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I ' it " f 1 I Vol. 6; No. S9 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, DEC. 15, 1906. Price 5 Cents A I IU Legislative Matters Last week wo mado a few remarks on probable and possible legislation by the coming legislature. Every leg islature that we know any thing about, ( anil wo have had a more or less Inti mate acquaintance with a good many stato and other legislative bodies, has undertaken too much and done too much, a fact which doubtless has pro- j voiced the oft-repeated expression that the less the stato legislature does the better it is for . the. people. There aro subjects, however, upon which legislation Is J needed. Maybe a score of bills would cover the Held, but it Is certain that 1 several hundred bills will bo Intro f ' 1 duced during the session of sixty days, ' all of which must receive more or less I ; attention and will tako up valuable f i time. Tho members of the legislature V would do well to singlo out quickly r tho meritorious bills and quickly con- V 8'sn tho others to tho junk pile. f j I Ono measure which should receive i attention Is tho proposition to create a stato Insurance department. Tho number of "snldo" insurance compa j, nles doing business in this country Is $ surprising and a goodly number of them Invade Utah. There aro rotten llfo Insurance companies, rotten acci- -, dent and health insurance companies, rotten plato glass insurance compa nies, rotten sick benefit insuranco com panies and rotten Insurance companies of various other kinds doing i business in this slate', col- lectlng premiums without af- : ' fording any real protection. They get Into business hero very easily. They havo to file with the secretary of stato a sworn statement of tholr assets, Ha- ' bllltles and so forth annually. Thoso statements are perfunctory things and perjury, according to latter-day de ' velopments, is not considered a very heinous crime. It is also, ono of tho crimes most difficult on which to ob tain a conviction. Tho secretary of stato is not an expert Insuranco man. Ho is not expected to bo such. Ho j iy takes the affidavits presented him for ' gospel truth, flies them away and tho companies go on doing business, col- " lectlng premiums for alleged insuranco which in caso of loss would bo and fre quently is discovered to bo no protec tion whatevor. In every stato in tho union of states but this thcro is an insuranco department presided over by an expert insuranco man, who knows tho standing and merits or de merits of every company In tho coun try. It Is his duty to shut out tho "snldo" concerns and protect the pub lic from imposition of that kind. A department of Insuranco could bo effi ciently maintained hero at a very small cost. With some competent, honest man at its head It would be a most valuable adjunct to tho state government. Representative D. R. Roberts, the good roads champion, will probably be to the front again this session with measures for improving tho roads and furnishing money for that purpose. Goodness knows the roads In Utah aro pretty bad. In most countries thoy wouldn't be designated as roads at all. In summer tlmo thoy aro almost Im passible and in fall, winter and spring 'hoy aro unthinkable. How tho farm ers get their produce to market Is a mystery. Good roads aro Indispensable to tho prosperity of any community. This matter should recelvo tho earn est attention of tho lcglslalmo without refeienco to politics. Wesley K. Walton will probably bo chosen for president of tho senato. He has In the past demonstrated that ho Is a capable presiding officer. Ho halls from tho north country and as Salt Lake county had tho honor two years ago it Is fitting that some other county should get It now. J For speaker of tho houso Harry S. Joseph Is tho favorite. There aro other aspirants but Harry has tlu lead. Ho deserves the honor too. Ho did moro to win tho election tor the republicans than most of thorn and ho has. tho experience gained as a mem ber of previous legislatures. Major Myton is talkca or a good deal for sorgeant-at-arms for tho sen ato. Our Idea is that tho position would bo moro honored by his accept ing it than ho would bo in taking it. Tho major Is a good working republi can nnd did good service In tho lato campaign. If ho cares for tho placo ho ought to havo It. Drigham Clegg will likely bo chosen as chairman of tho judiciary