The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1881-04-07

tOc91 matters: The appropriations were made
with great degree Of unanimity.
wAsTEFUL LEGISLATION.
Inc legislature then went off on a tangent
and indulgcd in some harum .scarum l. gislafion
which would have been amusing If it had not
Deen so serious: The assembly of 1879 had
funded the indebtedness of Lawrence comfy.
under which about 1876, 900 of 10 per cent'
bonds we're issuedupon certificates and county
warrants which had been issued by the county
commissioners in the most reckless manner.
IN many instances going at the rate of a for
u OF Value received. This enterprise pl.ced 4
IL Load OF about half a million dollars ul,n the
PACK Hills region, more than half which was
fraudulent: With this experience before me,
aet r!hlned to make stand aga nst any such
legislation during my term Of Office, and to
require that all measures incurring county
debts should be submitted to the people before
becoming laws, and that in any event bonds
should not be lssled exceeding S per cent. of
the assessed valuation of county property for
public buildings, aDd2X per cent. for bridges,
ETC.: About thirty of the thirty-six members
o. the legislature We're interested in the loca-
lion OF county sites, in some instances In
remote corners Of tic various counties, and in
ISSUING bonds for bu ling county buildings,
normal schools and agricultural colleges.
thus giving more than two-thirds of both
branches direct interest in overriding nv
restrictive policy in regard TO county indebt-
edness. During the first half of the session I
vetoed Il large number 0f bills for the erection
OF puui.e buildings and for other local improve.
'nen's, because they did not contain any pro-
vision Tor allowing the people to vote upon
them. Many Of these bills, however, were
passed over my veto.
Subsequently the people began to send n
their protests against the co, sc of the legie]a.
lufe ana sustaining tn: position had taken,
all during the List halt Uf the session diter-
ent state Of affairs prevailed. SUPP lemcn1ary
ol's' submitting the question Of issuing bonds
for Dull'c improvements t. the people of the
various counties, were passed, and many Of
the Will schemes brought forward ea.l er were
Abandoned, thus probably preventing the is.
Stance Of u million dollars In bonds, which
woull otherwise have been laid upon the
people OF the new counties without their con.
sent, and which would practically have de
stroyed the credit of the Territory.
ANOTHER VERY REMARKABLE MEASURE
was br ught forward and passed, which will
serve to illustrate the extent to which q small
leg ,s,ative body, not having that sense Of n.
sponsibility which comes only from experi-
ence, will 20 in framing mischievous legisla-
tion. This bill provides for paying one Of the
federal judges in the Black Hills district g..
400 Year in addition to his regular salary as
federal judge, the amount to he assessed ar
bitrari|y on the people of his district. | sent
a copy OF this bill to Attorney General Devens
1t was highly objectionable and certainly
ought to be vetoed. OF course l vetoed the
bill, and embodied Gen. Deven's message in
my veto message; but to my surprise, the
legislature passed the measure over the veto.
Later, however, the bill became so unpopular
that a supplementary bill, amending the origin
al measure by 'triking out the word "hun-
~ SSnIs fho fo1u Ind.
only $24 year from the people of his district.
More than $40 bills were introduced and about
one-half Of them were passed. Some of the
court houses, which members wanted to pro-
vide for, were in new counties where 4 court
had never been held. At the close of the ees.
sion better feeling prevailed, and the legisla-
ture passed unanimously resolution referring
our1 OF CONGRESS.
This experience shows that II viii be neces.
sary for congress, before passing an enabling
act for the admission of Dakota, to take steps
to prevent the early legislatures of the new
The mania for issuing county bonds seems to
have subsidized, but spirit Of irresponsibility
prevails to such an extent that great mischief
may he dore IN other ways. We have, for ex-
ample, 500 200 acres of school land, worth
to-day between ten and twelve million dollars,
and constantly Increasing in value. If prop
erly guar ded, they will found as complete =
found anywhere. At the recent session they
established eight normal school and two agrt.
cultural colleges, In counties which had
hardly anybody in them. There is an oppor-
tunty for all enormous amount of frand, and
schemers have already shown their plan Of
operations to gtt hold of this land. They
want to establish schools in all parts Of the
Data A,,,Vl "a
salaries school officers, sell the lands and ex-
pend the p, oceeds for these purposes In ad-
vance of any possible necessity for the
schools. When the lands and the money are
gone, the schools will be found to have gone
also.
What steps should congress take in the
matter asked the correspondent. Congress
sho,ll provide eally in the next session for
the election of a new legislature, to be CON-
lower house and twenty I've or thirty IN the
upper house. 1t should require that these
should 'e chosen by the people of single dis
tricts with weIl-defined boundaries other
wise they may all be elected from a few cen
trail l"ca'itles. In the last legislature the
city OF Deadwood sent I'LL but two or three of
the memlers from the four c,nntes com.
prlsing. the Black Hills district, and they
were all residents Of Deadwood. I would
allow the p'ople t" determine how the terri
tory is tn be divided, and would submit qnes-
tions relating to local financial matters, such
As issuing bonds for jails, insane asylums,
etc, to the people. The school lands given
by congress should he placed in the hands Of
state board Of education, and sales should
be made gradually at fixed prices, the pro-
ceeds to be invested in permanent securities,
and the interest used to establish 4 c. NJ
pulsory system Of educatioD. The school
lands, and the fund resulting from their sale,
should be placed beyond the reach of the
legislature. ] have been cx-rting myself TO
keep people of those school lands, and the su-
perintenlent of educa ion aud the courts are
making efforts to remove large num' ers II
squatlcrs who are depreciating the value OF
he lands.
PLANS OF DIVISION.
It is my belief that twenty or thirty days
session Of an enlarged legislature, elected ut
the question of dividing the Territory, and
coull frame an ena' ling act with the proper
restrictions. The plan OF division recently
discussed in the Tribune was the one sug
gested in my annual message, though had
not seen the Tribune when wrote the message.
The plan Was, in brief, to make state OF south
eastern Dakota, which will have, before the
end OF the present congress, from 125, to
$4,000 inhabitants. aud then create territory
nOTtn oI tne iOsGy-et1tn paraiiei Sn0 SnOtneT
territory west of the Missouri river. It has
receiver good deal OF attention among the
people; but the preponderence of opinion lat
te,ly seems to favor making all south Of the
fOrty.slxth parallel into one state and all to
the north one territory. The masses are not
clamoring for immediate admission but the
majority of the business men desire one state
sh"ll be Immediately carved out of southern
Dakota and admitted during the forty seventh
congress-. All recognize the fact that the pres
ent Legislature Is crude affair (although it
exercise of much care will be necessary in per-
fecting territorial laws 50 that the new state
institutions shall be founded On something
solid. You cannot safely build big house
upon Pile Of cobble stones. s
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