Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, January 7, 1909, Page 2

THE BEMIDJI DAILY PIONEER PUBLISHED NVERY AFTERNOON, BEMIDJI PIONEER PUBLISHING CO. By CLYDE J. PRYOR. ‘Totered in the postofice at Bemidil. Minc., as second class matter. SUBSCRIPTION---$5.00 PER ANNUM THEZGOVERNOR'S ' MESSAGE. Continued from First Page ‘The laws of the state now provide for the payment of aid to the graded schools, high schools, semi-graded schools and rural schools to the ex- tent of upwards of $600,000 annually and further provide for these pay- ments in October of each year. The payments are in advance of the appro- priation on its way to the state treas- ury and in consequence necessitate temporary loans and overdrafts, thus creating a deficiency in the treasury. This condition could be avoided alto- gether by amending the law and re- quiring corporation gross earnings taxes to be paid semi-annually on or before Sept. 1 and March 1, respec- tively. A law passed in 1905 provides for a B per cent gross earnings tax .on all telephone companies doing business In the state. The public examiner re- ports that with few exceptions the various telephone companies have been reporting for taxation purposes the earnings originating and terminat- ing within the state and have not re- ported earnings on interstate busi- mess. Action has been Instituted agalnst one of the companies neglect- ing to report interstate business and the matter Is now pending in the courts. The decision in the lower court was in favor of the state and the company appealed the case to the supreme court. In view of the ambig- uous terms of the statute it would be best to repeal the present statute and pass & new law which will be specific in its terms and provide for a tax on all interstate business, and the state share on all business, and which will provide the necessary penalties for failure to make returns of gross earn- ings. Railway Regulation. Especial attention should be given by the legislature to the subject of regulating public service corporations, especially railroads, and the securing of equal and just railroad rates to the people of this state. The so called 2- cent passenger rate has now been in operation for about a year and eight months and I have no hesitation in saying that it has been demonstrated during that period that such rate is sufficiently high and that no reason exists why the state should not per- sist {n its demand that the maximum be fixed at that sum. The maintenance of a maximum rate of 2 cents per mile for the trans- portation of passengers undoubtedly tends to equality of rates and per- haps lessens the discretion which the carriers formerly had to grant spe- cial rates either to a particular class of persons or upon particular occa- slons where it was expected or de- sired greatly increased travel would oceur. Shortly before the convening of the legislature of 1907 the railroad and warehouse commission of this utate had made its order establishing rates to be charged by carriers upon mer- chandise in this stats, the term mer- chandise covering articles enumerated in and covered by the so called West- ern classification. The schedule so ordered was accepted by the carriers affected and the rates went into effect Nov. 15, 1906, and have been main- tained ever since. The governor here reviews at length the suit brought by railroad stockholders to restrain the enforce- ment of the commodity rate law of 1907 and continues: I suggest therefore that your atten- tion need not be diverted to any dis- cusslon as to the reasonableness of any one of the three schedules to which T have referred, but that your efforts should be directed to strength- ening the position taken by the last legislature in its demand for their en- forcement. - To Make Rates Effective. For many. years legislatures and ad- ministrative officers charged with the duty of fixing rates have indulged in the hope that some method would be discovered by which rates so pre- Beribed could become immediately ef- fective. The protracted and involved litigation which has followed each at- tempt to adjust rates has always re- sulted in niore or less disturbance of industrial econditions and has always involved considerable expense and ‘where the rates have been found just and reasonable there has always been a long period during which the carrier has exacted an unreasonable and ex- cessive rate. I would suggest that this presents for your most careful con- sideration a question of high impor- tance. It would be entirely feasible to enact a law providing that where a rate had been established either by the legislature or by a commission and compliance with such rate was refused by a carrler that during the period in which such rate was being tested the carrier should be required to make and keep a report and com- plete record of the amounts received by it in excess of the prescribed rates, the persons from whom such amounts were recelved and such other information in connection therewith as might be required by the railroad and warehouse commission. In the event that the contested rate was found to be just and reasonable the carrier should be compelled to refund the excess amounts so received in a proceeding to be brought by the rail- road and warehouse commission and 80 framed that all of those paying ex- cessive .charges might participate at a minimum expense. There should be mno difficulty in framing a bill which would contain provisions for a sum- mary and economical procedure along lines I have outlined. Proper Regulation Necessary. ‘The necessity for the proper regu- Iation and control by the state of com- mon carriers becomes every day more apparent. This control should be firm, but reasonable.. Nor have I any sympathy with the claim made by the carriers themselves that both federal and state control are incompatible. The checks and balances found in the federal and in each state conmstitution were embodied in those instruments with the high purpose of maintaining the American system of government and mere inconvenience, either upon the part of public officers or upon the part of those in charge of public serv- ice corporations, should not be accept- ed as a sufficient reason for disregard- Ing great constitutional principles. The dignity and character of the du- tles devolving upon the officers of a state. are as great as those devolving upon any officer and are generally performed with as high a sense of public duty and with as much intelll- gence as are to be found in any gov- ernmental department. We as officers of the state of Min- nesota have no quarrel with the great corporations engaged in the public service; we have no reprisals to make upon them. It would be a crime to impair their usefulness or efficiency, but it is none the less our duty to limit and control the exercise of the vast powers which they possess to the end that the individual citizen will receive fair and just consideration and this duty I am sure you will perform calmly and efliciently. Education. The last two years have been marked by a continuation of actual progress in the schools of the state. There has becn a slight lergthening of the school terms. Teachers’ wages are higher. The proportional number of graduates from high schools, nor- mal schools and colleges has in- creased. More schools than ever be- fore have qualified for and received special state aid in their respoective classes; and schools in general are better provided than ever with 1l braries and equipment generally. Communications from many of the most experienced school superintend- ents indicate that the compulsory at- tendance law now upon the statute books is practically a dead letter, due very largely to the fact that school officers do not desire to risk neighbor- hood troubles by appointing truant officers. 1 would reriew my previous recommendation that legislative pro- vision be made for a non-resident offi- cer to enforce our educational laws In the country districts. I would also renew the recommen- dation I made to a previous legisla- ture looking toward the establishment of a county board of education, whose duties would include the appointment of a county superintendent. In discussing the subject further Governor Johnson recommends a law prescribing educational qualifications for county superintendents and a min- imum salary law for teachers, adapt- ing to the needs of Minnesota the best in the minimum salary laws of Mas- sachusetts, Indiana and other states. Logs and Lumber. The past year was eventful because of the unusual commercial and finan- cial conditions which have obtained. The stringency of the money market and the attendant business depression 80 affected the lumber industry that the state timber board deemed it wise to have no stumpage sale during the past year. The law provides arbi- trarily that there shall be but one gen- eral stumpage sale each year except in case of an emergency and, as the conditions did not justify this, no sale was held. The timber board has had less difficulty than formerly in the adjustment of settlements for either voluntary or involuntary trespass, Be- cause of the inexorable rule of the board, which made no settlements ex- cept in strict accordance with the law, timber operators have found it cheap- er to buy the timber in the regular way and pay for it accordingly. There have been some trespass cases, but they are gradually growing less, a condition much to be desired. The present timber law relating to cash sales, which provides that the auditor may sell the stumpage of any tract of pine land not exceeding one section in area, when the stumpage does not exceed 100,000 feet, at pub- lic auction to the highest bidder for cash, should be repealed entirely. The law works serious dificulty to inno- cent purchasers and almost invariably works a loss to the state. The pur- chaser buys the tract in good faith, believes he owns it and proceeds to cut it. Frequently he cuts more than 100,000 feet and when found' by meas- ure that it exceeds this amount he becomes a trespasser under the law and penalized accordingly. Insurance. At the last session of the legisla- ture our insurance laws were modi- fied and readjusted to such an extent that we have now, in my judgment, one of the best insurance codes of any state in the Union. Under these laws the department of insurance has been able to accorplish much in the way of regulating and supervising the insur- ance business of the state in the in- terests of the insured, as well as to the ultimate interest of the insurance companies themselves. The insurance business is upon a sounder basis than at any other previous time