Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1915-01-26
THE LEGISLATURE.

1 A&e~o ANOh Va 6hALNo 1AAo I1lC dl dLtlOl
county representatives have beer
placed on the following committees
Chris. Franzen on Transportation; E
lC. Kretlow on Public Welfare.
There seems to be the usual rusl
of bills, Notwithstanding Gov. Phillip
plea for short session. The Gov
evidently is in for some hard jolts, a:
there are some inclined to think that
he is doing too much talking and not
able to deliver the goods.
There is an attempt made to limit
the session 20 80 days, but it i.
thought that unless the introduction
of bills is limited, the total number
will reach the record of two years
ago and the session heightened unit
May or June.
Some of the bills which have beer
introduced are abolition of offices oi
state fire inspector, Illuminating oil
inspector, state treasury agent and
county board of education; cut out
the expenses of the state boxing com.
mission; changing date of fiscal year
to Dec. 31st, from June Both.
There is to be fight royal on the
Mary Ann law. The battle will be
on the repeal of the second choice
clause. The eugenic law is to be
amended to apply to women as well
as men.
Prohibiting haZing in the state
university or other public schools of
the state; providing state school for
the crippled and deformed children;
providing for the printing of state
laws and official notices in large type.
Five constitutional amendments
passed by the last legislature and
must be passed by this session if they
are to be submitted to a vote of the
people. They are as follows:
To permit state loans to settlers for
the development of agricultural lands.
To permit counties, towns, villages
and cities to exempt certain desig-
mated classes of property from taxa
tion.
To give the state absolute control
over waterpowers and permit their
improvement by the state.
To permit the installation of state
printing plant.
To announce the state ownership
and control of the water beds of all
meandered streams.
There will be an attempt to make
it possible to pay taxes in Dec. and
June, in the fUGure.
There is difference of 50, ,496, 1882,
in tax levy of 1914 and 1915. In 1914,
the levy was s5,s66, 1879 and this year
s3,37O,O74. Last year in Marathon
county the state tax was sS3,375, this
year S35, 127.
Gov. Philip has appointed the fol-
lowing legislators as committee to
visit charitable and penal institutions
of the state: Senators Platt, Whit
man and Albers. Assemblyman Kur-
tenacker, LEM, MCGOWAN and Metcalf.
Assemblyman Axel Johnson has
marked out special program in the
decrease of the number of commits
sions in Wisconsin:
"The tax question is, of course, the
paramount iSSue-in fact, the only
issue on which the last campaign was
fought. The governors message was
rather disappointing to me in not
being specific as to which boards and
commissions ought to be abolished.
/ would like to see the following
boards and commissions either abol-
ished or consolidated. Park, forestry,
game, fish, conservation and land de-
partmentS should be consolidated.
The hotel inspection, plumbing, bar
bers, county boards of education,
boxing commission, abolished. The
weights and measures inspection
should in small towns be performed
by dairy and food inspectors. The
office of claim agent and board of
public affairs should be abolished.
The oil inspector and fire marshal
should be placed in the insurance de-
partment. The office of inheritance
tax attorney in the tax commission
should be abolished. The revisors of
statutes office should be abolished,
and statutes revised only every ten
years"
The state highway commission will
probably be wiped out, and the old
county system returned to. A meas
ure is to be introduced giving coun-
ties the right to purchase and operate
water power plants. Another bill
will give committees the authority to
bid in lands of tax sales.
There has been bill for a commits
sion form of government, to be ac-
cepted by vote of each county where
it is proposed with the exception OF
counties whose population exceeds
250,0O0. Alsy penalty for the sale
of air guns. A bill providing for the
exemption of $500 of the estates Of all
veterans of the Civil or Mexican war