The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-01-19
FACING A STRIKE
Employees of Legislature Are
Not Getting Enough Pay.
Cuspidorians Receive Only 50 q
Day for Their Labors.
LEGISLATORS GET SGT WEEKLY
Same as 1t Was When Eggs
Were a Dime a Dozen.
Court of Industrial Relations
May Be Necessary Here.

The Kansas legislature may encoun-
ter little strike of its own. Today
| members of the house and senate en-
pleyes committees are inspecting lists
of available employees. A number OF
threats have been made that employees
VIII quit unless the wage scale is in
creased from SO to IS day.
Since the happy days when pork on
| foot was worth four cents a pound
and eggs sold for a dime a dozen.
wheat was worth 40 cents and farm
| ers burned their corn crops, the wage
scale for legislators and Legislative
employees has been So a day And
Kansas with her growing wealth and
IN the face Of increased living ex-
penses. never changed the scale. a
legislator draws So a day and a coll
ored cuspidorian gets a pay check of
exactly the same size.
Several times proposed amendments
were submitted to the dear voters
tending to increase the per diem of
legislators. But Kansas always voted
no.
Employees May Strike.
The wage of employees. tho. is fixed
| by the legislature and not by the con-
stitution. Last week resolutions were
introduced providing for increases in
the wage scale. But the increases
haven't materialized. Now there is
the rumor of a strike among the stem
ographer ladies, the reading clerks,
chaplains. cullud keepers Of the brass
cuspidors, door keepers and superin-
tendents of ventilation.
ut looks as tho the legislature may
need the court of industrial relations
to handle its own trouble" said one
member of the house employees COM
mittee today as he came from a con-
ference of enraged employees. These
people want more money and there is
talk of a strike if they don't get it,
Members of the employees commit
tees of the two houses today consulted
the list of applications for Legislative
jobs. The committee members have
stated they will refuse to approve a
demand for increased wages. If a
strike is called, new employees will be
placed on the job.
The house today gave approval to
the Disch bill providing for increase
of salaries for mayors and city COM
missioners. The bill, tho, carries the
word may instead of shall"
Under provisions of the proposed
new law the salary of mayor of To-
peka would be increased from $4,000
to $4,000 a year. Salaries of city
$500 a year to $4,000 a year.
Haskell County Row Up.
House members in committee of the
whole today recommended for pas
sage the Dennis bill enabling the hold
ing of special county seat elections in
several of the smaller southwestern
counties. The bill was desired espec-
tally for Haskell county.
Last winter the legislature passed a
special bill to enable the holding of a
county seat election. The supreme
court. tho. set aside the election and
held the law to be invalid as it was in
the nature of special legislation.
Republican house members today
signed a petition asking that Mrs. Min
ME j. Grinstead. representative from
Seward county, be chosen as a dele
gate at large to the Republican ma
tional convention in June. Mrs Grin
stead is the first woman member of
the Kansas legislature. Demand is
made that a woman be given a place
on the big four and Mrs. Grinstead is
a candidate for the honor.