The Dickinson press., 1889-03-09
DAKOTA LEGISLATION.
Thursday, February 70.

ASA'E
The principal incident of the session
occurred in the house. 1t came at the
closing minutes, and arose upon a mo-
ton to reconsider the vote that passed
the railroad bill and lay that motion
upon the table. Adams made the mo-
ton. and while it was pending Nc
Hughes made a motion to adjourn. A
point Of order was raised. Speaker
Keith ignored the point of order and
put the motion to adjourn and declared
it carried. amidst a volley of nays and
cries of appeal from the decision of the
chair. Members were on their feet call.
ing fora hearing, but no hearing was
accorded. The speaker left the chair
ABRUPTLY. and when he came down to
the floor was first uccosted by one of his
friends, who characterized his conduct
as an outrage and by others, who adj
dressed him in the severcst language at
their command. The speakers friends
from Sioux Falls say he has committed
q political suicide. and that his arbitrary
adjournment of the house has few pre-.
cedents in the history of arbitrary dis
missals of parliamentary bodies. The
reason for his arbitrary action was that
delay until tomorrow upon the matter
of reconsideration would enable the enc
mics of the bill to rerally their forces
and probably defeat the measure. The
bill is an exact copy of the Minnesota
railroad commission law. 1t passed by
a vote of 90 to 10. The ayes were Ben
nett. Bergman, Buster, Burnham. Cooke,
Douglass, Elliott, Fletcher, Green, Gron.
nay, Jones, Lampman, Logan, McHugh.
Miller, Morris, Partridge, Potter. Powell,
Price. Ryan and Van Etten-@ Nays:
Allen, Clark, Hunter, Mallory, Mcneil,
Newman. Palmer. Parkin. Patten. Rams.
dell, Ryan, Sheets, Smith, Trude, Turn.
bull, Cpham. White, Welcome and
Kcith-l9. Others paired and were ex-
cused. This result was the termination
of the fight of the session, and was the
test of what this granger legislature
would do. This bill had side-tracked
the Farmers alliance railroad bill. and
the bill prepared by the joint railroad
committee. Thesel We're declared un-
constitutional. and indefinitely post.
poned. Farmer Morris, who was not in
the combination that made Hunter
chairman, introduced the Minnesota law
and made it an independent movement
for overseeing the railroads.
Speaker Keith says that the house had
been i'll session over seven consecutive
hours. The motion to adjourn was prop
erly given precedence. MANY members
We're on their feet and nj putting on
their coats preparatory to leaving. He
believed and still believes that a ma jority
voted to adjourn, and he so declared. 4
division was called for, but after the
vote was announced, and without
thought as to what motion was pending,
when the motion was put he simply an:
nounced: The house stands adjourned"
Had hp Sunnoced for a rnnp,ept that n
was possible to ~misconstrue his motives,
or had he ever considered to what the
motion to reconsider related, he would
have recognized the call for a division.
The item of interest in the house was
the passage OF the bill locating the North
Dakota agricultural college at Valley
City by a vote of 32 to 8. After this
bill passed the council Councilman Nc
Donald wired five members of congress
whom he knew to get the names of the
places where institutions were located
stricken out Of the territorial admission
bill while in conference committee. The
land appropriation therefore reads 3d.
600 acres for an agricultural college for
North Dakota. and no place named.
Therefore it would go to Valley City or
any city where the legislature saw fit to
locate it. Valley City gives eighty acres
on the north side of the town adjoining
a school section. A memorial TO con.
gress, too late to reach that body, asking
for an appropriation to build up Fort
Lincoln, passed the house.
COUNCIL.
In the council the bill providing for
the Australian system of voting passed
by a good vote-1G to 5. Nays were Dol
lard Ericsson Hnrstad Walsh and Wash.