The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1918-08-20
Much WORK DONE
BY The LEGISLATURE
SEVERAL GENERAL MEASURES
WERE PASSED. RESUME OF
ACHIEVEMENTS.

It is doubtful if any Georgia leg
islature passed more general laws
than the one which has just passed
out of existence.
Probably one measure which will
be a source of qualification to many
of the people of Georgia will be
that forbidding the practice of "tip-
ping" in this state, though of course
the chances are that those hit by the
measure will not feel any too kindly
disposed towards the lawmakers re-
sponsible for it. By this bill tipping
in hotels, restaurants, barber shops,
common carriers, sleeping cars and
other places will be taboo in Georgia
from this time on and there will be
no incentive to the waiter serving one
man better than another. A good
deal of the reason for the successful
passage of this bill may be found in
the fact that many hotels secure the
tip money from the hat checking priv
ilege, or lease it out to some COM
pany, and while people think they are
tipping a servant in reality they are
Just paying a little more for their
meals This was clearly brought out
at the sessions of the assembly, and
helped swell the size of the vote. The
bill was introduced by Mr.. Pickett,
of Terrell.
Another measure of value to the
state, although it did not go as far
as many of it's advocates would have
liked, was one changing the age of
consent, lifting it to fourteen years.
Friends are confident, however, that
within a few years at least this age
will be lifted to eighteen years, the
age when a girl is supposed to be-
come a woman, with a woman's
rights.
A hard battle was fought in house
and senate, and for time it seemed
there could be no agreement over the
absent voters bill. 1t was generally
agreed that the men now in the gov
eminent service should have the right
to vote but there were some repre-
senatives of the state who were in
favor of making the act apply to ev-
erybody-in service or out-out of
to just when the law should lose its
effectiveness.
AS finally passed, through the work
of conference committees, it will ap-
ply only to those actually in the gov
eminent service, and its provisions
will expire one year after peace
comes.
Work-or-Fight Bill.
Then there was the work or-fght
bill, fashioned somewhat after SIM
liar measure passed and now in oper-
alton in Maryland.
There were many differences of
opinion as to just what the provisions
Of this bill should be.
On the question of whether women
should be included in the "work-or-
fight" age limits of IS to 55, and as
to whether strikers could not be
classed as elders" the battle was
fought, and this matter, too, went to
conference, where the matter was
finally arranged.
Women are excluded from the pro-
visions of the measure and strikers
were also exempted In regard to the
idle negro women of the state it was
pointed out that the present vagran-
cy laws would be sufficient to take
care of them, provided any one was
anxious to enforce it.
In an effort to provide a budget
system in the state both houses
agreed to create an efficiency commits
sion authorizing this body to meet
during recess and prepare a state
budget, showing expenses and income
of the state and have this ready at
the next meeting of the legislature so
that 1t could be considered then.
One New County.
Cook county was created by action
OF the assembly, but Lamar did not
iare so well, being beaten through
failure to secure the constitutional
vote.
There has been much stolen prop
erty brought into the state of late
years and particularly have the auto
owners suffered by having their cars
stolen and sent out of the state, and
owners in other places have had their
cars shipped to Georgia and stolen.
And so bill has been passed prohib-
lung the bringing of stolen property
into Georgia and providing penalty
Tor buying or storing such property.
A number of other bills were pass
ed, including the following:
To increase sheriff's fees. The in