The Fifty-Second Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 13, 1915, to August 24, 1915, in regular session, and re-convened in a special session on October 10 and October 11, 1916.[1]
| 52nd Wisconsin Legislature | |||||
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 Wisconsin State Capitol ca.1915 | |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Wisconsin Legislature | ||||
| Meeting place | Wisconsin State Capitol | ||||
| Term | January 4, 1915 – January 1, 1917 | ||||
| Election | November 3, 1914 | ||||
| Senate | |||||
| Members | 33 | ||||
| Senate President | Edward Dithmar (R) | ||||
| President pro tempore | Edward T. Fairchild (R) until September 25, 1916 | ||||
| Party control | Republican | ||||
| Assembly | |||||
| Members | 100 | ||||
| Assembly Speaker | Lawrence C. Whittet (R) | ||||
| Party control | Republican | ||||
| Sessions | |||||
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| Special sessions | |||||
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Senators representing odd-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first two years of a four-year term. Assembly members were elected to a two-year term. Assembly members and odd-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 3, 1914. Senators representing even-numbered districts were serving the third and fourth year of a four-year term, having been elected in the general election of November 5, 1912.[1]
Major events
edit- May 7, 1915: The ocean liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk off the coast of Ireland.
- January 24, 1916: The U.S. Supreme Court decided the case Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., affirming the constitutionality of the federal income tax.
- March 8, 1916: Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa led a force across the border into the U.S. state of New Mexico, killing twelve U.S. soldiers.
- March 15, 1916: In response to the New Mexico raid, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordered 12,000 U.S. military personnel to cross into Mexico to hunt down Pancho Villa.
- April 4, 1916: Judge Franz C. Eschweiler was elected justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to succeeded William H. Timlin.
- May 4, 1916: The German Empire issued the Sussex pledge in an attempt to appease the United States over the issue of unrestricted submarine warfare.
- May 16, 1916: Following a coup in the Dominican Republic, United States marines landed in the country and began an eight-year occupation.
- May 22, 1916: The U.S. Supreme Court decided the case Wisconsin v. Phila. & Reading Coal Co., finding that Wisconsin's corporate regulations placed an unconstitutional burden on corporations operating in Wisconsin but incorporated in other states.
- June 13, 1916: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Defense Act of 1916, expanding the National Guard and creating an Officers Reserve Corps, Enlisted Reserve Corps, and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and expanding the powers of the President to federalize the National Guard.
- July 30, 1916: German saboteurs caused the Black Tom explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey, destroying an American ammunition depot and killing seven people.
- August 21, 1916: Wisconsin Supreme Court justice William H. Timlin died in office.
- August 30, 1916: Governor Emanuel L. Philipp appointed Franz C. Eschweiler to begin his term early on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, following the death of justice William H. Timlin.
- November 7, 1916: 1916 United States general election:
- Woodrow Wilson re-elected President of the United States.
- Emanuel L. Philipp re-elected Governor of Wisconsin.
- Robert M. La Follette re-elected United States senator from Wisconsin.
Major legislation
edit- July 15, 1915: An Act ... abolishing the offices of state fish and game warden, state board of forestry, state conservation commission, commissioners of fisheries and the state park board, and providing for the appointment of a state conservation commission of Wisconsin, and making an appropriation, 1915 Act 406. Created the Wisconsin Conservation Commission.
- July 19, 1915: An Act ... abolishing the state board of agriculture, the state board of immigration, the board of veterinary examiners, the state live stock sanitary board, the state inspector of apiaries, the state orchard and nursery inspector and the office of state veterinarian as now established ... creating a department of agriculture, a state live stock sanitary board, the office of state entomologist, a state fair advisory board, and prescribing their powers and duties, and making an appropriation, 1915 Act 413. Created the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and transformed several other farm examination entities.
