USA > Wisconsin > The Wisconsin blue book 1919 > Part 27
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277
DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT
ordination of improvements, resulting in continuous construction on the main lines of travel.
In determining the location of Federal Aid improvements on the State Trunk Highway System, the State Highway Commission has selected for construction those portions of the system which urgently require im- provement, but whose improvement is difficult to obtain through local sources. Each Federal Aid improvement carried out will result in the reconstruction of some notoriously bad spot on the state trunk high- way system. Likewise the county boards in placing improvements un- der the state highway law have been able to select improvements which were difficult or impossible to secure as long as the towns and villages determined the location, and thus place the work so as to be most ad- vantageous to the general public.
It is manifestly impossible within the limits of this article to deal with the details of the numerous betterments which have been effected in our state highway work. There are, however, two features which are of such unique interest and unusual importance that they deserve mention. These are the marking system and the patrol system of maintenance installed on the State Trunk Highway System.
One of the greatest difficulties heretofore connected with travel has been that there was no proper system of marking by which the traveler could select his route without fear of mistake. There is a statute in effect in this state which requires town boards to place guide boards at all highway intersections; penalties are provided for failure to com- ply with the law, which it is made the duty of the district attorney to enforce. In spite of all this, proper guide boards are rare, and no district attorney has had the hardihood to attempt to enforce this law. Attempts to mark the main highways have been made by various trail organizations, which have decorated the telephone poles along the high- ways with various and sundry colored designs. These have not in gen- eral been well maintained, nor have they been designed comprehensively to serve the needs of the general public.
The legislature recognized the need for a system of marking, which would be a truly effective guide for the traveling public. The question had long been considered by the State Highway Commission's engineers who, after a study of the various systems in use in other states, de- cided that a number system, an idea original with them, would be the most readily understandable. The idea was enacted in the law in the following language:
"The State Highway Commission shall cause the various lines of highways compris- ing such system, including the connecting streets in cities and villages, to be distinctly marked with some standard design placed on convenient objects along such routes. Said design shall be uniform on all parts of the trunk system except that numbers shall occur therein corresponding with the numbers given the various routes by the commission, which numbers shall coincide with the numbers placed on the official map or maps issued by said commission."
The standard design selected was placed on all the State Trunk High- ways during the week of June 17th, 1918, the work being started in every county on Monday morning and finished the same week. The sudden appearance of the marking all over the state was dramatic and caused much comment. The map which is the key to the marking is accompanied by a sixteen page booklet compiled by A. R. Hirst, State Highway Engineer, which contains a great deal of interesting informa- tion about the state's history, scenery and resources. The whole, en- closed in a neat cover, may be had from the Superintendent of Public Property, Madison, Wisconsin, postpaid. for ten cents.
In addition to the placing of the standard design on telephone poles there are, at all highway intersections, direction signs which give di- rections and distances to all important places, not only those lying on the State Trunk Highway system, but places off the system as well.
278
WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK.
There are mile markers numbered in substantially the same manner as railway mile posts, which enable any traveler to describe the location of any point on the Trunk Highway definitely, and thus report it to 1 the official in charge. At intersections with each county lines there are signs giving the names and addresses of the county highway com- missioners who are responsible for each county, and at each patrol sec- tion boundary signs, giving the names and addresses of the patrolmen.
At the time of the selection of the state trunk highway system the State Highway Commission fully realized the bad condition of a large portion of the highways on the system and the criticism that might result through directing the traveling public to these roads. But they had also considered the methods of remedying this condition long before the means became available. The experience of other states had been studied and it was found that the best results had been secured in those states where a systematic patrol system of maintenance was in operation. Such a system was therefore installed on the State Trunk Highways as soon as the statute became effective.
Under this system the State Trunk Highway system is divided into patrol sections, averaging approximately ten miles in length. Each is in charge of a patrolman equipped with a team and wagon, a light road grader, a road planer and other tools necessary for road work, whose sole duty it is to care for the section on which he is placed. It is his duty to work at all times when necessary for the betterment of the highway; to inspect the road immediately after storms in order to detect and remedy resulting damage to the road, to drag the roads at the proper time, to remove weeds and brush, in short to do whatever may be deemed necessary to maintain his section in a comfortably passable condition, and improve it where possible.
