River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1921-03-10
State Capitol News
By VIM. ]. Anderson

or both, will be required to meet the
excess expenditures of the state tor
the biennial pefial which closes on
June Both. Governor Blaines mes
sage shows that the total amount ex-
pended over the amounts appropriat-
ed by the legislature of 1919 is about
three million dollars. Because the leg
islature of 1915 had passed an emer-
pency statute to provide for excess
expenditures, the Legislature of 1919
felt justified in appropriating less in
the case of each department than was
needed. This has ben the cause of
all the discussion about excess expen-
diturcs. If the excess three millions
had been provided for by an increased
property tax levy in advance by the
legislature of 1919, farmer or home
owner that this year pays property
tax of $50 would have had to pay
S51.38; if he paid $25, he would have
had to pay $2558.
People who complain of the high
cost of running the state government
should look at their tax receipts and
see what proportion OF the total tax
was for state purposes and what pro-
portion was for local purposes-that
is, for their city, town and county
purposes. Over the entire state the
total of each mans taxes which goes
for state purposes is not above seven
per cent of the whole amount.
Workman's Compensation Act
One of the ways in which the work
mans compensation act will probably
be amended in this session of the leg
islature is the provision regarding
choice of the physician by the injured
employee. Under the law as it now
stands, the employer has the right to
select the physician and the injured
employee must pay for his own doctor
if he refuses to go to the physician
furnished by his employer. This pro-
vision is attacked by the Wisconsin
Federation of Labor which is giving
it's support to the Schafer bill, No.
67-A. This bill provides that an in
jured employee may go to any ply
sician he chooses and the employer
must pay the bill subject to the right
of the Industrial Commission to re-
view the reasonableness of the charge.
The Value of Typhoid incubation
The state board of health recently
tabulated figures to demonstrate the
value of incubation for typhoid few
err. In the Spanish-American war
20,926 cases of typhoid and 2,192
deaths occurred within 8 months
among American troops, indicating
that one soldier in seven contracted
the disease and one in 81 died from
it. This was before the typhoid inoc-
ulation era in military hygiene. In
1918 the army adopted compulsory
incubation of American troops sta
toned on the Mexican border. Only
"a cases of typhoid fever occurred
and there were no deaths. All sold
iers had been inoculated. During the
great war three and one-half million
men in the Army, typhoid afflicted
only / 1888 and caused 148 deaths dur
ing 1917 and 1918. These troops
were scattered in the United States,
Europe, Alaska, the Hawiian and
Philippine Islands, under the most
adverse climatic and sanitary con-
ditions. All had received the inocula-
lions with typhoid vaccine.
Assembly Measures Voted On
The Assembly on Wednesday, by
vote of Al to Al, the non-partisan and
socialist members uniting, the pro-
posed constitutional amendment to
permit the state to own and operate
warehouses, grain elevators and
storage houses was passed. In spite
of this successful lineup, the Assem-
bly the same day killed the whey-but-
ter bill. The Stolowski bill regulat-
ing wonren's work and which prohib-
tied from carrying greater weight
than Is pounds was killed. Assemb-
lyman Catlin remarked that under
such a measure his wife would not be
allowed to carry her own baby. The
Keisner Resolution looking to the
calling of constitutional convention
was killed by vote of SO to 40. The
Matheson bone-dry bill was passed by
the Assembly and now goes to the
Senate.
Interest Rate Advanced
The state recently advanced its int
terest rate to deposit banks from 21s
per cent to per cent. Inasmuch as
outside of Milwaukee the banks of the
state loan a great deal of money at 8
per cent and very few loans are made
below 7 per cent, the states advance
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