The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1915-01-19


Commonwealth. The money thus Sc
cured should be expended pro rata by
the county upon the roads of the sew
eral townships. The routes should be as
far as possible those connecting county
seats. and the plans and perhaps all,
surely part, of the supervision of con-
struction be approved and supplied by
the State. Roads should cost less than
in the past. The people should know
all the while what is being done and
what expense is envolved. A good
highway is not only a public necessity
but an actual attainable good for our
people.
The State has now many miles of
privately owned roads. These are main
tanned; some well, some badly, by the
fees exaeted from the users. These
should be acquired and made part of
the public road system of the State.
1t is no credit to us that toll roads,
once a blessing, now an irritation,
should continue to exist in Pennsylva-
MIA.
So vital is this matter and so i'm
minent is the demand that / urge you
to reduce your appropriations in other
directions as far as possible in order
to give the highways the largest posi-
bile. appropriations.
Favors State Civil Service
The public service should be as eff
eient and economical as private service.
l believe in and would approve sane
and practical State civil service.
Increase Efficiency Of Schools
Under the school code our schools
have made commendable progress. With
few exceptions the provisions of that
code are so essentially wise that they
should not be changed. Your State
Board of Education, to whom the law
delegates the duty of suggesting such
school legislation as should be enacted,
viii in due time advise YOU concerning
the laws, if any, that would increase
the efficiency of our schools. | commend
their findings to you. AS the number
of pupils to be educated increases the
appropriations should increase. More
attention must be given to vocational
education. We have the largest num-
Der of farmers of any State in the
Union. Surely agriculture should com
mand greater attention in our schools.
| favor the creation of many rural high
schools in which both boys and girls
may be taught how to earn on the farm
and in the home an honest livelihood.
An education that does not increase
the size of the loaf on the family table
is scarcely worth the attention of our
people. All educ alton, no matter how
liberal and cultural, should be so i'm
parted as to make it usable. The facil-
tiles for training teachers should be i'm.
proved, better supervision provided
and higher education encouraged. But
the emphasis of the States concern
should rest upon the schools of the
many-the great common school so dear
to our people and so essential to their
welfare. We need greatly enlarged
permanent school fund. Universal edu-
cation is the best safeguard of our lib
critics, and money devoted to right edu.
cation is the State IS best investment.
Fer Woman Suffrage Amendment
The resolution passed by the last
Legislature submitting an amendment
to the Constitution providing for wom-
an suffrage should be re-enacted and
the voters allowed to determine for
themselves whether or not women shall
vote in Pennsylvania,
Appropriations to Charity
Pennsylvania leads all States in its
support of dependents. It's records
should be maintained. But there is
neither sense nor justice in unstudied
appropriations to our many charitable
institutions and agencies. These con
stitute important and wholly worthy OBJ
jeets of public concern and support.
The Legislature should know from com
Nafa fat,R .Ah 4 -. 1
should follow such knowledge in making
its appropriations. Moreover, the boun-
ty Of the State should never exceed the
assured income of the, State. 1t should
not again occur that the obligation of
lessening this bounty should be placed
upon the Executive.
1t may be that some wiser and surer
method can be devised to ensure these
funds doing the greatest good and
reaching directly the institutions and
| agencies whose service is best or most
needed. Surely the supervision of the
State should follow absolutely its gifts.
The State can afford to be generous
only when it is just.
Labor and It's Claims
The people who toll are among the
choice assets of our Common wealth.
For their protection, their comfort,
their advancement, their happiness, we
are all securely pledged. l shall wei
come any laws that promote these es-
sentially wise ends. We must enact a
fair and certain Workmen s Compen-
sation Act Its provisions should Sc
cure reasonable compensation to those
who in their daily toll suffer from acci-
dent or disease. 1t should assuredly
make for the prevention of accidents.
This compensation should be guaran-
teed. The funds for its prompt pay
ment should be counted among the
costs of production. In scope it should
not include labor upon the farm nor
domestic service. Great care should be
exercised to see that the law be drawn
in strict compliance with constitutional
limitations. The present Liability Act
needs amendment to the end that it
may be in full accord with the above
proposed act and that both alike may
guarantee to our workers the certain
and speedy relief they merit and should
have.
Our Child Labor Laws are made
quate and unsatisfactory. No child
under sixteen should be allowed to
work. He should be in school. The
small sum he earns prior to sixteen at
the cost of his physical and mental de-
velopment is pittaDce compared with
the loss he and the Commonwealth sus-
tain under present law. Such "penny
wise" and "pound foolish" laws are
unworthy this great State. When
Iah e