The weekly pioneer and Democrat., 1861-02-22
Minnesota legislature
SATURDAY, Feb. Is.
SENATE.

SATURDAY, Feb. Is.
SENATE.
BILLS PASSED.
10 vacate portion of the Waterville and
Owat0nna State Road.
10 repeal the charter of the city of Shak-
opee.
A memorial to Congress for q mail route in
Steele, Waseca and Blue Earth counties.
RAILROAD PROPOSITIONS.
The special order of the afternoon was taken
up under suspension of the rules.
remarks relative to the securities to be depos.
tied by the companies, for the completion of
the roads, he said that would come more prop
erly before the Senate when the bills come to
be considered in their details. He did not wish
to debate the resolutions further, and would
move the previous question, and after some
debate, the motion for the previous question
was lost, ayes 8, nays 10.
Mr.. JONES moved that the resolutions be
indefinitely postponed.
Mr.. SMITH moved call of the Senate
Mr.. MCLAREN moved that further proceed.
ings under the call be dispensed with. Carried,
ayes l3, nays 6.
Mr.. WATSON moved that the resolutions be
committed to select committee of three. Lost,
ayes 9, nays 10.
The question required on the motion to in.
definitely postpone.
Mr.. JONES said his object in making the
motion to postpone was to get question of
mere distractions out of the Senate. These
resolutions proposed nothing. Then why take
up the last days of the session in their discus
sion. The people don't believe that railroads
can be built by resolutions. They are nothing
but glittering generalties. Action, action, is
what is wanted. Mr.. Jones continued at some
length to denounce the resolutions, as mere
abstract propositions,
Mr.. BALDWIN argued that the resolutions
contained vital principles which should be set
tied before the Senate entered upon the discus
sion of details in the bills.
Mr.. RARNEY was in favor of the indefinite
postponement of the resolutions, because there
at0rs hereafter. They proposed no railroad
system, and were mere distractions. He
wanted the bills of the both parties to be
brought before the Senate, when we should
have something to work upon. He wanted to
relieve the Senate of these propositions.
Mr.. NORTON said it was true that the peo.
pie were demanding from the legislature action
on railroads, but they are not willing to dsre-
gard and do violence to correct principles. He
denied that the people of any locality are
willing to have railroads at the expense of the
people of the State at large, or of other l0cal-
ties equally deserving. the reason why no &C
tion was had last winter in the legislature was
that the whole time was spent on details, and
no principle was agreed upon at first. The
same trouble will be felt this winter, unless we
pay more regard to the vital principles that
should underlie them all. This is just what we
desire to avoid now. The details can be easily
arranged. Ali these resolutions are plain and
practical. He showed that all the bills in the
House and Senate were introduced to get sup
port, and contained no principles that would
be approved by the people. 1t is idle folly to
attempt to pass bills that do violence to all the
great principles which underlie the whole sub.
ject. These resolutions are offered as funda
mental ideas which must be settled. before we
can intelligently consider bills in details. To
consider bills first, would be to fritter away the
time of the Senate, without accomplishing any
good.
Mr.. HEATON, said he saw conclusively to
his mind desire on the part of some Senators
to evade the important principles contained in
the resolutions. He thought he saw an attempt
to dodge direct vote on the important princi-
Piles contained in the resolutions. He thought
Mr.. Smiths bill contained monstrous princi-
Piles that would, if carried out, result in ruin
to the State. He went on to denounce in Sc
we're terms the idea of injecting into the bowels
of the Constitution, railroad legislation. He
thought the resolutions contained questions of
vast and vital Importance. The proposition
was laid down that it would be impolltic for
the State to loan her credit to any persons or
railroads for the purpose of internal improve
ment.
He cited the Constitutions of Maine, New
York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia. Florida,
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Wisconsin, where solemnly and deliberately
it was declared that those States would not in
the future embark in, and loan their credit for
internal improvements. 1t was proposed here
to copy the glorious example of Mississippi,
whose credit was the lowest of any state in
the Union. If an amendment like the one pro
posed is got into the Constitution, the repre-
sentatives in a future Legislature would have
to come up here and hold up their right hands
kailroad-for that would be in the Constitu-
ton, at full length. He spoke severely against
tampering with the credit of the State. Sena-
tors would find that there was something more
important than even railroads-and that was
the public fai of the State.
Mr.. CLEVELAND did not propose to commit
himself to any railroad scheme before the Sem
ponement of the resolutions. He believed the
effect of the passage of the resolutions would
prevent any adjustment of the railroad ques-
tiOn-at the same time he was not in favor of
running whole railroad through the body of
the Constitution instrument could get
along very well with an alimentary canal. He
concurred with the Governor that the question
vi Iuc DOuUS COulQ DoSG Do SSCLleQ III CO0ueC-
ton with building the roads. If that was left
out now, the people are we'll aware that it
would come up at some other time. The peo
pie were not in favor of repudatiOn--they
would never place the State in the position of
the Stats of Mississippi. The majority of the
people who voted on the Republican PLATFORM
believed that the question of the settlement of
the bond question and the building of the
roads were connected together. He would
no, yield single inch of the rights of the peo-
pie, but he knew they wanted railroads. and
he was willing to submit the question of the
manner other construction to item. He could
conceive why some gentlemen did not want
railroads, but for the people of the West, for
his own district, he could say that they wanted
railroads. The future of that vast country de-
manded railroads, and they must have them.
Now, give us proposition, something tangi
BILE. and we will go to work. You cannot dis
cuss principles apart from the details of a rail-
road system. They must come up when the
bills are before the Senate, and if we discuss
them now, We shall have the discussion over
again.
The question being on the indefinite post
ponement of the resolutions,
Mr.. BALDWIN moved to amend by indfnite.
ly postpOning the first resolution. Lost, ayes
l3, nays 5.
And the question recurring upon the molten
OF Mr. JONES to indefinitely postpone the re.