
Roach. Those wishing to vote intel
ligently on propositions nine and ten
should preserve this article. The sole
purpose in giving these arguments is
to furnish information to the voter,
and the Secretary of State is in no
way responsible for the assertions
made on either side of any subject
discussed.
The champions Of Proposition No.
9 give the following reasons why the
measure should he adopted:
The Full Crew" bill which passed
the 47th General Assembly and which
has been referred to the voters, will
appear on the official ballot at the
general election in November as
Proposition No. 0. This law, as
passed. is more liberal to the rail-
roads than a majority Of the laws,
now in effect in other states, covering
this question. Full crew laws in Ar
kansas, Arizona, California, Mary
land. New Jersey, Indiana, Pcnnsyl-
vania, Washington and Oklahoma
have been in force for several years,
and the average number Of cars is
much less than the law asks in Mis-
souri,. In this state, this law calls for
an extra brakeman on all trains over
IS cars, which seems fair and reas-
enable to the companies. If this law
is sustained by the voters in the No
vcmbc, election, it will mean much to
the safety of the travelling public
and will expedite the handling of all
trains.
Opposing Argument
The opponents of the so-called
Full Grew" Bill say it ought to be
voted down for the following reasons:
OD There is already state law
authorizing the Public Service Com
mission, if in its judgment the ser
vice requires it. to compel the rail
roads to do that which the voters are
now without information, such as is
possessed by that body, called upon
to do.
(2) Owners of the railroads, es-
pecialy are interested in having the
trains properly manned. Proposition
No. Q, providing an increase in the
number of brakemen upon railroad
trains, is unnecessary and therefore
unjust to the railroads which have to
pay for such increased labor.
Any such unnecessary burden placed
| upon the railroads will have TO be
borne, not by them, but by the patrons
of the read, passengers and shippers.
Services Of brakemen are not needed
to couple and uncouple cars, ms auto
matte couplers are now provided, and
the law requires that all trains shall
be equipped with at least s5 per cent
air, with large penalties for failures
to observe such law. Being so equip
ped. one conductor and one brakeman
are alone necessary to give the engi-
neer signals for the proper handling
Of air brakes, which are controlled
wholly from the engine. A third
brakeman would be practically with
out duties to perform.
Some Of the states have enacted
statutes requiring this increased force
but in certain of the states, such leg
islatlon, although proposed, has been
dcfeated-defeated, too, since the on
erOus character of other legislation
has well nigh brought the railroad
companies into the bankrupt court.
The champions Of Proposition No.
10 give the following reasons why the
measure should be adopted:
This bill affects only counties hav-
ing towns of $500, or more, popula-
ton. 1t so amends the present local
option law as to enable such counties
to vote rs a unit on the dramshop
question, as counties having no such
towns, as well as the city of St Louis
are now permitted to do. The meas.
ure rests upon the unity of interest
and life Of the town or city and tn,
county in which it is situated. A
town or city is as inseperable from
its county as the hub is from its vince
The INFLUENCE and consequences, fnan
cial, political, and social of the tow
saloon are shaped alike by county an,
town. The patrons of saloon ar,
from whole county; the pcltca
influence thereof extends to the who'll,
country: the tax burden imnoeed thnr,