52nd Wisconsin Legislature

The Fifty-Second Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session, and re-convened in a special session on October 10 and October 11, 1916.
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.
The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Republican Emanuel L. Philipp, of Milwaukee County, serving a two-year term, having won election in the 1914 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.

Major events

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

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, . 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, . Created the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and transformed several other farm examination entities.

Sessions

1st Regular session: January 13, 1915August 24, 1915October 1916 special session: October 10, 1916October 11, 1916

Leaders

Senate leadership

President of the Senate: Edward Dithmar
President pro tempore: Edward T. Fairchild

Assembly leadership

Speaker of the Assembly: Lawrence C. Whittet

Members

Members of the Senate

Members of the Senate for the Fifty-Second Wisconsin Legislature:

Members of the Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Fifty-Second Wisconsin Legislature:

Committees

Senate committees

Senate Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresR. W. Monk, chair
Senate Standing Committee on CorporationsO. Bosshard, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public WelfareM. W. Perry, chair
Senate Standing Committee on the JudiciaryT. Burke, chair
Senate Standing Committee on Legislative ProcedureE. Fairchild, chair
Senate Standing Committee on State AffairsW. T. Stevens, chair
Senate Special Committee on CommitteesT. Burke, chair
Senate Special Committee on ConservationE. Ackley, chair
Senate Special Committee on HighwaysW. J. Bichler, chair

Assembly committees

Assembly Standing Committee on AgricultureH. J. Grell, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce and ManufacturesC. K. Ellingson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Contingent ExpendituresF. Hess, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on EducationS. A. Schindler, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on ElectionsC. Paulus, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Engrossed BillsE. Heathcote, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Enrolled BillsD. L. Dobie, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Excise and FeesJ. M. Engebretson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Fish and GameB. N. Moran, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance and BankingH. M. Laursen, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on the JudiciaryG. P. Hambrecht, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on LaborA. J. Winegar, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on MunicipalitiesR. J. Nye, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on PrintingC. Pieper, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Public WelfareW. A. Kay, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on RevisionF. S. Hanson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on RulesL. C. Whittet, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on State AffairsAx. Johnson, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on TaxationG. Harrington, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on Third ReadingH. S. Berninger, chair
Assembly Standing Committee on TransportationE. A. Everett, chair
Assembly Special Committee on Rules L. C. Whittet, chair

Joint committees

Joint Standing Committee on FinanceG. E. Scott & F. W. Kubasta, co-chairs
Joint Special Committee on Investigations of State Boards and CommissionsE. Fairchild, chair

Employees

Senate employees

Chief Clerk: Oliver G. Munson
* 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

Assembly employees

Chief Clerk: C. E. Shaffer
* 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
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