In addition to the work done by the patrolmen all counties have done maintenance work by means of gangs. While the patrolmen are very effective in upkeep work, after the road is once improved, there are many sections of road in such condition that it is impracticable for one man to accomplish results, and here a maintenance gang is necessary to put the road in such condition that the patrolman can maintain it. These maintenance gangs are generally. equipped with heavy graders and powerful tractors by which long sections of road are graded at very moderate costs. There is no other road work, reloca- tions excepted, which gives as great benefits for the money expended, and it is therefore the intention to do much more of this work in the future than has been done in the past.
The patrolmen were selected mostly in March, 1918. Though the time provided by law for beginning maintenance work was May 1, many counties began maintenance operations early in April. The result was that the roads early in the spring were never in as good condition. The great improvement noticeable so early in the season increased throughout the summer and the roads went into the winter dragged smooth, for the first time in their history.
The State Highway Commission, though pleased, is by no means satis- fied with the results that have been secured with the maintenance work thus far. Nevertheless, when the difficult conditions under which it operated in 1918, scarcity of labor and material, are considered, the results are very creditable, considered as a whole. With the return of normal or near normal conditions, it is believed that there will be abundant facilities for construction on a large scale, which will put the roads of the state in a condition to serve adequately the needs of the state.
Wisconsin has been known for a long time as "The Playground of the Middle West." Lying as she does, particulary accessible to densely populated sections less favored by nature, the peculiarly attractive scenery of the state has always carried an appeal to strangers, but the
DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT
279
bad roads have prevented many from making tours they much desired to make, and likewise prevented the state from realizing to the full its advantages as a tourist region. The commission does not promise the immediate road millenium but feels sure that the improvement made in 1918 is a guarantee that in the near future all portions of the state will be readily accessible over excellent highways. No more than two days of easy and comfortable driving should be required for any citizen of the state to reach even its most distant lake.
INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION.
By E. E. Witte, Secretary.
The work with which the Industrial Commission is charged by law is indicated graphically in the accompanying diagram of its activities.
INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF WISCONSIN - ACTIVITIES
1636 01-109
SECTION 2394-52 (12)
SECTION 2394-52 (s)
16.32
.
LIGHTING
PREVENTION
ACCIDENT
FIRE PROTECTION
CIGAR FACTORIES
BOILER INSPECTION
ELEVATOR INSPECTION
THEATERS & HALLS
SCHOOLS
HOTELS & TENEMENTS SAFETY BUILDING WORKMEN
ARCHITECTS REGISTRATIONIS
2394-52(SAS)|3
1636
TI-77
HOME WORK
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION-
WORKMEN'S
COMPENSATION
CONTESTED CASES (5% OF ALL CASES)
SECTIONS 2394-1 TO 2394-31
2140 8221 411.13
INDENTURING
HOURS AND WAGES
SUPERVISION OF SHOP WORK
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES
(MANAGEMENT OF)
(REGULATION OF)
CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT (INVESTIGATION OF )
HANDICAPPED PEOPLE
LIQUOR STATISTICS
MATTRESSES
PRISON MADE GOODS
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASESTO HEALTH
ENFORCE LAWY ON REPORTING
MEDIATION & ARBITRATION
BOARD
REPRESENTATION ON INSURANCE COMPENSATION
62-126101 1-1261
2394-52(9) 2394. 94
2394.62
12394-St
(9. 9a. 11)
2394-57
1021 m.
1415.5.4
1022-53 2394-52
m (3)
4960 b.
BUILDING
FIRE PREVENTION
CORN SHREDDERS, ETC.
1129
HOURS OF LABOR
MINIMUM · WAGE
WOMEN & CHILD
STATISTICS
17284 TO1728 c.
CHILD LABOR PERMITS STREET TRADE PERMITS
APPRENTICESHIP
EMPLOYMENT
MISCELLANEOUS
INSURANCE REPORTS
SECTION 2377
SCHOOLING
PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES
LABOR
SAFETY
SANITATION
172 8
SANITATION
FACTORY INSPECTION
CODE
8221
SAFETY, SANITATION & WELFARE
ADMINISTRATION AND REPORTS (95 % OF ALL CASES)
CHILD EMPLOYMENT
TRUANCY REPRESENTATIVE ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION BOARD
ENFORCE LAW ON ·BRANDING
ENFORCE LAW ON BRANDING
VENTILATION
SECTIONS 2394 -41 TO 2394 - 71
280
WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK.
The principal duties of the Industrial Commission are seen to be the following: safety and sanitation, workmen's compensation, employ- ment, woman and child labor, apprenticeship, mediation and arbitration.
