Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1905 — SOME QUEER LAWS. [ARTICLE]

SOME QUEER LAWS.

MEASURES BEFORE VARIOUS STATE LEGISLATURES. / Foot Ball an Object of Attack in Several State Legislatures—The Whipping Post Popular for Wife Beaters— Tipping Made a Punishable Offense. Special correspondence: Football pleyers, wife beaters, divorcees, bachelors, college hazers, rac* followers, corn shredders, users of railway passes' and tippers of hotel and restaurant servants are made the object* of attack this year by legislators of various States. Statesmen of New England, the woolly West and Dixie are vying with each other in the originality of their proposals. Senator Lightner of South Dakota desires to put football on a par with pugilism as outlawry, and would make violations of the law misdemeanors, punishable by fines varying in amount from $lO to SIOO in the discretion of the court. Coaches and professors are made particeps criminis with the player. One section of the bill reads as follows;“Any player in any football game in South Dakota, whether playing for practice or in a match game, who shall injure another player, either intentionally or by accident, shall instantly be suspended from playing that game, and shall not again play football for the period of ten days from the date of inflicting such injury upon another player, and any player who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not exceeding SIOO nor less than $lO and the costs of the proceedings.” In the Nebraska 1 Legislature Representative Cunningham of Hamilton county offered a bill which proposes to make the playing of football a felony on the second offense, and punishable by a fine ranging from SSO to SIOO for the first offense or imprisonment in the county jail from 30 to 90 days. The bill includes the actual players and those who aid or abet them in the game, by which is meant the umpire and referee and linesmen. It is made mandatory on sheriffs, constables and other officers of the peace to file complaints against persons participating in the game.

The Wife-Beaters. President Roosevelt’s pronouncement on the question of wife beat : «g is bearing fruit here and there. Representative Wing of Michigan offers a bill making it obligatory on the sheriffs of the counties fb wield the caTamrimediiils on the bare backs of wife beaters when they shall have been convicted of a second offense. Two days later conservative, ethical, cultured Boston made a bid for fame when Senator E. B. Callender of that city introduced a bill in the upper House making wife beaters amenable to the lash. In addition to the clause permitting the use of the lash the bill reads that “any male person who beats, bruises or mutilates his wife or other female, unless by accident or in self-defense, shall be fined $10.” There is considerable sentiment anibYig the members in favor of the proposed law. College hazel's, through the Kingdon Gould and other flagrant eases, brought themsoives into -disfavor of lawmakers, and punitive measures enacted by the Legislatures of the States are declared to be the only means of putting a stop to practices which endanger or cause loss of life or make men cripples or unsightly creatures the rest of their days. Representative Wing of Michigan has sent in a bill providing for a fine in harmless hazing cases and making the punishment equal to that for mayhem when bodily injury results to the person hazed.

Hazing Made a Crime. In the Pennsylvania Legislature is a bill making hazing a crime punishable by imprisonment of six months ami a fine of SSOO. It is significant that the antihazing sentiment is not confined to the legislators who hail from the rural districts. Neither bill may become laW, but they will not be scoffed out of court. Wisconsin has a grudge against the corn shredder because of the great number of fingers, arms and legs it lias lopped off iii the last year or two. Representative I.yon. who is leading the antishredder forces, has gathered statistics showing’that 320 men were badly maimed last season in Wisconsin alone, and that two nfen lost their lives while operating shredders. His bill requires great safeguards for users of these machines. Missouri, always to be reckoned with when novelties of statesmanship are in order, may become famous for the beginning of the end of “tipping." Dr. Alonzo Tubbs of Gasconade county has introduced in the House a bill which makes it a misdemeanor "punishable by a fine of not more than SSOO to 'tip' a waiter, chef or steward at any hotel, case or restaurant.” In each ease the employer of the man "tipped” must pay the fine, and he must also tack tip in Ilia place of business the notice: “No Tipping Allowed.”