Party summary
editSenate summary
edit
Democratic: 9 seats
Social Dem.: 1 seat
Republican: 23 seats
| Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dem. | S.D. | Rep. | Vacant | ||
| End of previous Legislature | 7 | 1 | 24 | 32 | 1 |
| Start of 1st Session | 9 | 1 | 23 | 33 | 0 |
| From Aug. 26, 1915[note 1] | 22 | 32 | 1 | ||
| From Nov. 9, 1915[note 2] | 21 | 31 | 2 | ||
| From Sep. 25, 1916[note 3] | 20 | 30 | 3 | ||
| Final voting share | 33.33% | 66.67% | |||
| Beginning of the next Legislature | 6 | 3 | 24 | 33 | 0 |
Assembly summary
edit
Democratic: 29 seats
Social Dem.: 8 seats
Republican: 63 seats
| Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dem. | S.D. | Ind. | Rep. | Vacant | ||
| End of previous Legislature | 35 | 6 | 1 | 58 | 100 | 0 |
| Start of 1st Session | 29 | 8 | 0 | 63 | 100 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 37% | 63% | ||||
| Beginning of the next Legislature | 14 | 7 | 0 | 79 | 100 | 0 |
Sessions
edit- 1st Regular session: January 13, 1915 – August 24, 1915
- October 1916 special session: October 10, 1916 – October 11, 1916
Leaders
editSenate leadership
edit- President of the Senate: Edward Dithmar (R)
- President pro tempore: Edward T. Fairchild (R–Milwaukee) (until Sep. 25, 1916)
Assembly leadership
editMembers
editMembers of the Senate
editMembers of the Senate for the Fifty-Second Wisconsin Legislature:[2]
Democratic: 9 seats
Social Dem.: 1 seat
Republican: 23 seats
Members of the Assembly
editMembers of the Assembly for the Fifty-Second Wisconsin Legislature:[2]
Democratic: 29 seats
Social Dem.: 8 seats
Republican: 63 seats
Committees
editSenate committees
edit- Senate Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures – R. W. Monk, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Corporations – O. Bosshard, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public Welfare – M. W. Perry, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on the Judiciary – T. Burke, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on Legislative Procedure – E. Fairchild, chair
- Senate Standing Committee on State Affairs – W. T. Stevens, chair
- Senate Special Committee on Committees – T. Burke, chair
- Senate Special Committee on Conservation – E. Ackley, chair
- Senate Special Committee on Highways – W. J. Bichler, chair
Assembly committees
edit- Assembly Standing Committee on Agriculture – H. J. Grell, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and Manufactures – C. K. Ellingson, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent Expenditures – F. Hess, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Education – S. A. Schindler, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Elections – C. Paulus, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed Bills – E. Heathcote, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled Bills – D. L. Dobie, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and Fees – J. M. Engebretson, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Fish and Game – B. N. Moran, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and Banking – H. M. Laursen, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on the Judiciary – G. P. Hambrecht, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Labor – A. J. Winegar, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Municipalities – R. J. Nye, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Printing – C. Pieper, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Public Welfare – W. A. Kay, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Revision – F. S. Hanson, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Rules – L. C. Whittet, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on State Affairs – Ax. Johnson, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Taxation – G. Harrington, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Third Reading – H. S. Berninger, chair
- Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation – E. A. Everett, chair
- Assembly Special Committee on Rules – L. C. Whittet, chair