The Commission's work in the field of safety and sanitation is the prevention of industrial accidents and diseases. It is charged with seeing to it that every place of employment in the state "shall be safe for employees therein and for frequenters thereof." It is further specifically charged with the inspection of boilers, elevators and corn shredders; with rendering safe and sanitary all public and quasi-public buildings, and with preventing fires due to inflammable conditions or to the defective construction or maintenance of buildings. The importance of this work is shown by the fact that about 20,000 accidents which cause disability of more than seven days occur in Wisconsin each year. These accidents represent an economic loss to the state in excess of $10,000,000 per year.
To take care of the great number of injured workmen and their dependents, Wisconsin has enacted a workmen's compensation law, whose administration is also vested in the Industrial Commission. The extent of this work is indicated in the table given below which gives the cases reported, cases settled, and benefits paid under the Com- pensation Act, since its adoption in 1911.
STATISTICS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION
Benefits
Cases re- ported
Cases settled
All benefits
Indemnity
Medical · aid
Aver- age per case, all benefits
Total-Sept. 1, 1911 to
Oct. 31, 1918.
89,140
75,440
$7,562,527
$5,624,763
$1,937,764
$100
Sept. 1, 1911, to June 30, 1912 ..
1,332
846
$60,350
$42,400
$17,950
$71
July 1, 1912, to June 30, 1913 ..
3,698
2,841
253,300
173,900
79,400
89
July 1, 1913, to June 30, 1914 ..
10,127
8,496
851,200
581,200
270,000
100
July 1, 1914, to June 30, 1915 ..
11,006
11,377
1,254,654
945,045
309,609
110
July 1, 1915, to June 30, 1916 ..
16,015
12,848
1,216,189
938,774
277,415
95
July 1, 1916, to June 30, 1917 ..
20,560
17,157
1,576,329
1,184,371
391,958
92
July 1, 1917, to June 30, 1918. .
19,361
15,825
1,705,468
1,278,383
427,085
108
July 1, 1918, to Oct. 31, 1918 ..
7,041
6,050
645,037
480,690
164,347
107
In 95% of the cases which arise under the compensation act, the ad- justments are made directly between the parties, the Commission merely checking the settlements made to make sure that they are in accordance with law. In 5% of the cases, which, however, involve 50% of the total benefits paid under the compensation act, formal hearings and awards by the commission are necessary. This means about 2,000 hearings per year and 1,000 formal awards. The Commission also is charged by law with getting all employers subject to the compensation act to insure their risk, unless they are exempted from doing so by express order of the Commission upon showing of financial responsibility.
In connection with employment, the duties of the Industrial Com- mission are twofold. It is charged with licensing and regulating all private employment agencies, and it is to conduct public employment offices to bring together, without cost to either parties, the unem- ployed workman and the unfilled job. Ever since the Industrial Com- mission was organized it has conducted public employment offices at Milwaukee, Superior, La Crosse, and Oshkosh. During 1918, at the in- stance of the United States Government, and with federal funds, em- ployment offices have also been established under the direction of the
281
DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT
Industrial Commission in 28 other cities in the state. The operations of the free employment offices in Wisconsin during the last three com- pleted fiscal years and the first five months of the present fiscal year are shown in the following table. For purposes of comparison there are also given in this table, the total placements made by all paid em- ployment agencies operating in this state.
OPERATIONS OF THE FREE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF WISCONSIN
1915-16
1916-17
1917-18
1918-19 First 5 months
Employers' orders
28,411
20,269
31,722
No data
Applications for work.
49.705
51,727
63,338
108,139
Help wanted
49,792
59,985
76,129
133,515
Referred to positions.
45,905
52,318
63,360
107,017
Positions secured
33,219
38,084
44,705
85,758
Positions secured through private employ- ment agencies
No data
14,950
20,967
3,639
The Commission's work in connection with woman and child labor consists of the enforcement of the laws which this state has enacted to protect its woman and child wage earners. There are at least 100,000 women in industry in Wisconsin, which figure represents an increase of 100% since the beginning of the European war. Fifty-five per cent of all children between 14 and 17 years of age in Milwaukee are in in- dustry. In the rest of the state, this percentage is smaller, but the total number of child wage earners in Wisconsin is in the neighborhood of 20,000. To protect the wage earners, the state has enacted laws lim- iting their hours of labor, providing for a minimum wage, and re- stricting home work. To protect the child wage earners, the state re- stricts the employments they may enter and requires permits for all children between 14 and 17 years of age, and also limits their hours of labor. All of these laws are under the administration of the In- dustrial Commission.
