Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 112, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 May 1916 — HOW INDIANA IS GOVERNED [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW INDIANA IS GOVERNED

Constitution Adopted in 1851 Is Still the Basic Law of the State—lmportant Work Done by Various Bureaus and Boards—Jonathan Jennings the , First Governor. MILLIONS FOR STATE INSTITUTIONS

By ELLIS SEARLES

One hundred years of state government that is what Indiana has reached this year. It has been one hundred years of government wholly in the hands of the people, and they are responsible only to themselves for the kind of government they give to themselves. The result is that the people of Indiana have created a government with protecting arms that reach out in all directions to shield the state and the public from .danger and harm, and which also has long and strong arms for the punishment of those who transgress the written and moral laws. Indiana became a state in 1816, and Jonathan Jennings of Wayne county

township, city, and town officers. The state board of agriculture has charge of the state fair and general supervision of agricultural exhibitions. There is a state board of dental examiners who pass on applicants for licenses to practice dentistry. There are similar boards for examination of physicians, druggists, veterinarians, undertakers, nurses and optometrists. Work of State Boards. ■ The state board of education has control of the educational system of the state. A board of pardons makes recommendations to the governor in regard to applications for pardons and paroles. The board of charities has general supervision of all penal, benevolent and charitable institutions. There is a state board of tax commissioners that fixes the appraisement of all property in the state for taxation purposes. One of the newest of the more important commissions is the public service commission, which has jurisdiction for the regulation of all public utilities within the state, including railroads, water, gas, electric and other similar companies. The public service commission is vested with rate-making power. The Indiana industrial board is another of the new and important state boards. It has full jurisdiction for the enforcement of the workmen’s compensatfbn law, under which injured employees are compensated for their injuries and for time lost thereby. The first county asylum was established in 1821 in Knox county. The first state institution was the State School for the Deaf, Indianapolis, founded in 1844. Next came the State School for the Blind, Indianapolis, 1847; then the Central Hospital for Insane, Indianapolis, 1848; Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ home, Knightstown, 1867; School for Feeble-Minded Youths, Fort Wayne, 1879; Northern Hospital for Insane, Logansport, 1888; the Eastern and Southern Hospitals for the Insane, Richmond and Evansville, respectively, 1890; the State Soldiers’ home, Lafayette, 1896; the Village for Epileptics, Newcastle, 1907; the Southeastern Hospital for the Insane, Madison, 1910; the Hospital for the Treatment of Tuberculosis, Rockville, 1971,—-- • - In the early days, the guardhouses of forts were used as places of deten-

the first governor. Samuel M. Ralston Is the present governor. The first state constitution was adopted in 1816. This constitution was replaced by a new one adopted in 1851, which is still the basic law of the state. Corydon was the first capital of the state of Indiana. The capital was moved to Indianapolis in 1825. The constitution divides the state government into three co-ordinate bran ch es, th e ex ea 11 i ver the Tegi sla-‘ tive and the judicial. file three branches are independent of each other and one cannot interfere with either of the others. The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch administers the laws and the judicial branch interprets and enforces the laws. The constitution of 1816 and the one of 1851 created two houses of the general assembly, one the state senate and the other the house of representatives. Senators are elected for four years and representatives for two years. The general assembly meets every two years for sixty-one days. All measures for the raising of revenue and all taxation measures can originate only in the house. There are fifty senators and one hundred representatives. The Executive Branch. The governor is the head of the executive department of the state. The governor has the power to veto measures passed by the general assembly, but vetoed measures may be passed over his head. The governor makes all appointments of officials who are not elective, and of all members of public boards and commissions. He is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. Four years is the length of the governor’s tenfi, and no governor can serve more than one term in succession. His salary is SB,OOO a year. The lieutenant governor is president of the senate and becomes governor •when there is a vacancy in that office. Other elective state officials in Indiana are as follows: Secretary of state, treasurer of ctate, attorney general, auditor of state, state superintendent of public Instruction, state geologist, state statistician, clerk of the supreme court and reporter of the supreme court. The judicial system of Indiana begins with the justice of the peace. Next in order of their Importance and jurisdiction come juvenile, probate, superior and circuit courts, the appellate court and the supreme court, the latter being the court of last resort. In addition, each city has a city court, presided over either by the mayor or by an elected city judge. The supreme court consists of five judges and the appellate court has six judges, all elected from various judicial districts of the state. Bureaus in the state government are as follows: Free employment bureau, fish and game bureau, for the -protection of fish and game; bureau of oil Inspection; bureau of inspection, for buildings and factories, boilers, mines and mining; state entomologist; state library; bureau of legislative informafion; state fife marshal? for investigation of fires and prosecution of incendiaries. The state board of accounts examines the books and accounts of every state office, Institution and department, including courts add all county,

