The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1915-01-28
State Capital PiCkings.
Facts and Gossip of the DOings Of
the Ger d Assembly Now in
Session at Jefferson City.
By BART B. HOWARD.


have had their siesta rudely disturbed
As to the referendum it may break
it.may shaiter the laws If itswill, bu
tue drys will come back with they'rt
little old bill. And their back, al
right. The six anti-liquor bills intro
duced provide for closing the saloon
at eight o'clock at night; stringen
regulations Of shipments into. the dr!
territory; precinct option in all citie'
OF over 1000; no saloon within 50(
feet (the present disance is 3CO) o
church or school house; no saloor
within five miles OF an eleemosynary
institution particularly affecting Cape
Girardeao, Kirksville, Warensburg,
Maryville and Springfeld); removal o.
screens from saloon fronts.
To most OF those bills the emerg'
ency clause is attached which will
make them effective on the date oI
their passage This is Of course dry
tactic for slipping one over on The
referendum. The vets say that the
emergency will not hold for the reason
that no emergency exists. Putting
aside the temptation to dash into the
mysteries OF legislative proprieties this
much may be ventured: II no emerg'
ency exists you can gamble a catss'
,rophe impends. Anyhow, that would
seem to be the general complexion Of
the situation to a chap peering at it
under a brewers visor. Don't you
think so, Otto2
E. A. Shannon Of Audrain, dry
leader of the House claims from so to
90votes, the required number being
u. OF the "a Senators nineteen are
regarded dry, and some say twenty.
So it looks as il the drya can il they
will. But will they1 A little watch
iul waiting will disclose the answer.
Pertinent to the preceding remarks
these facts may be offered: Drinking
as It u d 10 he done in jefferson City
is thing OF the past. The Madison
House bar is the last place reporter
goes to now in search OF a legislator.
Once it was about the first. Once the
legislator who did not take a drink
was the exception. Perhaps he is still
in the minority. But the legislator
who drinks to excess-well, he is not
on the roster, that's all. Total alb
stinence ideal OF prohibition-is
not here. But temperance, in a very
high degree, is here. The high ball
still calls, but not with the hilarious
repetive Of yore. Iu short, fellow
citizens, your servants at the capital
are a clean living set OF men industri'
ously on the job.
Representative Drake Watson nf
Rails County has introduced bill
which, if it passes, will submit to the
voters at a special election Aug. a.,
1915, the question al a constitutional
convention to revise the organic law
OF the State. Should the majority
favor it, the convention will be held
in Jefferson CITY the first Monday in
March, 1916. The cost CT the elect
ion and convention is estimated at
$4,000, and the bill provides for ap-
propriatlng that amount. The present
constitution was adopted in 1875
forty years ago. 1t has been amended
from time to time, bu, it is note
worthy fact that since the adoption Of
the initiative and referendum, which,
it was supposed, would facilitate con-
stitu,ional changes, every amendment
proposed has been rejected. The
arguments for the convention may be
nmud up in the statement that the
4, ate has outsrown its present consti'
tuition. But do tfSa reople think so7
It is acknowledged that some of the
present constitution are priced by the
people Of Missouri, and wheths,
they would jsopardizs those tried
provisions in search Tor more modern
blessings is admittedly debatable.
Representative Phillip w. Clancy is
strong for nine-hour day, or fifty-foul
hour week, and has introduced a bill
t that effect. He would exempt tele
graph and telephone companies from
his law, and, lor ninety days each year,
ming and packing plants in rura
communities which handle perishable
farm products. But with those ex
cepticns it goes. That extemoraneou'
forum, the barber shop, would close a