Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-03-09
DISTURBERS OF THE PEACE.
WOMAN SUFFRAGISTS ATTACK
NORTH DAKOTA.
A Proposed Constitutional Amend
ment Which Would Give the
Fair Sex the Right to
Vote StirS Up the
Legislature.
Women in the Case.

Women In the Case.
Bismarck, N. D., Special, March A.
Among important bills passed and sent
to the governor to-day were McCanna's.
| allowing five days redemption on chattel
mortgage sales; Ueland's making rail-
roads responsible for fire set by engines;
McGillivray's anti-scalper; McCarten's
senate file 1877, requiring railroads to
furnish facilities for transfer of cars at
crossings; Kinter's senate file 81, provid
ing for platforms to load from wagons
| at all stations where there are elevators;
Grcsory's permitting women to hold the
office of notary public, and Stevens sub
uniting an amendment to the cOnstitu-
ton permitting women to vote. This
passed the house by 33 to %, more as a
joke OH the senate than otherwise, but
those opposed were so enraged because
of it that most of the afternoon was
spent in trying to undo the work. The
house undertook to recall with a view to
tabling, the speaker. declining to sign
the bill, and in the meantime refused
to return it, and the house by vote
of 30 to Is. instructed the speaker and
chief clerk not to sign the bill until
the senate consented to it,; return. The
president of the senate in retaliation re-
fused to sign any house bill until the
speaker signed this and called attention
to the fact that the speaker had no right
to withhold his signature from 6; bill
which received a constitutional majority
of both houses, certainly not unless au-
thoriZed by two-thirds, which would be
equivalent to IL suspension of the rules,
and they We're one short of two-thirds.
Speaker Walsh held that the resolution
to hold was properly passed, and Mr..
Iceland appealed from his decision.
Threats in the senate were made to
mandamus the speaker, and all business
blocked, when both houses recessed till
evening to cool off. Miss Lizzie Preston
of Lisbon addressed the house in favor
of the measure.
In the senate to-day the most exciting
scenes of the session were enacted. The
motion was made repeatedly to recall
the woman's suffrage bill, which had not
vet been signed by the speaker of the
house and sent to the governor. The
president repeatedly ruled all such mo-
lions out of order Finally recess was
voted and seventeen senators withdrew
from the senate and held Il caucus in
which it was agreed that if the lieutenant
governor did not recognize them they
would insist upon the president pro TEN.
putting the motion. On rcaSsembling
another motion was made and the lieu
tenant governor ruled as before. An ap-
peal w;ls asked, but the presiding officer
refused to put the question, and the pres
ilcnt pro TEN. pat the motion, which car
ricd. After an hours wranSlins the lieu
tenant governor decided 10 put the mo-
ton recalling the wonan's suffrage rcso-
luton and il carried by Il vote of II to
8. 1t was then discovered that the bill
was lost. and the lieutenant governor
charged Senator Stevens, chairman or
the wOnlHnS suffrage committee, with
having made away with the bill Stevens
was absent. and the SCI yea tn-at-arms or
tlcrcd to bring him in.
During the excitement the capitol JAM.
tor appeared with the bill, and stated
that he picked it up where 1t was
at the foot of the stairs. The postmaster
explained that it had been given to him
by Mr. Stevens. and he did not know
what it was. Senator Stevens explained
that ii must have fallen out of his pocket.
The statements of both gentlemen were
accepted and the bill returned to the
house. whore it WAS killed. The attempt
to recall the rrsnbnission bill from tine
house. with Il view of passing it. failed
by one vote. The house, after nearly an
hours wrangling over the subject, ordered
cXpungcd from the record all matters
to til" passage and recall from
t he senate of the wo1nan's suffrage bill
by Il vote of ~ to 20. 1t was the most
exciting fight in both houses since the
famous lottery strife in 1850. The lob
bies and galleries We're crowded with
spectators until midnight, when both
houses adjourned.
Shortly before adjournment tonight it
lnn h,t = Int, y,lot LII
which had been passed by both houses,
WAS lost. An effort was made in the
senate to gain Il clue to its whereabouts,
but without avail