Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-08-02

connected with the work of the few
legislatures which met. one is that d
new phase OF legislation has arisen dur
ing the year: namely, the question OF
state military preparation, us part of
the general movement Tor preparedness.
New York state. however. which has
been the first to take legislative action
IN the matter, by strengthening her MAJ
tlonal guard and providing for military
training in public schools. appears to
nave been the only state that has actu
aiiN enacted amy new preparedness
measures the past year. New Jersey
created a commission TO investigate the
subject of military training in high
SCHOOLS and to report to the 1917 legis-
lature, but in the reports at lland of the
sessions In the other ~ states where
the legislatures met this year there APP
pears no mention of action along these
| lines.
Aided National Guard.
The New York legislators pledged to
the president and congress the states
unqualified supper in action necessary
to maintain the honor of the nation in
any crisis. The Legislators appropriated
$500, 900 to provide for the first mobili-
cation of the entire national guard of
the state in exercise camps this sum-
mer, and making that sum available
Tor immediate use should other crises
develop.
1T provided for military, disciplinary
and physical training of all public
school pupils. the physical and dis
culinary to all more than s years of
age, and the military TO apply to all
between the ages of 16 and 10. the only
exemption being in cases where the
young, men are employed continuously
as a means of livelihood.
1t also authorized the governor to
prepare Il reserve militia list to he
composed of all males between the ages
of IS and As, from which may be
drafted al amy time sufficient numbers
to fill up the complement of the militia
Or any of it's detachments.
Woman's suffrage. which. during the
year of 1a14-15. was referred by the
legislatures of several states to the vote
of the people, and which received Il Snt-
back at the elections in four Atlantic
states-New York. New Jersey. Penn
sylvania and Massachusetts received
comparatively little favorable action
during the past Legislative season. The
New York law makers. however. tool
the first step toward the resubInisSion
of the referendum on the matter in 1917,
out in order for the referendum to he
held the resolution in favor of it must
be adopted again next year. In Kell-
lucky, after q series of defeats in previ-
Gus legislatures, d measure N favor OF
a referendum on wo1nan's suffrage was
passed by the Senate, but failed IN tho
HOUSE. III lAoUlSidIli, NlISIilt". l. lClluu,
and Mississippi. mi suffrage lnca-
sures were defeated, ana in RhCdG
Island the suffrage bill remained in
the files of the committee on special
legislation. There We're no other states
which appear to have considered the
subject.
Laws Favor Women.
Women, however, profit to a con-
siderable extent through many meas
ures which were passed during the
year. For instance, in Rhode Island
al act was passed to prohibit night
work for women and children: i'm South
Carolina the child labor law was
Instead of ~ for children in mines and
factories, while Maryland passed a
mothers pension law providing state
aid to needy widows who have depen-
dent children under IA years of age.
There are already 80 states in which
workmen's compensation laws are in
effect, and one state, Virginia, indi-
Gates a possibility of falling in line.
having passed a joint resolution for a
commission to report on Il workmen's
compensation bill at the session in
1918. In Massachusetts the labor lead
ers succeeded in having passed an
amendment to the worsmen's compen-
sation act, reducing from IA to 10 days
the waiting period when injured en-
plOyes shall receive compensation, and
a resolution was passed for an inves-
tigation Of the a~dvisability Of estab-
fishing a new rate for compensation
insurance. Two small loan acts were
also passed in Massachusetts, one es-
tablishing the rate of interest on small
loans at 3 per cent a month, and the
other eNempting from assignment
three-fourth Of a mans wages, stipu-
lating further that no assignment OF
a married mans wages can be made
unless the written consent of the wife
has been obtained. New York state
extended to additional classes the ben
efits of the workmen's compensation
law Of 1914. Illinois provided AN addi-
tional appropriation for it's civil service
commission and for free employment
offices, while New Jersey reorganized
its department of labor and created a
workmen's compensation aid bureau.
The further restriction of liquor traf-
fc is provided by new laws in Georgia,
Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi
and, in some particulars, in a few 9th
% states. Georgia, at an extra session
last fall, enacted three liquor laws, on
to prohibit the sale of any beverag.
containing more han one-half Of / pc,
cent OF alcohol. another to prevent ti;e
shipment of more than two quarts Of
liquor or 4S pints of beer or one gallor
Of wine to anv individual in the state
within n 30-day period. and a third
law to prohibit liquor advertising. all