Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-19
LAWS THAT WE NEED
ec,sLAToRs SUGGEST SOME OF
GREAT IMPORTANCE.
A Reduction In the criminaLEspense Ac-
count Considered rmperativeiy
Necessary.

cxtended the thirty days allowable, ends
,oo dave from December ith-that is 10 say,
April 2d-and there il 40 reason to suppose
H., tho decisions of the United States
Snnreme Court in the Virginia debt cases
viii he rendered by that time. There Is
no other strenuous ar unent advanced ioF
n.;eb;no 10 have the two houses here IN the
month of March. The idea has been that
the rnambers should 90 home and stay
February and return in March. so that
should the United states supreme Court
decide AGAINST us remedylng legislation
might be Immediately passed. NOW IL APP
pears that the cases are set Tor nearing
Jonuarv 9th. but NAV not be reached until
n week la.er. and may not he decided for
months and months Afterwards. -,
So il seems hardly necessary to wait Tor
''i Besides there is fear that recess Of this
sort m,ght grouse IN the DondhOld'rs
breasts hopes destined never to DO graft
fed.
THE GOVERNORS WINS.
Governor McKinney's message IS fully
endorsed by the Democratic mem hers' ana
tho bill Of Mr.. Tyler. Of Prince Nliialn 20
limit funding to the next twelve months
to allow no bonds 10 be funded into new
"a after n liked date-meets with the APP
DT0Nal OF lUt IllttAti al tA'4n's' ~
State Government and will no doubt NC
favorably reported by the House Finance
Committee. .,
Mr. Tvler i. not welded to o twelve
months limit, but he is Instructed by his
people TO endeavor TO get law passed Tx
Inc day after Which no old bond shall be
recognized by the State. The " Mickham
amendment cuts oil from funding great
mass of coupons. The Tyler amendment,
If enacted. will cut OF the bonds them
selves (Which are not tax-receivaole) after
q given day.
The debt thus remains the foremost State
ouestion. but how far TO leglslate on the
subject Just now is matter about Which
there is difference Of opinion: meanwhile
there are other subjects also Of great popu-
lar interest, and about these a I'spd6..
man has been talking with leaders OF
: thought in tho two houses.
ABOLITION or PREFERRED CREDITORS.
There are several measures before tho
legislature which. If passed. VII be pro-
motive of the public good, said Mr.. James
Hay. of Madison. chairman OF the House,
Committee for Courts of Justice. "One OF
the most important is the bill proposlng to
do away with the privilege OF preferr1ng
creditors. a privilege which has been very
grossly abused. aud exercised as IT mas
been. has operated against the commercial
interests Of the State. The bill Is now be-
fore the Committee fer Courts Of justice
of the House. and when II IS perfected II
will PROBABLY be confined IN its provisions
to persons in trade. and TO property en-
barkcd in commercial enterprises II
passed it will be highly promot'yc OF the
commercial interests Of the state, and VIII
put a stop to tho glazing frau IS which are
so frequently perpeIated under existing
laws"
CRIMINAL EXPENSES.
Zone OF most important of the several
important measures now being considered
by the legislature" said Mr.. +. RYAN,
OF LOudodn. chairman OF the House
Committee on Roads and Internal
Navigation, is proposition 70 re-
ouire each county and city to pay Its own
criminal expenses. The matter is beng
considered by tho Finance Committee, ana
if reported favOrably and adopted by the
Legislature will save to the state large
amount OF money. In order to show the
injustice Of the present system 1t VIII only
he necessary to refer to the counties OF
Loudoun and Scott. The criminal ex-
penses of Loudoun are % per cent. OF Ter
State tax-that of Scott county Is ~ per
cent. of the State tax. Ny idea is that
taxes should be reduced in proportion to
the amount saved to the State by reason
of the criminal expenses being paid by the
counties aud cities"
nEFoRA IN COURT MATTERS AND REDUCTION IN
CRIMINAL EXPENSES.
81 consider the resolutions-on of which
went to the Finance Committee and the
Others 10 Courts of Justlce-havlng IN
view the reduction of the criminal .eX-
penses of the State the most important
matter before the legislature" This was
the emphatic declaration Of Mr.. }.
W. G.. Blackstone, chairman of the
Senate Committee for Courts Of Jus
tice, and he added: Il cannot noN
give my views III full, but the sub-c0ln-
mitte6s Of the above committees VIII
consider the matter together. My present
idea is that the costs obtained by the Com
monwealths attorneys are a small item 2
| lut would take oil fees from them. giving
them in lieu thereof a certain percentage
upon the taxes paid by Their respective
counties. think the great expense Is IN
having numerous cases before the grand
jury that should be tried by a justice.
| Therefore in all cases Of mlsdemeanors
where the county court and the justices
have concurrent jurisdiction J would give
exclusive original jurisdiction TO the JUS
tice: and if there was question as to the
constitutional of the law on the
/ ground that the accused was deprived OF
| Jury trial ! would give the accused, rs
| ia some civil cases the rigGt OF removal be-
/ fore trial. Thus the case would be on the
! court docket without the expense OF
grand jury and grand jury witnesses. An
I other evil IS that all witnesses are sum
moned before the grand Jury for the hrst
dav and they attend day after day at cost
TO the State and 10 likelihood of being
heard. The attorney for the Common
wealth has his witnesses summoned teforo
the term, and would make him set his cases
before the grand jury for different days
and summon witnesses to these and limit
the number Of witnesses that can be sum.
moned to one day before the grand jury. /
would also direct the county Judge TO hA
and set his criminal docket tor d nereni
DAYS Of his term and that witnesses should
be summoned TO those days and not all &C.
the first. as is the present practice, when II
is known that little jury business can oe
done on the first day OF n county court
/ These are my views at present, but an
not especially welded to them. but am Will
ING to vote for and support any measuf
which will cut down these expenses Justly
and properly"
oYsTER-BEDs OF TIE COMMONWEALTH.
1.-THE most important measure before
| the LEGISLATURE" said Mr.. II. ID. Flood, OF
Appomattox. lis the bill for the preserya'
/ ton of oysters and obtaining revenue toI
| tnking them from the beds oil the Coh-
monwealth. This bill has not vet been pre-
sented. but has been discussed before tho
proper committee. The oyster-beds OF
Virginia are inquest onably very valuable
and should be n source of large revenue &c
the State. Instead of this. however. thcS
bring the State in debt several thousand
dollars every year. The receipts on ac-
count of the oyster-tax amounted IN the
/ last fiscal year to Sl2, 464.J6. The expenses
of keeping up the oyster navy and tees
paid 10 clerks for recording inspectors ac'
! counts amounted to Sl7, 5000, thus bring
ing the State in debt nearly $1,000.
"The bill in question proposes IN the
| first place to give the oyster.men better
protection; in the second place, TO have
the beds properly surveyed 80 as accurate
ly to ascertain the number OF acres IN each
! lease. The State has at least 10000 acres
Of available Dyster-bed, and gets rent tol
less than $4,000 acres. In the third place
TO increase the rental to ~ per acre. lht
State rents these beds now for 20 cents pen
acre. the party renting them deriving
revenue OF from $40 to $500 per acre.
: Ii" continued Mr.. Flood, Governor
Lee was correct in his message TO the lie
gislature in December, the State must IN
crease its revenue in some way. and here I
an interest owned by the state from which