The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1893-12-23
TRICKS IN LAwMAk,No.
Mr.. Sprlnger's Experience when He IVES
Clerk the Illinois House.. :.

df. SE9flnger'S Experience when He Vvo9
Clerk of tho Illinois House..
When a young man Hon. William NJ.
Springer was clerk of the Illinois house
of representatives. There was an APP
preparation bill consisting of a number
of items before the legislature. An at
tempt was made to have incorporated
in it an item appropriating the sum of
fifty thousand dollars for a certain pnr-
pose. majority of the house was OPP
posed to this particular appropriation.,
The bill as reported did not contain
the Objectionable item. When it came
to its final reading Mr.. Springer read
the bill in full The members listened
attentively and noted the fact that the
fifty thousand dollar item was not i'm
Guided in the bill as read.
Mr.. Springer laid the bill down on
his desk after reading it, and, taking
up the list, called the roll, the Illinois
constitution requiring yea and nsy
vote on the final passa ge of a bill. The
legislature, being economical, had no
supernumerary officers, SO that ONE
man had to perform the duties usually
devolving upon two or more persons.
The bill was passed, and Mr.. Springer
noted that fact on the back of the
prin ted copy of the bill and sent it over
to the senate. It passed that body and
was signed by the governor. It was
soon discovered that the act which re-
ceived the gubernatorial autograph
had incorporated in it the objections
BILE item.
This looked Sc rious, for the house, at
least, had not intended to pass that
item, and matter of fact had not
passed it, for it was not included in the
bill as read and voted upon in that
body. Mr. Springer was equal to the
emergency. He caused the journal to
show that the bill was read in full and
then incorporated it in the journal,
thus showing officially that the obnox-
ious item had not been voted upon or
adopted by the house A writ was
then sued ont enjoining the state treas
urer from paying the money The SUI
preme court granted it and made it
perpetual, thus going behind the APP
the attesting signatures of the presid-
ing officers of the two houses of the leg
islature to the journal of the house, and
accepting it as the best evidence of the
intention and act of the house of rep
and of the legislature
Whether the entire act was invalid was
not passed upon. and as no injunction
was applied for as to the other items
the appropriations they carried stood
and were paid.
Mr.. Springer thinks someone inter-
ested in the fifty-thousand-dollar APP
had n bogus bill printed in
exact imitation of the genuine, and
when, after reading it, he had laid the
genuine bill down on his desk the
spurious one was substituted quickly
and the genuine carried off and de-
stroyed. There being a crowd about
the desk at the time it was easy enough
to do this. Mr.. Springer said. Natur-
ally, he Endorsed what appeared to be
the proper bill without reading it
again. His ready wit, however, en-
abled him to defeat the game of the
even when it seemed to
be too late to do anything to repair the
mischief. 1t was never learned, Mr..
Springer said, who played .the sleight-e
of-hand triclk.-WashinS ton Post.