Wisconsin is the only state which has an apprenticeship law. This law, which is administered by the Industrial Commission, is intended to promote the training of skilled mechanics. All minors who are em- ployed as learners must be legally apprenticed. This insures an all- round training to such learners, and at the same time protects their employers against the jumping of contracts.
Among many miscellaneous duties of the Industrial Commission, the most important is that of mediation and arbitration in industrial dis- putes. The Commission is charged with doing everything in its power to promote the settlement of industrial disputes through mediation and voluntary arbitration. It acts to adjust and prevent strikes whenever either party to the dispute asks its services.
282
WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK.
INSURANCE AND FIRE MARSHAL'S DEPARTMENT.
(Created by Act of Legislature March 14, 1870.)
The chief functions of the Department of Insurance are the supervi- sion and regulation of insurance companies and insurance concerns transacting business in this state including the organization, admission and annual licensing of domestic, other states and foreign corporations, associations, societies, Lloyds and inter-insurers and their agents; valua- tion of policies and certificates of life insurance; filing and approval of policy forms and of the rates and reserves for life insurance com- panies; examinations, winding up of insolvent companies, and the mak- ing and publishing of annual reports; also the supervision of insurance companies' stock sales; collection of insurance companies' taxes and fees; review of fire insurance rates; the calculation of inheritance taxes; the management of the State Insurance Fund for public buildings and the State Life Fund for life insurance and annuities; certifying to the Secretary of State and State Treasurer a list of such cities, towns and villages as are entiled to fire department dues; and computing and distributing the fire department dues collected by the Department of Insurance.
Under the provisions of section 1921, the Commissioner of Insurance is a member of the Compensation Insurance Board for the review of compensation insurance rates.
Under section 1946h, the Commissioner of Insurance is ex officio State Fire Marshal. The Fire Marshal's Department is charged with in- vestigation of fires of unknown, suspicious and incendiary origin; as- sisting district attorneys and other officials in the collection of evi- dence and in the prosecution of arson cases; collecting and compiling statistics of the state's fire losses and their causes, and furthering the work of fire prevention.
Annual Reports of both Insurance and Fire Marshal's Departments are furnished upon request.
The state fire fund writes all the state property and such county, city, village, school district, and library property as may apply for insurance. The fund is now carrying something over $20,000,000 fire and about the same amount of tornado insurance. 13 counties, 7 school districts, and 6 cities and villages have insured their property in the fund. The rate charged is 75% of the rate charged by old line com- panies.
The state life fund writes all of the ordinary forms of insurance written by regularly organized insurance companies. It issued the first policies in 1913 and at the end of 1918, it had 460 policies in force and about $56,000 of assets. The amount of insurance in force was $380,000. The fund operates without agents. The premiums are based upon the American Experience Table, and differ from the premium rates of ordinary life companies only in the fact that the expense charge in the state fund is less than in the ordinary company.
.
283
DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT
RAILROAD COMMISSION.
The work of the Railroad Commission divides itself into five general heads:
1st. The regulation of railroads both as to service and as to rates.
2nd. The regulation of utilities as to service and as to rates.
3rd. The administration of the water power law.
4 th. The administration of the Stock and Bond law.
5 th. The administration of the Blue Sky Law.
I. In the administration of the Railroad Law the Commission is called upon-
(a) To determine freight rates, adjudicate claims for overcharge, pass upon demurrage charges and rules, switching charges and regula- tions, and to make freight classifications.
(b) To require improved station facilities, regulate passenger service, control the manner of crossing highways and other lines of railroad, approve bridge plans, approve station sites, require right-of-way fences, and to pass upon certain operating conditions such as the number of.men in a train crew and the conditions of service.
II. In the administration of the Public Utility Law the Commission is called upon-
(a) To fix rates of light, heat, water power and telephone companies and toll bridges.
(b) To pass upon the character and quality of service, to require that service be given where it is unjustly refused, to pass upon rules under which service is given, to pass upon the reasonableness of municipal ordinances affecting utilities, to require the installation of meters and govern the ownership thereof, to inquire into the method of keeping the accounts and the business management, to govern the interference of the lines of utilities with one another, and to approve the manner of construction of lines.
III. In administering the Water Power law the Commission is obliged to investigate alleged obstructions in navigable waters, to control the level and flow of waters and to grant permits or franchises to the ap- plicants to construct dams in streams, or to change the height of ex- isting dams.
