Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-01-27
LEGISLATIVE NOTES.

At u noon to-day each branch of the Legisla-
ture Will ballot separately for United States Sen
atOr as required by the Constitution. To-mor-
| row the matter Of the election Will be formally
settled by the members OF both branches meet
ing in joint convention and eiectiug eX-Gov-
ernor Leland Stanford us the successor 10 Sena-
tor James t. Farley.
During the discussion in the Assembly yester-
day OF the bin to prohibit the use of lead pencils
Ill scratching ballots, somehow or other the OPP
position thereto came from Democratic mem
bers. Mr.. Firebaugh. the author of the bill ex-
planned that at the late election great frauds
were committed in San Francisco by election
clerks erasing the names of certain candidates
from the ballots by means of bits of lead con
cealed beneath the finger nails By means OF
this trick certain Republicans were deprived of
offices to which they were elected. DR.. May ex-
pressed himself very warmly on the subject. He
said: " II only pen and ink are used, the will OF
the people viii be heard. and not that of scoun
drelS. An effort to strike out the pen-and-ink
clause was defeated, and the bill passed TO sec
ond reading
And still the food of new bills rolls over both
the Senate and Assembly. Something like 800
| have already been introduced In the latter
| house, and from present indications there are
several precincts yet to be heard from.
A certain Senator who can see no necessity for
| a prayer exceeding two and half minutes by
the clock, had am exciting time yesterday after
noon after the adjournment of the Senate. He
stepped into the Sergeant-at-ArmS' room and
threw letter into the fire. but before it touched
| the Goals the draft carried il up and it became
safely lodged on the side OF the chimney, lust
beyond the reach of the flames The Senator
| Immediately began making the most frantic eff
| forts to get the paper down into the fire and
have it consumed vowing he would not have
anybody see IL for $4,000. Pokers and tongS
| were used without effect as the heat would not
permit him 10 reach it with those short instru-
mentS. Finally the Senator armed himself with
broonstick, and with this and the aid of
eral pages and the unofficial retinue of the Ser
geant-0t-Arms, managed to brush the truant
document down into the fire. With Il beating
heart he stood until every inch of the paper
WAS consumed, and then heayed great sigh of
relief From the expression of terror on the
burned the onlooSeTs came 10 the conclusion it
must at least have contained grounds for di-
yorce
The Senate Committee on Hospitals returned
Yesterday from stockton where they were enter
tanned by Il ball at the Asylum.
The Senate Committee on State Prisons re-
turned yesterday evening from Folsom where
they took the testimony Of several witnesses as
to the state of affairs existing at that prison
On Thursday the committee viii probably 30 to
san Quentin and continue ADMINISTRATION.
Al meeting of the Assembly Judiciary Com
mittee. held last evening, six ont of nine of the
members present agreed to report unfavorably
Munday, intended TO require more definite sol
emnization of the marriage contract, and to
prevent Il continuance OF such free-love con-
Veniences as the Sharon-Hill case illustrates
There Will be minority report, and full dis
cussion will also ensue upon the floor of the
Assembly. If some Of the loose features of the
present law We're not placed in the statute by
parties excessively tender upon the marriage
question, i was certainly done for the benefit
OF those who wish TO use the socalled marriage
contract as Il guilt-lined moral cloak and an
easy going convenience to automatically fit the
immoral status OF the parties and occasion.