St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-03-20
SENATORIAL COMMENT.


multitudinous incongruities and incOn-
sstencies, but there is no question of
ms earnestness and sincerity in the
prosecution of the coal combine. He
assumes that there is no crime against
the moral government more UBIQUITOUS
than trust that has for its purpose the
exercise of functions self-abrogated and
for the specific purpose OF fixing eXorbi-
tant prices upon the commodities that
are principal in the catalogue OF the ne
cessities of life, for the profit of the
members or the combine. 1t is this
principle that seems TO actuate him III
his untiring efforts to unearth the lead
ing factors In the Conduct of the com
bine. He feels confident in his posi-
ton, ana declares that there is no lack
of evidence at his command. and all the
facts will be adduced in proper time.
The case will soon be begun in the
courts to test the law-that is, chapter
10 of the Session Laws of 1891. providing
a maximum penalty of $1,000 for being
interested or connected with trust or
combine.
~
1t was rumored last evening that
Rhodes, the manager, or arbiter, OF the
Northwestern bureau, had left the city,
but this was denied later, and assur-
ances are offered that he will stand his
ground and face the courts. At all
events, to the unsophiSticated, it looks
very much as though he was III very
serious position. Still, he may be able
| 10 eXtricate himself, 1t must be con-
fessed. Just what his line of defense
will be is mystery as yet. He testified
| before the committee of the legislature,
clothed with more than ordinary judi
cial powers, that there had been no rec
ord whatever kept OF the transactions
of the bureau. He supplemented this
upon oath that the only written docu-
mentary evidences that was extant was
| form of receipt that is issued to the
| subscribers of the bureau when they
| pay their tribute to the institution. The
| raid upon the bureau by the sergeant
alarms, at the instance of the commit
tee. developed the untruthfulneSS OF his
| testimony, and the committee tnlnk
| that there should be cogniZance taken
| OF this fact.
There are several measures that will
| come before the senate the present
! week that transcend most OF the other
| LEGISLATION when placed in comparison.
| There is the capitol bill. for lllustra-
ton. 1t is known that no little interest
| dLldCltS
| the senators, but the consensus OF opln-
ion seems to point to the fact that there
will be much less opposition to the pas
| sage of the measure in the senate than
| there was in the house, strange as this
| proposition may seem to the unlnltlated.
| The fght,it will be recalled,in the house
| was partisan in character, so 10 speak.
| The opponents based their opposition
| upon the fact that the senators from
Ramsey had fought the Markham bill.
| But there is little danger that this feel
ing will enter very largely into the ami
mus of the spirit of opposition that the
bill will have to meet in the senate. Inc
senators pride themselves, collectively
and individually, upon that native dig
| nity that is so refreshing to observe IN
| poiitical circles. They will not deign
| to impugn the motives Of other legisla-
| tors in the course that they may have
| seen fit to pursue upon other measures.
| They promise to act eonScientlOuSly and
| strictly without bias when the capitol
bill comes up for consideration on the
general orders.
Possibly next in importance upon
| general orders that the senate will have
to take up the present week Will be the
! free text books bills. There are two OF
| them, and they have been made spe-
! ciaI order for Wednesday afternoon at
| 2:3O. There is no doubt that the debate
| that will ensue will be interesting and
| exciting, for there are known opponents
| and known champions of the measures
| in the senate. The friends of the meas
! ures maintain that the effect must ull-
ayoidaDly be to throttle the monopoly
| that is exercised by the book concerns.
| This they urge is true for the reason
| that there will be an incentive
| on the part of the state to perfect
| a uniformity of the books throughout
( the state. The amount of money an
| nually paid to the book concerns, II IS
| asserted. is something enormous, and
the profits reaped because or the ire
uuent changes made in the catalogue OF
books from year to year, competing the
parents of school children to purchase
| new text books nearly every new term.
That is one of the arguments that will
! be brought out to support the bills.
| Then the opposition will wax eloquent
over the possibility of combines and
| other frauds that cannot exist under the
present system of contracting with a
certain institute N to supply the books
at market prices.
| If
| And it would be an insult to the fair
sex, possibly, to intimate that these
more ordinary measures stood prior 10
the Woman's rights bill that will arouse
| the latent eIoquence and the Inherent
abilities of the friends and the enemies
| of the bill tomorrow afternoon. That IS
the time when the Smith bill will be
/ considered upon the calendar. The bill
ran the gauntlet of general orders with
facility that augurs a passage tomor-
row, but it is whispered that there
! are several senators whose natural gal
lantry forbade them acting as they real
ly believe, owing to the bouquet Of
ladies that were in the lobby, and that
these same senators are somewhat Gym
lcal, and will vote against the bill when
| it comes up for third reading. All
| this remains to be seen. AT all events,
the measure will find two ardent adVo-
Gates III Senators DOnnelly and Leavltt.
On the other hand, Senator Mayo will
be untiring in his opposition, upon the
| hypothesis that as the Creator designed
woman for mans helpmeet and social
and domestic companion, He did not
make the mistake of placing her at the
helm and declaring that she should rule.
tie
The bill taxing sleeping car companies
| is not considered of slight Importance
bv the senate. Senator Stevens, when
he endeavored to pass the bill Friday
summarily, was not little surprised
that the move met with opposition. and
when he saw that it was attacked he
asked that it go over and come up III It's
regular order. That course was taken.
and the bill will be reached in day or
two, when the views of the opposition
will develop.
And there is. another bill that will
enlist the argumentative powers OF the
senate, and flood of Oratory is prom
/ ised on it. The bill has been set for a
special order for Tuesday afternoon at
3o'clock, and the bill is the Eaton in
terest measure. There will be an ear
nest attempt made to amend the bill SO
as to incorporate section of the Lom-
men bill that was indefinitely postponed
the other day. This section makes
| usury practices felony and punishable
by imprisonment of from SIX months to
! one year, in the discretion of the court.