IV. In the administration of the Stock and Bond law the Railroad Commission is required to control the issuance of securities of public service corporations, which task includes both railroads and utilities. No security maturing in more than one year from the date thereof and which becomes a lien against the property of a public service corpora- tion can be issued without the approval of the Commission.
V. In the administration of the Blue Sky law the Commission is re- quired to secure and file information relative to-
(a) Issuing companies that desire to sell their securities in this state. (b) Dealers or brokers desiring to engage in the business of selling securities.
In addition to the above the Commission administers the so-called Jit- ney law, publishes a railroad map of the state and publishes annual re- ports of the decisions of the Commission. Copies of its publications may be obtained by addressing the Commission.
2
284
WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK.
WISCONSIN STATE GUARD.
Commander-in-Chief, EMANUEL L. PHILIPP, MADISON. GOVERNOR OF THE STATE. Inaugurated January 4, 1915.
THE ADJUTANT GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT
The Adjutant General, with rank of Brigadier General, Orlando Holway, Madison, Oct. 1, 1913.
Assistant Adjutant General, with rank of Major, Earl S. Driver, Madi- son, Sept. 28, 1917.
INSPECTOR GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT
Inspector General, The- Adjutant General, Captain Thomas E. Jones, Madison, Dec. 31, 1918; First Lieutenant William G. Atkins, Madi- son, Aug. 30, 1917.
JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT
Judge Advocate, with rank of Major, Timothy Burke, Green Bay, March 22, 1918.
QUARTERMASTER CORPS W. N. G.
Quartermaster General, The Adjutant General.
Chief Quartermaster, Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Williams, Camp Douglas, June 1, 1917. 1 State Quartermaster, U. S. P. & D. O., with rank of Captain, Max P. Curtius, Camp Douglas, July 24, 1917.
QUARTERMASTER'S CORPS, W. S. G.
Major, David Atwood, Janesville, Aug. 12, 1918.
ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT
Chief of Ordnance, The Adjutant General.
Ordnance Officer, Lieut. Col. C. R. Williams, Camp Douglas, June 1, 1917. Acting Ordnance Officer, with rank of Captain, Max P. Curtius, Camp Douglas, July 24, 1917.
MEDICAL CORPS
State Surgeon, with rank of Major, Charles H. Stoddard, 508 Goldsmith Bldg., Milwaukee, Oct. 10, 1917.
Majors-Daniel S. MacArthur, LaCrosse, May 3, 1918 ; Harry E. Bradley, 528 Jefferson St., Milwaukee, May 3, 1918; George H. Scheer, She- boygan, May 3, 1918; Frederick C. Rogers, Oconomowoc, Dec. 23, 1918. First Lieutenants-William S. Darling, 605 Majestic Bldg., Milwaukee, Nov. 23, 1917; E. H. Darling, 418 E. North Ave., Milwaukee, Nov. 23, 1917; Samuel Breck Ackley, Oconomowoc, May 18, 1918; Joseph Boardman Noble, Waukesha, May 23, 1918; William E. Bannen, La Crosse,
285
DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT
June 27, 1918; J. Fred Farr, Eau Claire, June 27, 1918; Harry Heiden, Sheboygan, July 1, 1918; George F. Adams, Kenosha, Oct. 29, 1918; Hjorleifer T Kristjanson, Wauwatosa, March 12, 1919.
INSPECTOR OF SMALL ARMS PRACTICE
With rank of Major, George A. Huntzicker, Marshfield, May 2, 1918.
CHAPLAIN'S CORPS
With rank of Captain-William T. Dorward, Milwaukee, May 3, 1918; Evan John Evans, Beloit, May 3, 1918 ; Louis P. Peeke, Fond du Lac, June 11, 1918; Joseph Hanz, Beloit, June 28, 1918; William James MacCartney, Mauston, July 24, 1918.
AIDES TO THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
With rank of Colonel.
Military Secretary-Lawrence C. Whittet, Madison, June 28, 1918.
Aides-de-Camp-George H. Russell, Milwaukee, Dec. 22, 1917; Julius Nemitz, Oshkosh. Jan. 4, 1915; Robert F. Pfeil, Portage, Feb. 5, 1915; Hor- ace M. Seaman, Milwaukee, Nov. 24, 1915; August C. Knoll, Mil- waukee, Jan. 26, 1917; Joseph S. Evans, Madison, Feb. 8. 1919.
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