The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1921-09-09
ELyINS ADVOCATES
AID BY STATE IN RAIL
ROAD BUILDING

ed today by Polite Elvins of Elvins,
Mo-, former congressman, as one rea-
son why the state constitutional con-
vention should give the legislature
greater latitude in dealing with pub
lie service matters. Elvins was in st.
Louis today enroute to the meeting
of the New Constitution Association
of Missouri at Kansas lity tomorrow,
He probably will be brought forward
rs candidate for one of the dele
gates-at-large from his section of the
state.
"The Missouri Public Service Com
mission act was modelled after that
in Massachusetts," Elvins said. "Mes-
sachrseSts is an old state, criss-cross-
ed with railroads, and it was to the
interest Of that state to enable its CON-
mission to restrict further railroad
construction. This condition did not
exist in Missouri at the time the State
Public Service Commission was Gre
ated, and does not now exist. Mis-
souri, needs more railroads.
Would Tax Land Speculation
"But tie fact is t 1t not a mile of
new railroad project has been built
since the Missouri commission was
created. This has resulted in ham
pering development of the state, and
one of the things tn, constitutional
convention should do is to change this
situation and give tie legislature
greater latitude. The present long
and short haul provision also ought to
be changed to conform with the prac-
tice of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission.
"The new constitution ought to en-
courage the building of railroads in
stead of discouraging it. The trou-
BILE is not with the commission itself,
but with the act under which the
commission was created.
"There also should be a provision
in the new constitution discouraging
the holding of large tracts of unim-
proved land by non-residents for spec
ulative purposes. This could be done
by permitting taxing the speculative
value of the land. There are now
large tracts, particularly in the south
ern section, that are of virtually no
benefit to the state because they can
not be bought for agricultural purpos-
es and their unimproved condition
makes them of small value for taxing
purposes. They are held for specula-
ton only. The new constitution ought
to discourage that practice.
For Better Education
"The new constitution could give
the state power to conduct expert
ments in utilizing the low grade iron
ores and other minerals that now are
not of actual value to the state. The
Ozark hills are full of low grade iron
ore and there are vast resources of
other minerals that ought to be util-
zed. The state should go about it
Systematically to show how these can
be made source of actual wealth, in
stead of merely potential. 1t cannot
do this under the old constitution.
"There is no reason why a child
living on poor land should be penal
lied and deprived of school facilities
while child born in a rich district
of the state gets the advantage. Ed
ucation of the children is in the inter-
est of the whole state.
"Taxation for school purposes
should not be made entirely a local
matter, as it is under the present con-
stitution.
"The new constitution might give
the state the right to fix a certain
amount for the education of each
child, regardless of what part of the
state he lives in, and then the local
communities could have the right to
add to this if they decided to provide
additional facilities. The entire school
taxation system ought to be revised.
The State Board of Equalization might
be given the powers that the State
Tax Commission now he's.
missouri is one of the four or five
states in the union which permit an
alien to vote as soon as he has taken
out his first papers. The constitution
ought to be changed in that respect
also"
"These are some of the things
which Missouri, outside of the large
cities, is especially interested in when
it comes to framing a new constitu-
tion," Elvins concluded. "The cities
already have indicated what they
want" Thursdays Star.
RANK NOT SAFE ANY MORE