The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-03-23
FROM THE STATE CAPITAL.


Not to be outdone by the Legislature,
the city of Lansing is just now running
little investigation of its own. Some of
the city Justices, it is claimed, have been
charging exorbitant fees. Beside this,
they seem to be DESTROYS of correcting
sundry other little abuses which have
crept into the city Government, and it is
to be hoped that they may succeed, as
Lansing has borne good reputation so
far as the straightness" of her city
officials is concerned.
The capital city is a pleasant and
comparatively prosperous place. The
assurance that it will remain the capital
of the great Peninsula State has
given it a stability which
few places In the State can
boast. All the improvements made are
of substantial character, and although
many things are yet needed she has
more of the luxuries with less of debt
than some of her larger sisters. The
wide and ell-graded avenues are quite
contrast to the narrow and uneven
streets of some places it has been our
lot to visit. Her fire department is
creditable, her public school buildings
second to none in the State. The little
gem of an opera house invites the patron
age of many of the leading stars"
while the dozen or more churches speak
well for the religious sentiment OF the
community Speaking of churches re-
minds me that the Congregational
Society have just completed and dedi-
Gated one of the handsomest church edi-
fees in Central Michigan. While the
entire cost of construction was only
something over $40, 600, it will compare
favorably with any building constructed
three or four years ago at twice that ex-
pense.
Among the Legislative doings of the
past week may be noticed as specially
important the passage of bill extend
ing the time for the completion of the
Menominee Iron Range railroad in the
Upper Peninsula. A grant of State
swamp lands was made to the company
undertaking the building of this road,
but, owing to the depression in business
and the troubled state of finances
throughout the country, the work has
been seriously delayed. 1t will be
very important road when completed.
A bill is pending in the House de-
signed to remove the School of Mines
from its present location at Ann Arbor
to some point in the Upper Peninsula.
The passage Of bill creating the new
township of Redmond, in Emmett
county. calls to mind the existence of an
old Catholic Indian mission in that vi
entity. Indeed the new township is
/ formed at the present time mainly to
separate white settlement from its Off
cial connection with the Indians of this
mission, who are SO numerous as to out
vote the whites, and hence run things
their own way, to the displeasure if not
discomfort of the palefaces
A petition several rods long, and signed
by nearly 1000 people, was presented,
Thursday, asking for the enactment of a
law prohibiting the manufacture and sale
of intoxicating liquors. BY drawing out
the petition i'll telescope form it was
made TO constitute n Washingtonian
monument several feet in height, and as
such still ornaments the desk of the
Chief Clerk of the House
Thursday evening, Dr. c. T. WILDER,
of Jacksonville, H., delivered very
interesting lecture on the Scare and
Education of the Idiotic and Feeble
minded" The Doctor is very much
interested in this subject and showed
conclusively that the unfortunate class is
very numerous and sadly neglected in
nearly every State in the Union. He i'm
pressed upon the Legislature the Justice
of establishing at no distant day an
asylum similar to that i'll Illinois-of
which he is superintendent There are
in Michigan probably not less than one
thousand helpless idiots, a large portion
of whom are very poorly cared for mt the
county poorh-ouses, and perhaps still
larger portion are merely suffered to live,
but by no means made comfortable, in
the families which are so unfortunate as
to be burdened with them.
The Legislature has really pinned it
self down to few days of hard work
during the past week, and the prospect
| for an early close of the session is bright
ening, although there is yet much i'm
portant Legislation to dispose of. The
! liquor question, the railroads, and the
appropriations for State institutions
have hardly been touched yet, and there
is no knowing to what extent discussion
may be provoked by any of them. The
usual "semi- monthly" adjournment of
hree days was determined upon yester
day, so the members generally will go
home to-day to remain over Sunday.
They can probably wait until about
town-meeting" time before another
adjournment, when the farmers of the
lower house will want to look after the
Office of Supervisor, which seems to be
favorite one with them.