in the his- tory of our state and the people who Invest in insurance can now feel as- sured that their investment is a safe one. There are few recommenda- tions to be made to the legislature at this time. There are some, however, which occur to me. In order to meet requirements of the insuring public certain forms of insurance not now authorized by our law should be per- mitted, as, by example, automobile insurance and fiywheel insurance. ‘We supervise carefully fire insur- ance companies doing business in this state, but many of these companies reinsure part of their liability in other companies not authorized to do busi- ness here. This reinsurance in un- authorized companies should, I be- leve, be prohibited. No class of insurance is of greater benefit to the people as a class than that of the township mutual insurance companies, furnishing, as they do, pro- tection at a very low cost. The law governing these companies is,. how- ever, indefinite and the incoming leg- islature should take steps to amend this law so as to increase the effi- clency and simplify the methods of these companies. Labor Legislation. I degire at this time to most earnest- e ly and serlously renew -the Sugges- tions previously. made by me to the legislature of 1905 and again to the legislature of 1907 for legislation upon a subject which, to my mind, is of the greatest importance to all classes of the laboring people of this state and which is generally described as the common law doctrine as to the pon-liability of a master to a servant for injuries occurring through the negligence of a fellow servant. What- ever may have been proper in the past as to this common law doctrine the present law is certainly ill suited to the present time. High geared and dangerous machinery performs a large part in the production of manu- factured articles and in the construc- tlon of buildings. Within a decade, too, we"have come into a mining con- dition, which makes it necessary, it seems to me, for the leglslature to surround the laboring people of this state with every possible safeguard. The risks now in mine, mill and fac- tory are greater to the laboring man than they ever have been before and appalling accidents and injuries are happening with altogether too “great frequency. Scarcely a day goes by ‘without the report of some injury, fa- tal or otherwise, to the working man employed in the construction of large buildings, in mines, or in great manu- facturing enterprises and it seems to me that the time certainly has come when the fellow servant rule should be abolished in every class of indus- try and require the industry itself to bear the risk, rather than the poor unfortunate laboring man, who fre- quently feels unable to buy that in- surance which is necessary for him- self and for those dependent upon him for support. Labor Department. Chapter 356, general laws of 1907, reorganized the bureau of labor and by reason of the enlarged force of factory inspectors the department has been enabled to extend its field of usefulness into many towns and cities and to make two inspection visits an- nually to the larger industrial cen- ters of the state. I would suggest the passage of a law by this legislature giving inspec- tors power to seal up ovens and uten- sils of bakeries when places are un- clean if not cleansed within a rea- sonable time after notification by in- spector. The act which reorganized the de- partment also confers limited truancy powers upon the inspectors and this function is one which will grow with the years. It will mean that when a child is illegally employed and or- dered discharged by the inspector the officer will place the child in school instead of leaving him upon the street. The department has investigated over fifteen hundred cases of truancy in different parts of the state during the past year and placed over a thousand children in school. Officlals of the department receive many complaints from those who al- lege that they are defrauded by pri- vate employment bureaus. Some ad- ditional check should be placed upon these establishments to prevent the robbing of those who are utterly un- able to protect themselves. State Prison. At this particular time the policy of the state with regard to the future of the Minnesota state prison is a matter of great import. In addition to the function of the state in the care and detention of the criminal population confined within the prison there has come the added feature of the business of one of the greatest commercial enterprises of the state. In the first instance it is suficient to say that the methods employed at the Minnesota state prison are in keep- ing with the best reform methods adopted anywhere in the country and the only reason that it is not equal in every way to any other prison in the United States is because of old build- ings and inadequate facilities. As you doubtless know steps have been taken looking toward the establishment of a new prison. This, in my judgment, is very important and merits the most earnest consideration of the legisla- ture at this time. The institution, in its manufacture of shoes, twine, and, in the future, of farm machinery, has | made it necessary that the best busi- ness methods obtain, and that there should be no handicap in denying to the institution and those in charge of it