Useful Lessons from 1911.

• Author: Stark, Jack

With some impressive talent and civility, the 1911 Wisconsin Legislature is worth examining for what it managed to accomplish.

Editor's note: Most major domestic policy initiatives in recent years have originated in state government and been shaped by state legislatures. Legislatures have truly been the forum for America's ideas. In this article, the author points out that this also occurred earlier in the 20th century, with dramatic results.

But the Wisconsin tradition meant more than a simple belief in the people. It also meant a faith in the application of intelligence and reason to the problems of society. It meant a deep conviction that the role of government was not to stumble along like a drunkard in the dark, but to light its way by the best torches of knowledge and understanding it could find."--Adlai Stevenson, Madison, Wis., Oct. 8, 1952

George Santayana wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." He assumed that the past ought not to be repeated. But some history is worth repeating. An exemplary state legislature that operated at the beginning of the past century holds some lessons worth replicating at the dawn of this new century. It is the 1911 Wisconsin Legislature.

And it is the very success of that Legislature that makes it worth examining as a model for the 21st century. The Wisconsin Legislature accomplished much:

* It enacted the first workers' compensation law in this country that withstood a legal challenge and established an industrial commission to protect workers.

* It imposed maximum work hours for women and children.

* It created the first workable income tax in the country (the 16th Amendment to the U. S. constitution followed in its wake).

* It established a state highway commission and provided state aid for roads.

* It enacted forward-looking provisions to protect water and forests and created a state agency to administer them.

* It instituted a state life insurance program.

* It enacted legislation that aided farm cooperatives and agricultural education.

* It created a board of public affairs to develop policy and coordinate the state government's operations.

* It ceded authority to local units of government.

* It inhibited logrolling.

* It reformed the insurance industry.

* It regulated railroad rates.

* It strengthened apprenticeship programs; established industrial schools and a state board to administer them.

* It reformed the taxation of utilities.

* It passed a corrupt practices act that was designed to clean up political activity.

That took six months. Then it went on with the rest of the business of its session.

That Legislature's influence is still felt in Wisconsin and has extended to other states. The 1911 lawmakers laid the foundation for Wisconsin's traditions of environmental stewardship and clean government. It built a structure for the state government that is still visible. It is, by a considerable margin, the most impressive Legislature in Wisconsin history, and I would be very surprised if a legislature in any other state can match its achievements.

How did they do it? There are a number of reasons, and they're worth examining.

TALENT

One reason for those accomplishments was the talent of the members. Among the 33 senators were 14 lawyers and 14 who had attended college. Winfield Gaylord, an ordained minister, was a national lecturer for the Socialist Party. John Blaine later became...