The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-05-24
COngressma Zihlman on Proposed
State Legislation.

"a number of my friends throughout
the state of Maryland have written me
asking my views on the legislation which
has been tentatively drafted by the at
torney general in correlation with the
State Council of Defense" said Con-
gresham Zihlman, when interview d
recently, land | wrote a number of
them under date of May 14th, that |
felt the legislature proposed was in the
main broad and comprehensive, and
showed a remarkable grasp of the
needs of the state, should this great
emergency continue for any length Of
time, as well as splendid foresight and
vision as to the needs which may arise.
1t would place our state in position to
meet properly and efficiently the big
problems growing out of a prolonged
conflict, and enable it to conserve its
energies and resources against any
strain which might come,
THE reorganization of the State
Guard, the amendments to the civil
laws, relating to judgments, ETC., the
registration of alien enemies, the ten
tative law providing for the soldiers to
vote, the state farm for prison labor,
and for state institutions, the amend
ments to the vagrancy law, the relief
of soldiers dependents, and the pro-
ductive measures dealing with the food
supplies of the state are all admirable
and should, and | feel, will receive the
wholehearted support of our people re-
CARELESS of their party affiliations.
81 stated in my letters, however,
that there were several proposals in
the legislative program which | deem
unwise, inopportune and unnecessary
at this time, and | very much doubt
the wisdom of their enactment or of
their being found either necessary or
advisable during this or any other
emergency.
Among these are the plans to dele
gate to the Governor the power to sus-
pend or modify the laws providing for
the attendance of children at school,
the law prohibiting children of certaln
ages from working at specified occu-
pations, and fixing the maximum hours
of labor IN industrial employment for
women and children, and the law en-
towering the Governor to suspend the
Full Crew Law, providing the public
service commission that such suspen-
sion is not inconsistent with public wei
fare.
These suspensions are not to be
made unless the Council of National
Defense so requests, and reason is
given that the secretary of war has re-
quested the various states to pass
statues of this nature
Il do not know whether the secre-
tary of war is consulting with the
other officials of the administration but
he certainly has not consulted with the
Chief Executive of the nation when he
makes this recommendation to the
several states. For in an address de-
livered before the meeting held in this
city Tuesday evening of this week be-
fore the Labor Committee of the Council
of National Defense, President Wilson
said:
Mr.. Gompers has expressed al
ready one of the things that has been
very much in my mind of late. | have
been very much alarmed at one or
two things that have happened; at the
apparent inclination of the legisla-
lures of one or two of our states to set
aside even temporarily the laws which
have safeguarded the standards OF labor
and of life. | think nothing would be
more deplorable than that. We are
trying to fight in a cause which means
the lifting of standards of life, and we
can.fght best in that cause by voluntary
cooperation. do not doubt that any,
body of men representing labor in this
country, speaking for their fellows,
will be willing to make any sacrifice
that is necessary in order to carry this
contest to successful issue, and in
that confidence | feel that it would be
ineXcusable if we deprived men and
women of that spirit of any OF the
existing safeguards of law. There
fore, | shall exercise my influence as
far as it goes to see that that does not
happen and that the sacrifices we make
shall be made voluntarily and not under
the compulsion which mistakenly is
interpreted to mean the lowering of
the standards which we have sought
through so many generations to bring
to their present level.
1, myself, have stated that can
not see why in a war being waged IN
the interest of humanity and democ-
racy, we should throw away the safe
guards we have fought for so many
years to obtain?
fsuJop,o,o ~ 49, $780,