Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-30
THEY ARE NOW LAWS.
Three Financi Bills Received the
Governors Signature.
PROVIDING FOR FUTsRE PAYMENT.
A New Law for the Registration Of Voters
Also Signed, and
ANOTHER CHANGING WARRANT ISSUES

|
to State moneys. One of them is sup
plement to the act passed at this session,
authorizing the assignment of 500, 900 from
the general to the sinking fund this year
and S400, 1000 each succeeding year. The
second bill on this subject grew out OF the
payment of the direct tax money by the
United States Government to the State,
which lessened the necessities of the sinking
| fund
The act approved to-day provides for the
assignment of So, 900 to that fund this year
and $1,000 annually in subsequent years.
Another bill signed directs the transfer OF
the direct tax fund.- amounting to 81 ,654,
I'll 43, to the sinking fund, and requires the
commissioners of the sinking fund to apply
it to the payment of the public debt, relm-
bursable or payable February 1, 1892.
More Than Enough to Pay.
Including this money, there will be in the
sinking fund at the time indicated more
than the sum required to pay off the debt
that will mature in 1892, which amounts to
about So, ,000, 900. The loan of which this is
a part originally amounted to $4,000, 900,
but nearly s., ,0O0, 900 of it has been retired by
purchase of bonds.
In 1894 another loan will fall due, and it
will be redeemed by the application of a
portion of the State money invested in
United States securities The next loan
| after that which will mature in 1892 will be
reimbursable or payable in 1912, and the
100000 authorized to be assigned to the
sinking fund yearly will be sufficient, with
Government bonds, to wipe out that debt,
if it should not be iquidated before that
time by the redemption of bonds
A Radical Change in Warrants.
| A very necessary and important bill ap-
| proved by the Governor to-day makes a rad
| ical change in the signing of warrants. Un-
| der the present law the Auditor General
does not eountersign warrants representing
one-half of the State appropriations, and
this bill provides that all warrants for the
| payment of moneys from the State Treasury
that are not drawn by the Auditor General
in accordance with the provisions of this
act shall be presented to that official to be
charged and countersigned by him before
they shall be paid by the State Treasurer.
All warrants issued after the passage of
this act, that are not so charged and counter
signed, shall be declared illegal and void,
and the State Treasurer is prohibited from
paying them. Under the operations ofprior
legislation, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction drew about one-fourth the
warrants in amount without having them
countersigned by the Auditor General The
Governor, Adjutant General and others were
invested with simila: power. Then the
Auditor General had no means of knowing
how much of the amount of appropriations
was unpaid, but the fact that every warrant
on the Treasury must bear his name will
enable him, without difficulty. to learn the
exact situation of the appropriations.
The passage of this bill was recommended
by Governor Pattison il a special message,
submitted to the last Legislature.
A New Registry Law.
The Governor also to-day approved the
bill to change the time and manner of max
ing the registry sofsyoters and to define the
duty of registry assessors, requiring them to /,
visit in person each dwelling house in their
district or division on the first Monday of
May and the first Monday of December By
this means an entirely new registration will
be secured every year. Secretary Harrity
has addressed a communication to the
County Commissioners, in which he directs
their attention to the new act for the pur-
pose of familiarizing them with its pro-
visions.
Another bill signed by the Governor pro-
vides for two additional clerks in the Adiu-
tant Generals department, to preserve the
muster rolls Of the civil war. A preamble
attached to the act sets forth that the mus
ter rolls of different organizations from
Pennsylvania during the late war have by
frequent and constant use become worn and
portions obliterated or lost, thus rendering
it impossible, in many instances to furnish
certificates of the records of soldiers in re-
sponse to many requests for them.
Manipulating the Wholesale Bill.
Representatives Fow and Quigley, of
dalrn ad he
day and directed his attention to the course
of the committee of conference on the bill
regulating the distribution of retail liquor
license moneys, in incorporating subjects
which had not been in controversy between
the two Houses. They claimed that the
committee had violated the requirements of |
the Constitution in thus modifying the bill,
which, as introduced and passed through |
both Houses, simply provided how the |
license fees should be distributed.
The Conference Committee raised the fee |
in cities of the frs and second class from |
$500 to 81 900, in which shape the bill has |
reached the Governor. The object of the |
visit of the Philadelphia Representatives to
the Executive Chamber was to induce the |
Governor to veto the bill. on the ground |
that violence had been done to the Constitu-
tion by the committee to which the differ
ences of the two Houses had been referred |
for adjustment. There is no doubt that the |
committee transcribed its powers; but the
Governor will hardly disapprove the bill on
that account. Ifhe established precedent
of this character, he would be Kept busy
vetoing legislation, or as much of it as is
changed from its original purpose by the
conference committees.
Labor Legislation Enacted.
The Legislative knights of Labor Com
mittee is not disposed to boast of the work
it got through the Legislature. The COM
mittee was particularly interested in the
passage of about dozen and half bills,
but only four were permitted to reach the
Governor. One of these is the anthracite
mining act, prepared by commission; one
provides maximum penalty for violation
of the semi-monthly pay law; one provides
for the enforcement of Section 8
of Article XVII. of the Constitution, pro-
hibiting corporations from engaging in any
other business than that for which they
were Incorporated to transact.
This bill prohibits company stores and is
made necessary, for the reason that the
Supreme Court declared an act having
similar purpose in view unconstitutional
because it was construed to embrace in
1ividuals in its operations. The other bill
passed repeals the conspiracy acts, under
which several years ago large number of
Washington county miners were convicted
md imprisoned. The bituminous mining
bill was negatively reported by the Senate
Committee on Mines and Mining, notwith-
standing it was the combined work of eight
miners and mine inspectors and like num-
Der Of operators, who, while declining to
ign 1t, had urged no serious objection to