every opportunity to work out the very best results from a state stand- point. The twine plant has been expanded from year to year and during the past year the increase of output was more than 1,500,000 pounds. By authority of a law enacted by the last legisla- ture a farm fachinery plant has been undertaken at the prison as well and the development in this Cepartment has been exceptionally grat'fying. Grain Inspection. During the past two years there has been but few complaints, so far as I am advised, of discrimination in the state inspection of wheat. Certain millers of this and adjacent states about a year ago asked for a change in the grades, but both the railroad and warehouse commission and the grain Inspection board opposed such change and I concurred in their views. There is some discussion in this state favoring national grain inspec- tion; and, while many believe that national inspection is impracticable, the state should maintain its state in- spection at the highest possible stand- ard of efficiency. To this end I urge that all grain inspection work in this state, whether under the railroad and warehouse commission or under the direct appointment of the governor, be subjected to a civil service test. I would also recommend in the inter- est of efficlency an amendment to the present law by which the term of of- fice of members of the grain imspec- tion board be terminated one each year, the plan being that the boards at Minneapolis and Duluth shall al- ways have two old members. Governor Johnson then refers indi- vidually to the various state institu- tlons and public departments, includ- Ing the Soldiers’ home, the state bank- ing department, the department of public examiner, the state sanitorium for consumptives and the institutions caring for the state’s unfortunates. He recommends a state reformatory build- ’lnz for women prisoners. Regulation of Public Utilities. Minnesota is one of the states that gt Whooping Cough This remedy can always be depended upon and Is pleasant to take, It contains 30 opium or other harmful drug and may be given as confi- dently to a baby as to an adult, Price 25 cents, large size 50 cents, " For Salo at Barker’s Drug Stere have ot yet taken up the subjeot of state. regulation of public .utility cor- porations, -like street. and suburban electric raflways, telephone, telegraph, power end lighting companies. We have a railvay and warehouse com- mission for the supervision of rail- roads and elevators; but the time has come in the state’s development when the supervision of street and suburb: electric railways, and of telephone an telephone companies is likewise of prime importance, both in the interest of the general public, which regeives the service, the state and municipal- ity, which grants the franchises for the use of the public streets and high- ways, and the stockholders and other investors. T trust this legislature will glve this subject its early and earnest attention. 1 desire to renew the recommenda- tion made by me to the last legisla- ture in the matter of the enactment of a law covering what is generally known as the advisory initiative and referendum, which would permit the people of the state, county, city, vil- lage or town to express their views upon questions affecting their organi- zation. The enactment of a law pro- viding for the advisory initiative and referendum can be accomplished with- out constitutional amendment and I firmly belleve that such legislation 18 desirable. Primary Election Law. ‘While there are doubtless some minor defects In our present primary election lJaw and because of these de- fects the law in its operation is mot Just what the framers of it antioipated it might be, and because of these de- fects some modifications of the law as it stands now may be necessary. It is urged, and with much reason, that the law in its present form permits perjury, fraud, decéit and misrepre- sentation and a total disregard for the entire electoral system. Citizens called upon to declare their political affilia- tions feel that electlon judges tres- pass upon their constitutional rights. They feel also that no one has the right to deny to them the fullest and most complete participation in public affairs. Whatever criticism may have been made, Just or unjust, I am more than ever convinced of the correct- ness of the principle of the law under- lying the system and I feel this so strongly that I earnestly urge upon this body the necessity of making the necessary modifications in the law as applied to present conditions and I desire to go even further than that and say that in- my judgment better results would be obtained by extend- ing the primary election law so that it would include all of the elective officers of the state. If the law is a proper one as applied to the election of congressmen, district judges, coun- ty, city and state officers it certainly ‘would be a proper one as applied to the elective officers of the state. That there will be differences of opinion fn thic matter, as there have ever been, I am aware, but in the states where the primary election law has been ex- tended universally the most complete satisfaction obtains. Conclusion. Finally, gentlemen of the legisla- ture, we live in and owe allegiance to one of the greatest commonwealths in the American Union'and we