Joint committees
edit- Joint Standing Committee on Finance – G. E. Scott (Sen.) & F. W. Kubasta (Asm.), co-chairs
- Joint Special Committee on Investigations of State Boards and Commissions – E. Fairchild (Sen.), chair
Employees
editSenate employees
edit- Chief Clerk: Oliver G. Munson[3]
- Assistant Chief Clerk: C. E. Mullen
- Journal Clerk: W. N. Mackin
- Assistant Journal Clerk: James B. Ackley
- Bookkeeper: Carle E. Dietze
- Assistant Bookkeeper: Henry C. Priester
- Engrossing Clerk: A. J. Nelson
- Index Clerk: L. H. Cannon
- Revision Clerk: D. J. Hotchkiss
- Clerk of the Committee on Corporations: A. C. Miller
- Clerk of the Committee on Education and Public Welfare: R. H. Hillyer
- Clerk of the Committee on Finance: Arthur F. Steffen
- Clerk of the Committee on Highways: L. G. Vogt
- Clerk of the Committee on the Judiciary: Paul C. Bode
- Clerk of the Committee on State Affairs: A. A. Heinrich
- Stenographic Reporter: Roy E. Gordon
- Stenographers:
- E. L. Stapleton
- Albert R. Millett
- W. J. Van Den Berg
- Mailing Clerk: E. G. Cooper
- Sergeant-at-Arms: F. E. Andrews
- Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Edward F. McCarthy
- Document Clerk: Emil Hartman
- Day Police: Edward J. Samp
- Night Police: Archibald McQuarrie
- Gallery Police: Albert Daley
- Night Laborers:
- Arlie M. Mucks
- Stewart S. Williams
- Postmaster: Frank E. Riley
- Messengers:
- John Lorigan
- Robert Kilgust
- H. B. Haley
- Harvey C. Hartwig
- Herbert N. Marsh
- Orin F. Neibuhr
- Robert A. Cobban
- Merlin Conley
- Paul W. Dietz
- John E. McNeil
- Messengers:
Assembly employees
edit- Chief Clerk: C. E. Shaffer[3]
- Journal Clerk: W. W. Jones
- Assistant Journal Clerk: Charles E. Tuffley
- Bookkeeper: W. J. Goldschmidt
- Assistant Bookkeeper: J. C. Hawker
- General Clerks:
- W. F. Bart
- M. B. Pinkerton
- Index Clerk: Paul M. Brown
- Proofreaders and Enrolling Clerks:
- H. E. Whipple
- Geo. F. Sharpe
- Mailing Clerk: Edwin L. Shaffer
- Stenographers:
- W. E. Kirk
- A. H. Gardiner
- Alvah V. Gruhn
- C. E. Thayer
- N. E. Lummerding
- M. B. Allison
- Norman L. Anderson
- G. E. Wuensch
- L. M. Mielke
- Frank Robotka
- Henry G. Lee
- William Sneeberger
- Louis G. Meisenheimer
- Typists:
- L. L. Oeland
- Harry J. Campaign
- Emil Lusthaus
- P. J. Knippel
- Journal Clerk: W. W. Jones
- Sergeant-at-Arms: William S. Irvine
- Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Olaf Goldstrand
- Document Room Custodian: Helmer O. Femrite
- Assistant Document Room Custodian: John D. Morner
- Floor Police: Ernest F. Wright
- Cloak Room Attendant: Peter Duex
- Gallery Police:
- Elmer R. Meacham
- C. H. Sanderson
- Cloak Room Attendant: Martin Olson
- Night Laborer: Hilding E. Anderson
- Night Watch: C. C. Fenn
- Postmaster: Geo. M. Emerich
- Post Office Messenger: Julius O. Hembre
- Messengers:
- Frank P. Vogt
- Meade Durbrow
- Helmer Hembre
- M. M. Arnold
- R. L. Jacobson
- John W. Holm
- George R. Qualey
- B. C. Wilcox
- A. H. Emerson
- C. A. Meister
- L. F. Greeley
- Benjamin Glass
- Paul W. Lappley
- Orville Radke
Notes
edit- ^ Republican Robert Glenn (16th District) died August 26, 1915.
- ^ Republican George E. Scott (29th District) died November 9, 1915.
- ^ Republican Edward T. Fairchild (5th District) resigned September 25, 1916, due to his appointment as a Wisconsin circuit court judge.
References
edit- ^ a b Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn, eds. (2021). "Historical Lists" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2021–2022 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 467, 471, 474, 479–480. ISBN 978-1-7333817-1-0. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ a b "Biographical Sketches". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1915 (Report). Industrial Commission of Wisconsin. 1915. pp. 479–539. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
- ^ a b "Organization of Legislature of 1915". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1915 (Report). Industrial Commission of Wisconsin. 1915. pp. 475–477. Retrieved April 18, 2023.