The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-01-15
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partment # Agriculture WAS visitor
to the senate yesterday afternoon aft-
err his address ~befora the State Agr1-
cultural society, TO attend which the
senate had taken recess earlier In the
afternoon. When Secretary Houston
entered the senate chamber with Sec
rotary ]. c. Mohler of the state board
OF agriculture and Prestdent Henry J.
Waters of the State Agricultural So
ciety. he was Immediately escorted to
the speakers stand and invited to adj
dress the senate Senator James A.
Troutman for the minority side and
Senator Harry Mcmillan for the Dem
Qcratic side Of the house were called
upon for addresses Of welcome to the
visitor. The senate then arose for an
informal reception and tno members |
had an opportunity q shaking hands
with the head Of the nations depart
ment of Agriculture.
A department. hill presenting the
program endorsed Ayfthe progressive
women's ORGANIZATIONS Of Kansas for
tie creation OF asNo1nan's minimum
wage and hours sof service commits
sion, Is to b. prepared Tor the leg1s-
lature by Miss Lima Bresette, the
efficient factor3 inspector whose work
for the state labor commission has
pioneered official Investigations into
the conditions Of female labor In Kan
sas. The bill may be offered as q sub
stitute for the one touching the same
subject which has already been Of
f.red in the senate by Harry McMil-
Ia of Ottawa county. Miss Bresette
has devoted the past two years to fac
tory investigations in Kansas and il
now engaged in classifying q large
quantity of valuable information
bearing on the earnings and social
conditions Of children and women who
work in this state. She has uncovered
a surprisingly large number Of fac
tory workers Of this kind in Kansas
and has pr-ven herself a very useful
arm Of the law in enforcing existing
regulations for places where this class
Of labor is used.
A renewed effort will be made at this
session Of the legislature to get through
a law under which inmates Of state
penal institutions shall be paid q small
| sum daily for their labor, the money
either to be handed to them when they
leave prison or turned over to their
families. A law intended to accomplish
this was passed in 1918 but somebody
introduced joker which vitiated the
measure and Kansas prison inmates are
still going without salaries. Senator
| Mahin has introduced a bill to pay
prisoners 10 cents a day for regular
tasks and Is cents . day where extra
| work is done.
An appropriation OF 81 500 to be spent
for finding homes for children who have
been entrusted to the state orphans
home at Atchison il included in the
| appropriation bill for that institution
introduced by Senator B. p. Waggener.
The bill includes appropriations of
$4,000 for a manual training depart
ment. $4,000 for a sewage disposal sys-
tenn for the institution. $4,000 for an
ice plant and $1,000 for laundry.
Senator John f. Overneld Of Mont
gomery county wants to put markers
| along the Oregon trail through north
eastern Kansas and wants q law passed
/ not only to provide funds for the work
but making It misdemeanor to deface
the monuments. Hts bill carries an
appropriation Of 800 to be expended
under the direction Of the Daughters
Of the Revolution and the State Histor-
ical society and q penalty OF q fine
OF not less than S nor more than 800
for dfsdguring any marker SO put up.
Provision for civil service commits
sions for cities Of Kansas is made in a
bill introduced by Senator T. A. Mil
ton Of Wyandotte county, creating a
body whose members should serve for
four year terms and be responsible for
the employment of practically every
one Of the employees of the munich
pality. The city attorney il about the
only city official not required to quail
ify before the proposed commission.
The commission would have power to
remove employees for ineficiency or
misc onduct but they would have the
right Of appeal to the mayor.
IA general wv which would make
4 possible the more or less automatic
consolidation of cities whose boun-
II - lH~S-
aggregates $4,000 Inhabitants, is
called for in one Of Senator r. A. Mil
tons bills. Milton is from Kansas
City, where the proximity Of Rosedale
and Argen. would give such a law
a good CHI: ice to operate. It IL pro-
vided that where such q situation ex-
lists. notice lay be given the county
clerk VIII s.ter ascertaining the
population of the adjoining cities
from federal and state census reports,
shall notify the governor. who will is
sue q proclamation consolidating the
two cities. The bill does not specify
how the name OF the resulting munic-
ipality would be adopted. but that is
probably to be left to the governor.
Exemption from liability to mill
tary service would be extended to dis
charged United States soldiers or ma
rines and to discharged national
guardsmen who have a record Of four
years service, under the measure pro-
posed by Senator ]. d. Joseph OF
Viii Water in a bill just introduced.
The bill also extends military exemp-
ton to judges and clerks of the courts
OF the state and to county treasurers
as well as to any person whose reli-
gious beliefs make him opposed to
military service.
1t looks as though the legislature
ougth to get something done toward
the establishment OF the mothers
pension idea in Kansas this year. The