approach our respective duties at:the period of the state’s highest:development and prosperity and therefore at the. period of the state’s greatest legislative and executive responsibility and oppor- tunity. Whatever may be our respec- tive personal and political afiliations and ideas our duties and our purposes, I am sure, are one; namely, the pro- tection and advancement of the high- est public interests of our common- wealth. ; Elected to our respective po- sitions by the same people and to serve the one common cause our mis- sion here is one and the same, to give'l the best :service there is in us to the state as a whole, as we have sworn | to-do under the guidance of our con- stitution. Whatever may- appear to be our respective obligations to par-i tles, classes and sections these obliga- tions are swallowed up and patriotic- ally and religiously redeemed in'the one duty of public service to the state || of Minnesota. There {8 surely no ob- ligation to party, class or section para- mount to our sworn obligation to the state as a whole, which includes all parties, classes and sectlons, When we have fulfilled our highest duty ‘to the whole we have met our obliga: tions to each part; and, therefore, in our great co-operative mission, legls- lative on your part ‘and executive on mine,: there should be, and I have faith to belleve there are, no differ- ences. or nllnremehu'ql party, olass || or section to:divert us from the great highway_of public duty—the moral, educational, financial and industrial development of our, commonwealth. To your every effort to bring ‘prog- ress and efficlency fo th;m& 0 CURE A COLD INONE DAY, Pt N Sl o % : E. W. GROVE'S siamatuse 1s on each box, 5 | and hearty oco-operation, JOHN A. JOHNSON. SHERIFF DRVES AUTO THADUGH ANGRY MOB Saves - Prisoner-From Lynchlhg at Ogallala;”Neb. Ogallala, Neb., Jan. 6.—Under heavy guard Lafayette Dale, charged - with brutally murdering Volley Mann on the ‘prairie east of here in' October last, reached here from Denver and was safely lodged in jail. Learning that a mob had formed here to lynch Dale, Sheriff Beal, with his prisoner, left the train at Brule, ten miles west, and started for this place in a swift automobile. During the trip Dale lay in the bottom of the machine, while the sheriff and several deputies sat with hands on their weapons. At the outskirts of the town & messenger met the sheriff and in- formed him that 2,000 people were waiting at the jail and that hot heads were urging summary punishment for his prisoner. As the sheriff’s party approached the mob Sheriff Beal or- dered the chauffeur to go through the crowd and, with horn tooting, the au- tamobile . proceeded, Sheriff Beal standing up in front with drawn re- volver. The jail was eventually reached and Dale securely locked up. The mob firally dispersed. BRITISH TROOPS INTERVENE Religious Riots in India Take a More Serious Turn. Calcutta, Jan. 6.—The religious riots between Mohammedans and Hin- dus have taken a more serious turn again, requiring the active interven- tion of British ‘troops at Titaghur, who fired upon the -Hindu mob. The Hindus had resumed the at- tacks of two previous days on the mosque at Titaghur because the Mo- hammedans had sacrificed cows. The Hindus desiroyed the sacred furniture in the mosque and partially demol ished the walls. Inflamed Mohamme- dans gathered to the defense of the mosque and were subsequently sur- rounded by a military cordon, which formed a barrier between the Moham- medans and the Hindu rioters, who assaulted the military in an endeavor to come to close quarters with the Mo- hammedans. . The troops fired upon the zealots; killing and wounding sev- eral of them. Beware of Ointments for Catarrh that Contain Mercury as‘mercury will uure% destroy the sense of smell and completely derange -the whole sys- tem' when entering it through the mucous surfaces, Such articles should never be used except on prescriptions from reputable phy- ten fold to sicians, as the damage: they do he good you can'possibly derive from them. Hall’s Catarrh Gure, ‘manufnct: by F, J. Cheney & Oo., Toledo, O..: contains no mer- cury, and is taken internally. acting directly upon the blood ‘and . mucous’ surfaces of the system, In buying Hall's Catarrh Cure be sure you get the genuine. It1s taken intern- ally and made in Toledo, O., by F. J. Cheney “Soia by Aregste: Beten Toe per botil y druggists. e 75¢ per bottle. Take Hall's Family Pills for constipation. Typewriter Ribbons Is alcohol a tonic? No! Dues it make the blood pure? No! Does it strengthen the nerves? \No! Is Ayer’s Sarsaparilla a tonic? Yes! Does it make the bloyd pure? Yes! Does it strengthen the nerves? Yes! kilg your doctor you can learn more y as| medicine. " Follow_his ice. LT msas, & ! With the growth of Bemidji good lots are becoming . scarcer and scarcer. We still have a number of good lots in the residence ‘part of town which will be sold on easy terms. For further particulars write or call Bemid}i Townsite and Im- provement Company. i H. A: SIMONS, Agent. Swedback Block, Bemidji. A Complete Line of 1909 DIARIES Suitable for any Purpose Forsale at The Pioneer Office The!Pioneer keéps on hand all the standard makes of Typewriter Ribbons, at the uniform price of 75 cents for ' all ribbons except the two- ‘and three-color ribbons and speéial makes. ay