The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-03-22
Legislature Left Administration
in Embarrassing Hole.
Fewer Campaign Notes Paid
OFF Than Ever Before.
PLATFORM PLEDGES BUMPED
And Appropriations a Million
Dollars Above Mark.
Governor Capper Facing Prob
lem of Veto or Explanation.

The Kansas legislature which has
gone home to it's dear constituents.
left the state administration in bad
box 1t paid off fewer campaign notes
than almost any former law making
body, it introduced and killed more
bills than in any previous session, II
upset the economy program and spent
a million dollars more than the leg1S-
and heartless even to the governors
personal recommendations. Then 1t
adjourned and left the adn1nlstra-
ton to hunt an alibi.
Almost all of the really important
pledges of the party and Governor
Capper were bumped. The job or
humping was distributed quite even
" between the Democratic senate and
the Republican house. When an i'm
portant bill slipped through the
house, the senate waited for 1T with a
club. House members who did not
believe in the bill but voted for 1t un-
der the party lash, showed their ap-
probation by helping slaughter
measure which occasionally got away
from the senate and came to the
house for final action. Thus the game
of swat the promises was played with
strict attention to detail and fine
points.
Spend Million More.
And all the time the expense to the
state kept going skyward. When the
legislature finally hit bottom on APP
preparations, they took account and
found that they had spent substan-
TALLY q million dollars more than the
legislature of two years ago. As the
1913 legislature broke former records
by a half million dollars, the attitude
of the present session as affecting
economy was quite shocking. Today
Governor Capper is trying to decide
between a generous use of the veto
and the free and unlimited use of one
explanation to fit the inevitable in
creased tax levy. To veto the legis-
1ative appropriations to basis OF
original house bills, will help but lit
tie 1t still makes necessary an in
crease in the state tax levy. Yet IL
members of the house have asked the
governor to use his veto on the APP
preparations. On tho other hand sew
eral thousand personal friends of the
state schools and charities are watch
ing the governors action with much
concern.
But in its scramble to stir up trou-
BILE, the legislature did not stop with
appropriations. The house defeated
the Initiative. and referendum presi-
apportionment. strangled the labor
bureau bill, refused to rebuild the
state prison, killed off nonpartisan
legislation and refused to create the
senate added to the gaiety by har-
pooning the three-fourths jury verdict,
revision of the utilities act, amend
ments to workmen,s compensation
law, and a number of minor measures.
Three Pledges Redeemed.
Three Republican platform pledges
were redeemed. They included the
child hygiene bureau, a law to limit
campaign expenses and a wage COM
mission. The child hygiene and wage
commission bills were almost made in
operative, however, by refusal of the
legislature to appropriate funds to
keep them in operation. With its state
aid, the hygiene bureau is badly Grip
pied. Only after a desperate fight
were funds appropriated sufficient to
put the wage commission on its feet
cost nothing and was adopted with
economy speeches.
A number of important measures
will go into the statute books as a re-
suit of the more than 70 day session |
of the legislature Among them are
the mortgage registration tax, moth
ers' pension, a questionable civil serv-
ice law, wage commission child !