The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-03-15

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RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS
The Governor having been obliged to back
down from his former appointment of rail.
road commissioners, was 50 slow to make
new appointments, that the house was looking
with favor on bill to dispense with the
board entirely, and to impose their duties
on the Governor, Secretary Of state, and
Auditor. Before that bill could pass, how
ever, ON Thursday, the Governor mustered
up courage to send to the Senate a new set of
Names 'o-wit: H. d. Cook, John NJ Pearson,
ana u. A Brown, and the Senate immediate
| ~ confirmed them, by vote Of 80 to 10
Brown Is democrat, from Sangamo comfy;
The others are republicans
| RAILROAD LEGISLATION.
There are so many projects before the leg
islature in regard to the extortions of the
railroads, and there is so much variance of
opinion on the subject manifested that it
looks as If there was some desigp about so
much apparent confusion and that the rail.
roads themselves are at the bottom of ii.
The House committee on Saturday reported
favorably on two railroad bills One is known
as "IIildrups bil,' which provides for Il
criminal action against any officer, agent,
conductor or employe of any railroad COM
pany who charges or receives more than the
legal passenger fare. The second is "Mc.
Pharren's BILL to repeal the law which lin
its to $4,000 the amount railroad is liableto
pay as damages for causing death by acct
dent or carelessness.
The Farmers Club" is also engineering Il
bill, which provides that if any railroad
charges different rate per mile for carrying
given class of freight over different parts of
its line at the same time, this fact shall be
taken as primo ,tacie evidence of an unjust
discrimination.
Then Mr.. Armstrong, Of Grundy, has a bill
which he presented on Thursday, which is
described as very long and complicated and
| is in effect another classification actn and
also provides that the maximum passenger
rate shall be three cents a mile, for exceeding
which any railroad company may be fined
for the first oticnse 800, for the second $500
and for the third the fine is to be $4,000, with
forfeiture of franchise, &c
And finally Senator Baldwin has q railroad
bill, which he is trying to get the senate to
act upon, which provides that any railroad
company which charges greater rate per
mile for freight carried over any part of its
line than is charged for any other distance
shall be fined $1,000 for the first oftensc and
subsequent convictions shall work a tortei-
tjrc of franchise.
NEW MEMBER
The Hon John Tillson, elected in the
Quincy district to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of the Hon. Nehemiah Bushnell,
was sworn in and took his scat on Saturday.
He is a republican, his election having been
conceded by the opposition out Of respect for
the principle of minority representation
RECORDING DEEDS.
The house judiciary committee has report
ed bill to repeal the provision of the present
law for recording deeds which requires that
before any deed or other instrument affecting
title to real estate is recorded, ii shall be
placed in the office of the county clerk, where
an abstract Of the contracts including grantee
and grantor, and u sufficient description 81
the property involved shall be recorded The
object of this provision was to give the county
clerk a complete record of all changes of title
to real property, so that the tax lists might be
properly made out Experience has shown
this provision bears hardly on buyers and
sellers of property, and is of no practical
benefit in arranging the tax lists, and there
fore the bill repeating this provision is pre-
scented.
CENTRAL RAILROAD LANDS.
Senator Casey's bill, to compel the Illinois
Central Railroad to offer at auction all It's un,
sold lands, passed the senate on Tues lay, and
now awaits the action of the house. The
company has for years been keeping large
bodies Of its lands out of market for ,pccula
ton thus preventing settlement upon them
and keeping them free from state and local
taxation.
THE RAILROAD MAGN.NrIls.
Pursuant to invitation, Superintendent
Harris, of the c., 3. Q. r. r., Mr. Newell of
the Illinois Central r. r., and Mr.. Carter, an
old railroad president, met the railroad COM
mittees of the two houses in the senate cham
Der on Tuesday evening, and had Il talk. The
substance of the speeches of the railroad
magnates was, that no RAILROAD, could
be 50 managed in the state as to pay Interest
on their stock unless they were allowed 10
regulate their freights and fares pretty much
in their own way; and when Mr.. Whitney
asked them whether that way was not to get,
like the farmers for their grain, " all they
could" they virtually admitted that that was
the principle they went upon.
ABSENTEEIsM
The evil of alb entccism having again de
prived one or other branch of the legislature
of Il quorum during more than half the time,
the senate on Tuesday adopted a resolution 20