commit tee of tho houso. Ho Is an ablo young lawyer, a hard worker and willing to devote tho time and attention neces sary to that important position. yj PAUSE IN THE RUSSIAN REVOLU TION. History condones assassination only when the sacrifice of a tyrant's llfo saves tho lives of his subjects. When the slaughter of those In authority merely results In moro savago and bloody repression, as In Russia, 3ays tho Literary Digest, It is regarded only as a wretched exhibi tion of weak and unorganized despair. Such is tho view of tho present sit uation In Russia taken by a writer in Tho Contemporary Review (London). "The iron Is hot," ho says, "but no ono strikes it." The bomb-throwing In tho Premier's houso was tho last attempt. Tho peoplo seem spiritless and disap pointed, ho continues. Tho Douma has really done nothing Tor tho coun try; tho rovolutionaiies havo been playing a game liko madmen playing chess and making random moves with out regard to tho l tiles or tho winning and losing of a game; tho middle class aro tired of tho revolution, and thoro Is a general longing for peaco and quietness even under autocrocy. Speaking of tho bad elements In tho llhoratlon movement this writer ob serves: "Th open alllauco between self-sacrificing revolutionists and sordid scoundrels emerging from tho lower most depths has Injured tho cause of tho liberation movement. Tho men tal and moral effort Involved In tho search among sickening crimes for tho simulacrum of noblo achievements can cot bo put forth dally and hourly with out producing a reaction, signs of which are nlready being noticed. Tho peoplo aro downcast and wearied. Tho forco of tho revolutionary wavo ap pears to havo temporarily spent itsell, and It now depends upon tho govern ment to dotermlno how long tho pause shall contlnuo and what now stato It shall ushor In. Tho party of tho Ca dets, or Constitutional Democrats, has IJ forfeited much of Its prestige." pj Tho appeal Issued by tho Douma In- IJ citing tho peoplo to robel against tho BJ govonrment has not produced much ilj effect. Tho Cadets havo lost their in- S fluonco, says tho writer, and continues IJ as follows: jpj "Tho appeal of tho Douma to tho H peoplo to robel against tho govern- H ment is still secretly printed and 11- H legally distributed, but it is not gen- H orally acted upon. Ono consoquenco jfj of that vain appeal Is that tho party iH which Issued it is no longer treated as tflj constitutional by tho government. On Hint ground tho authorities havo re- H fused to authorize a general congress of tho party. But the masses aro sul- H Ten and Inactive. For the Cadets or H any other parliamentary party thoy IH will not movo a finger. They aro dls- VJ lllusioncd and wrathful, having re- )H ceived from tho Douma naught but . words which wore never translated M into nets, and many of which nevor PJ would or could bo." H Tho Cadets, or Constitutional Dora- H ocrats, aro themselves becoming dls- H cottraged, and seo no way out of tho 9J present unsettled condition of affairs. M Air. Miliukoff, a prominent member H of this party, is quoted in confirmation of this statement. Thus: BJ "A recognized spokesman of tho H Cadets, Mr. Miliukoff, who has public- H ly, drawn attention to tho political H cunents of today and given a sum- H mary sketch of tho national mood of H tlo moment, confirms this account. H Tho community,' ho declares 'is tired H out by tho three years' strugglo; It H yearns for ropose. Moreover, a con- sidcrable section of tho population H ls frlghtoncd by tho courso of rovolu- JJ tlonary ovents. Tho absenco of a H sense of security has become general. H Tho most peaceful citizens aro forced H tq turn their minds to self-defense, H and "bourgeois fear" has got tho dov H tor oven of civic virtues.' Ho goes H on to say that these peaceful citizens nro ' atisflcd with tho liberties already H won. They consider that tho press H has too much rather than too littlo H liberty, and generally that llcenso has H usurped tho placo of freedom. And Al closo observers who havo journoyod IJ through tho country slnco tho dlsso- lutlon of tho Douma aro now narrat- Ing events of dally occurrence which JIJ fully bear out the despondent vlow IH taken by Mr. Miliukoff." H Globe -Wernicke Sectional Bookcases I Puild up in layers, and make beautiful Xmas Presents THE;BREEDEN OFFICE SUPPLY CO,, Display at 60 West Second South Street I J , - .. .. . I