The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1892-03-05
MISSOURI STATE NEWS.
Mississippi River Improue1en,

Aississippi River ImproveEent-
The river improvement committee Of
the St Louis Merchants exchange re-
ceived q telegram the other day from
Web. NJ. Samuels, who is in Washing
ton in the interest of the bill to appro-
pirate money for the permanent i'm
provenent Of the river, saying that the
movement was being received with ia
vor and even enthusiasm.
He thought 3 was .unwise, however, to f1 the
amount wanted larger than the engineers and
members Of the river commission say can be
tudiciously expended annually. They viii, said
thee telegram, name an amount less than ST.
Louis asks for. probably S4.ooo.0O0 or $soO0C
annually for the whole river. Inasmuch a. the
upper river Is included, Senator Allison is sat
isned. knd, 1t may be well to add 100000 to the
senate bill OF Senator Vest for general bill
The following telegram was sent in
reply:
The committee desire you to insist on the
separate bin for the permanent improvement of
the Mississippi river. II you think advisable,
after comforting with the river commission and
corps of engineers, to reduce the amount to be
annually expended you are authorized to do 1t.
We want to adhere to the principle we wish to
establish, namely, appropriation providing for
annual expenditure for the continuous improve
ment Of the river until it is permanently i'm
proved.
The bill the river improvement COM
mittee prepared asks for IS. 600, 600 an
nually.
State Taxation.
State Auditor Seibert is in q puzzle,
as the following from the Globe-Demo-
crat will show:
The state constitution provides that when the
enue tax shall be reduced from 2oc to 15c on the
500 valuation. In his recent report Auditor
Seibert says that this point has been reached,
and that the abstracts Of assessments in his
o flce will bring the total up to about 500 900,
000. He says it is evident at 9 glance
that levy Of l5c on the 500 valuation will
not be sufficient to meet the transfer
Of one third Of the revenue fund for sup
port Of the public schools and pay the expenses
Of the state government This would incur
reduction of nearly s4OO, 900 on the assessment
for 1891, and with such q reduction the auditor
says 1t will be impossible to meet the demands
on the revenue fund. It is perfectly plain that
the board must either increase the assessment
enough to make up for the loss Of SC on the
500 valuation or reduce the assessment
below the s90O,0O.OOO limit Property is
very near up to its actual value,
and an increase Of 25 per cent. would prove an
injustice. Farm land Is supposed to be assessed
at about one third Of its value. but agrculturists
are not in favor of an increased valuation on
their land, and at the same time they are de-
msnding reduction of taxation. The board,
while discharging its functions jim equalizing the
L.
$500 10000 and retain the full tax. This course
will probably be adopted.
Want the University.
The St Louis county court, at a spe
cial session at Clayton, called for that
purpose, passed an order rendering the
county farm, beautiful tract of $500
acres lying north of the town of Allen
ton, to the general assembly of Mis-.
souri,, on condition that that body es-
tablish the state university thereon. 1t
was stated at the meeting that a ma
jority of the st. Louis members of the
legislature favored the Attention site,
and had pledged themselves to sup
port it
ANOTHER OFFER.
Independence also offers to donate
forty acres of ground and rebuild the
State university according to the states
own plans, without expense to the state,
and to give bond of $1,000 for
faithful performance.
Will Not Ask for More.
The following interview with Mr. J.
Y Gwvpp rooapf1v ANNA, rod II, tho Gt
Louis Globe Democrat:
The board of Worlds fair commissioners Of
Missouri does not intend to ask the legislature
for any further appropriation beyond the $780,
900 already secured. A great many reports to
the contrary have crept out, but rs q member Of
the board am prepared to deny them A num-
ber Of interests throughout the state have been
urging q further appropriation because they
could not obtain as much money as they re-
spectively wanted to aid them in making ex-
hibits. The horticulturists wanted $4,000, the
i've stock interest asked for 10000 more, and
so on. until the demands aggregated more than
$4,000. It is quite possible that these interests
will urge the legislature to appropriate more
money. but the board will not do so. We can
make a good showing with the present sum,
although I do not consider it at all commen-
,urate with the magnitude Of the states re-
,ources and wealth"
Funeral of Father Porta-
The funeral of Father Porta, late
priest of the church of the Immaculate
at Springfield, was attend
ed here by one of the largest gather
ngs of all classes of citizens over seen
n Springfield on a similar occasion.
Bishop Hogan, of Kansas City, Off
.iated, assisted by fifteen priests from
7arious parts of the state. The body
was inferred beneath the altar of the
church.
Too Weak tn Go to the GaIlows.
Peter Wright, the colored murderer,
who was to have been hanged at St
Joseph the other day, and who was
,ranted short respite by the supreme
,ourt, will never go to the gallows.
FOR weeks he has been seriously i'll,
md his death is looked for at any time.
lie is too weak to take nourishment,
md can last but a short time longer.
Condemned Indecent Pictures.
At a recent meeting OF the St Louis
.harity conference the custom of dis
,laying indecent pictures on bill
,oards as advertisements for theatrical
lays and other purposes was con-
emned. and a resolution was passed
skiing the Christian men Of the city to
end their influence toward the abate-
nent of the nuisance.
Henry County Courthouse.
The contract to build the new court
louse for Henry county was let to
Iayde & Co.. of Scdalia. for s47. .221, to
,e completed within twelve months
Kansas City Grain Inspectors