Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1907 — BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF NEW SUITE LAWS [ARTICLE]

BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF NEW SUITE LAWS

Examination of the Acts Just Issued Proves the Usefulness of Late Legislature. PEOPLE’S INTERESTS SERVED It Is Shown That Republicans Had Public Weal at Heart. . 7* — • . fSpecial Correspondence.] Indianapolis, Ind., April 17. —A “blrds-eye view” of the contents of the 800 pages containing the acts of the Sixty-fifth general assembly has a tendency to create the Impression that there are at least two or three score of good new laws about which the general public knows little, for the reason that they slipped through easily without being “played up” by the newspapers. So much attention was devoted to discussion of “platform measures” that many others of almost equal importance to the people were unobserved. -Even a “birds-eye view” of these is convincing that the record of the recent session of the legislature is one to which the Republicans may well point with pride. The scope covered is so broad as to be a source of surprise. Careful perusal of the acts shows that there are more short, concise laws than were ever before enacted in a single session of tbe Indiana legislature. The members, in many instances, seem to have aimed at- brevity and clearness, and there is much less useless verbiage than has been the rule. The very language of the acts indicates with what care and conscientiousness practically all of them were prepared. This statement may seem surprising in view of some of the highly discolored stories that were scattered throughout the state every day of the session, misrepresenting what was being done. Practically all of the 294 new acts that were signed by the governor are now in full force. A brief review of them is difficult owing to the variety of subjects involved and their immense importance to the people. A summary, therefore, hits only the high places and is but a l.mlted index to the great work that was accomplished here during the first two months and and a half of this year. It shows that laws were enacted on the following subjects, which thousands and thousands of people did not know had been touched: A law providing that officers of a bank shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement and subject to imprisonment for from two to fourteen years if they accept deposits after they know the bank is insolvent. They shall also be fined twice the amount the depositor loses. They shall be guilty of embezzlement if the bank fails thirty days after the deposit is accepted. A law forcing railroads to employ crews of six men on trains of over fifty cars and five men on all other trains —known as the “full train crew act” —the first of the kind in the United States for the relief of trainmen.

! A law forbidding railroads to organize voluntary relief associations by which their employes must waive claim to damages for personal injuries. A law providing for a bond issue for a great livestock pavilion for the state fair grounds, enabling Indiana to take rank with other states like lowa and Illinois in state fair exhibits. A law to rid the farmers of the aggravating Canada thistle by providing penalties for those who refuse to destroy them. Two stringent laws against cruelty to animals and providing heavy penalties against persons who beat or torture animals A law making kidnapping for ransom punishable by life imprisonment. A juvenile court law providing heavy penalties for contributing to the delinquency of children and for neglecting dependent or neglected children. A maximum fine of SSOO may be Imposed for violation of this statute. A law Imposing severe penalties for wife and child desertion. The punishment may be imprisonment for from one to three years and a fine of not more than SIOO. A law making it a felony for a tenant to dispose of farm products on which there Is a chattel mortgage or landlord’s lien without notifying the buyer. The punishment may be Imprisonment for from one to three years with a fine of SIOO. A law authorizing the secretary of state to demand once a year that each corporation that has filed articles in Indiana shall report as to the nature of its business; its capital stock and where it is operating. A law punishing a man who commits rape on a girl over twelve, with’ Imprisonment from two to twenty-one years and nnder twelve, by life imprisonment. A law fixing the punishment for petit larceny at imprisonment from one to eight years. A law permitting farmers to organize mutual cyclone and accident Insurance companies. A law prohibiting Sunday barberlag. A law permitting county commission-

era to assist Ini building homes for orphans. A law authorizing the clerk of (he supreme court to distribute fees to sheriffs and others entitled to them in making appeals. (Under this law one clerk has already paid back to the state over $6,000. Suit is to be~ brought against four others for a sum aggregating $12,000.) A law making the Insurance agent the agent of the company and not the person taking the policy. A law forbidding anyone to sell or trade a diseased horse. A law imposing heavy penalties on “men and boys who take young girls into wineroomsA law providing imprisonment for six months for the tenant who takes illegally any products from the farms. A law appropriating $200,000 for the binder twine plant at the state prison, Michigan City. * A law relieving the governor of ser-vice-on the state tax board and permitting him to appoint a member to take his place. The members will give their entire time to the board. A law reorganizing the state institutional hoards and making them strictly bi-partisan. Several laws to accomplish great reforms In the public school system and one to increase the Salary of teachers and to raise the qualifications for teachers. A 60-cent gas law for Indianapolis that will be of immense benefit to the masses here. A pure food law similar to the one enacted last winter by congress. A law providing for imprisonment for from one to seven years for child desertion. A law providing for appropriations by the county for benefit of farmers’ institutes. j A law compelling railroads to use I safety appliances on their cars and t engines to protect their employes, j A law against bribing railroad em- ! ployes to favor certain shippers by j giving them tips. A law compelling coal operators to provide bath-houses Jpr miners and to widen the mine entrances for the safety of their employes; also a law regulating the use of explosives about the mines and providing for a better system of mine Inspection by the state. A law compelling railroads to haul 150 pounds of baggage free on each first-class ticket. A law appropriating $30,000 to establish a state hospital to treat consumptives. A law limiting the work of trainmen to sixteen consecutive hours and giving them eight hours off between days. A law forbidding anyone to distribute samples of patent medicine from house to house; providing a penalty of SSO for throwing rubbish into the public roads; strengthening the old statutes governing the collection of health and vital statistics; making the i penalty for house burglary Imprison- ! ment ten to twenty years for the first offense and from twenty to thirty, years for the second; forbidding insurance companies in this state to contribute to campaign funds; proI viding for the free distribution of anti--1 toxin in treatment of diphtheria; com- | pelling insurance companies to keep vouchers showing how the money belonging to the policy holders is expended; creating the office of state entomologist; compelling counties to keep in repair rural free delivery highways; giving the state geologist authority to compel persons to furnish Information for. his reports in exploiting the state’s resources; authorizing the auditor of state to appoint four state bank examiners; providing for an appropriation of SSO to defray the expenses of the burial of soldiers whose families are iu financial distress; compelling railroads to establish a block signal system and to make stringent rules for the guidance of their employes; providing that foodstuff for . cattle and horses must be submitted to the state chemist before it is placed on the market; providing for the sterilization of habitual criminals, imbeciles and idiots; forbidding the sale of poisons without prescriptions; regulating the size of tires and the weight of loads to be hauled over public highways; authorizing judges to parole prisoners on first conviction of crimes except where conviction is for murder, arson, hurglary or rape; providing for the United States flag for schoolhouses; forbidding the organization of high-school fraternities; compelling railroads to pay SI,OOO license for selling liquor in their dining cars; providing for the prompt destruction of gambling devices taken in raids, and a law repealing the “ditch law” of 1905. The foregoing “birds-eye view” shows what a range of subjects were covered, but it does not convey an adequate idea of the immensity of the work accomplished during the sixty day! the legislature was in session. The list given here does not Include the public depositories, primary election, two-cent fare and shippers* railroad acts that were enacted and which are said to be in advance of anything in the country on the same subjects. In fact. It is believed that when the masses get a real Inßight into what was done during the session they will put the legislature down as one of the best in the history of the state. A feature of the situation that is especially-pleasing to the Republicans is that the secretary of state’s office broke all records for the time required in publishing the acts. Within less than thirty days after the session closed the acts were in print and promulgated and the masses were thereby permitted to enjoy two-cent railroad fares and many other reforms that were pledged and enacted by the ■representatives of the Republican party.