tion. In 1793 the territorial legislature directed the establishment of jails, pillories, stoekaand whipping posts, all to be under the charge of the sheriffs in the different counties The jails remain, but all of the other forms of punishment have disappeared. The first state prison was established at Jeffersonville in 1821; the one at Michigan City in 1860. In 1868, the House of Refuge, now the Indiana Boys’ school, was opened at Plain-

field; in 1873, the Indiana Reform tory Institution for Women and Girl , at last-named institution was divide 1 in 1907. The girls were removed t( the Indiana Girls’ school, at Clermont, and the old Institution was called the Woman’s prison. The Woman’s prison and the Girls’ school a.re managed by boards composed entirely of women. Care of Public Change*. Millions of dollars are spent annually in the support and maintenance of all of these institutions. In the last few years Indiana has taken many advanced steps in laws for the proper care of Its dependents and the inmates of its public institutions. Some of its laws on this subject are regarded as models. The latest and newest of the public institutions fs the state penal farm, which was opened only about a year ago, near Greencastle. Short term prisoners are sent to this farm, in the discretion of the trial judge, instead of to county jails. The state board of health is charged by law with the enforcement of the health laws of the state. It has charge of public health, hygiene and sanitation. In connection with the health department is the pure food department, under the direction of a

state food and drug commissioner. R is the business of this department to protect the public against spurious adulterated and harmful food stuffs. The department has wide powers in that direction and has done wonderful good. Most of the primitive forests of Indiana have disappeared, due to the necessities of the people, the requirements of commerce and industry and largely due, also, to wastefulness on the part of the people. The state of Indiana has a state forestry board whose duty is to educate the people in the value of forestry and to adopt means to encourage the reforestation of the state. The state forestry board has a forestry reservation of several hundred acres in Scott county, on which experimentation is carried on for the education of the public. The state maintains three large educational institutions, Indiana univer■sTty? at Bloomington sity, a’t Lafayette, and the State Normal, at Terre Haute. Tuition in all of these institutions is free to residents of Indiana. Applicants for admission are required to pass an entrance examination or establish their qualification for the work they do, and the doors are open to all, up to the limit of their capacity. Indiana university has an extensive medical school, a law school, a dental school and other special courses, in addition to regular college courses. Purdue is a technical and vocational school with special attention to agriculture, live stock, engineering and the manual trades for boys, and domestic science and home economics for girls. The State Normal trains teachers for the schools of the state. Plans for Centennial. As the year of Indiana’s one hundredth birthday approached there arose a demand among the people of Indiana for a celebration or observance of the event. The legislature of 1911 created a commission to outline a plan. This commission was succeeded in 1913 by a commission created by the legislature to carry a plan into effect in 1916. This commission consists of Gov. Samuel M. Ralston; Prof. James A. Woodburn, Indiana university, Bloomington; Dr. Frank B. Wynn, Indianapolis: Lew M.’O’Bannon, Corydon: Rev. John Cavanaugh, president university, South Bend; Miss Charity Dye, Indianapolis; Charles W. Moores, Indianapolis; Prof. Harlow Lindley, Earlham college. Richmond. This commission has encouraged the people throughout the state to celebrate the centennial of the state. The following is a list of the celebrations thus far scheduled in the state:. ' ~

COUNTY. ■ TOWN. DATE. A11en.......... ~,.Fort Wayne •■■■■;■ June 6,7, 8, 9 Bartholomew Columbus July 24 Boone Lebanon ... .September 14, Carrbll Delphi 26, 27, 28 Clark Jeffersonville.. August Decatur.".... Greensburg October 18 to 21 Dubois.; ... Huntingburg.... Fayette. Connersville ».....July 3, 4. 5 Floyd New Albany September 14 Franklin : Brookville j ..June 1,2, 3, 4 Harrison Corydon May 13 Howard Kokomo September 4 to 10 Huntington Huntington May 2 to 6 Take Garv ... June 4 to 9 Miam7777.777.777.77'77.7.77\7ier 1 k'..7.7.\7.777.7.7.7.777.”7.'.... A,i Ku5t 14 to 19 Montgomery Crawfordsville Jun° 11. 1-, 13 Parke... .Rockville August 12, 13 Perry. ; . ■ Cannelton .September Porter...... Valparaiso..... September 28, 29, 30 Posey... Mt. Vernon. October 16 St. Joseph... South Eend...; ......June 11 to 18 Tippecanoe • ■ ■ sLfiS-i.vette . May 21 to 26 Union .......: Überty .....>. June 8 Wayne Richmond.. . June 19 to 24 White Monticello .......October 5,6, 7

Jonathan Jennings, First Governor.

Samuel M. Ralston, Present Governor.

Indiana State Seal.