The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-04-21
THE LEGISLATURE.

done, and left undCne those which
should have been attended to. This
is fault common ito all legislative
bodies, always has been and will
! doubtless continue on indefinitely
| This is not because there is control
ling influence in such bodies against
doing all things good, and favorable
| to doing some which are bad, but to a
| large extent is accountable from the
! fact that body of men governed by
desire to do that which is for the best
interests of society look upon certain
measures from different staDdpoints
and hence arrive at different conclu-
SiOnS.
As the work of the legislature just
adjourned is summed up and put in
tangible shape, where the result of
its labors can be judged, it will be
noted that it has performed consider
able good work and has not
performed much that is detrimental
TO the best interest of the state. 1t
cannot be denied that it has wasted
much time in useless talk that might
have been better spent in considering
useful measures. But if the time SO
wasted had been used in the consider
tion of useless measures, which II en-
acted into laws, had operated against
the best interests of the state, then
the state is the gainerby this time be
ing frittered.away as 1t was, salthough
this will serve as no excuse to the leg
islature for the time wasted, which
ought to have been used to better ad-
vantage for the state in general.
The present legislature accomplish
ed much that the farmer asked for
and in this respect made an advance
upon the record of former ones. In
the grain legislation, putting the coun-
try elevators under the control of the
railroad and warehouse commission,
the farmer has been given chance to
secure redress for the wrongs he may
have suffered in the handling of grain.
Another bill gives to the people the
right to erect warehouses upon rail-
way rights of way, for the purpose of
storing and shipping grain. In pass
ing these measures the Republicans
have redeemed the pledges they made
to the farmers that they would enact
such such measures for their relief,
and in this respect much more has
been accomplished than was the case
in the preceding legislature.
Another important measure is the
free text book act, which makes our
common schools free in fact. 1t
would doubtless been far more effec-
tive, and attended with better results,
had it been compulsory instead of OPP
tional, but with the sentiment that is
being built up in its favor the matter
will doubtless receive a fresh impetus
and spread quite generally over the
state.
Most important in the work Of the
legislature has been the reduction in
taxation, whereby the state tax has
been reduced from.2.2 mills, where it
was put blythe preceding reform" legis-
lature, to IL mills, by the present. In
these days when the charge is made
that it is easy to increase taxation but
hard to get it reduced again, the PEG
ple will remember this move with
grateful feelings.
The passage OF the new capitol bill
which provides for structure requis-
tie to the needs of the state, and the
distributing of the cost over a series
of years, is an act which, as we have
before stated in these columns, we be-
lieve will more and more commend
itself to the people of the state.
There was much work performed in
each house which at the time was
subject to severe, and we believe just
criticisms, but it failed to be endors-
ed by the opposite house and so failed.
There are number of measures
which were defeated or failed because
of want of time to reach them, that
ought to have been passed. Among
these are the Markham bill which pro-
vided for the taxation of unused rail-
road lands, the charter bill and the
anti.pool room bill. The bill to regu-
late election primaries and bring
them under the Australian system,
was another measure which was killed
that ought to have become a law.
There was also much legislation of
lesser mportanceu enacted. the bear
ing of which upon the welfare of the
state, will be for the good, which will
help to bring the record of this body
up to or above the standard of the
average.
There have been many scenes and
incidents to be condemned. Possibly
they are common to all legislative
bodies, but the less of them which oc-
cur the better.