The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-14
LAWMAKERSO OF THE STATE.
A Caucus TO Be- Held on The EleCtilg Of
Judicial Officers.


to Represent the Party Without the
Populists Having Hand in it-Rock-
wells Bill on the Election of oflesrs
by Savannah's Council Passed-The
First Half of the Session to Be Up on
Saturday Next.
Atlanta, Ga, Nov. 13.-The democrats of
the House to-day determined to caucus
on the proposition to change the present
method Of selecting judges and solicitors,
so that if a change is made and a careful
study Of the drft of sentiment among the
lawmakers justihes the prediction that
there viii be a change, it viii stand alone
to the credit Of the Democratic party.
The populists are close-mouthed on the
subject Of taking the judiciary elections
out Of the hands of the legislature. and il
is not known what position they would
take if it was left to the two houses to
choose plan, except it is safe to say that
they would combine and endeavor to em-
barrass the party before the people, If pos
sible.
The determination to caucus on the ques-
ton was brought about this morning by
the action of the House on the bill of Mr..
Houston of DeKalb The bill, which pro-
vldes for the election of the Judiciary by
the people, was reported adversely to the
House by the general judiciary committee.
Upon motion to agree to the report OF
the committee, which would have
killed the bill Immediately, Mr..
Hopkins of Thomas moved to
make that motion the special order for
next Friday, and without discussion the
motion was adopted. Thus the fate Of the
bill goes over to Friday and on so inn
portant measure, affecting the people OF
the whole state vitality and materially. 1t
became necessity to know the senti-
ment Of the Democratic party, and not
give the populists an opportunity to de-
eide the fate OF the bill A call for eau
Gus was quickly circulated, and when
the House adjourned Chairman Jenkins
ordered the caucus to meet Thursday
night.
Besides deciding whether the Judiciary
shall be elected 10y the people hereafter
or be appointed by the governor. or
Whether there will be any change In the
present system at all or not the caucus
Thursday night viii pass on the military
appropriation.
When the legislators finish their days
work on Saturday Just one-haIf of the
have expired
To-day both houses passed their first
bills. The sessions were short, but on ac-
count Of lack Of business and not for
an indispositon to work Fewer bills.
especially local bills, have been intro
duced up to the present time than within
a similar period of any preceding Iegisla-
ture since the war, and the Indications
are that the volume Of business done will
| be unusually small The political ex-
| citement of the past year kept down the
usual flood of local bills and the leglsla-
tive elections also effectively diverted the
minds Of the legislators from law-makinR.
Mr. Rockwell of Chatham got his bill
to fix the time Of holding elections for
city officials by the mayor and council
OF savannah through along with the first
batch OF bills pc ssed by the House this
morning. Two other bills by Mr.. Rock
well were also passed to-day They are
TO allow judges Of the superior court to
commit persons TO the insane asylum
during the absence Of the ordinary and
to regulate fishing in the waters of the
state.
Among the other bills past was one by
Mr. Worley Of Ebert, authorizing judges
TO appoint commissioners to lay off doWers
in vacation as well as in term time.
The bills for the appointment of a county
the time for holding Dooly superior court
were also passed
Among the new bills introduced were
two important insurance bills One was
by Mr.. Broyles of Milton and provides
/ that all mutual assessment life Insurance
companies Of the state desiring to do bus
mess in other states shall deposit securi-
/ ties with the state treasurer Of Georgia.
| The other bill requires fire insurance com
| panies 70 pay the face value OF policies
/ IN case Of loss, regardless Of contracts to
/ the contrary.
Mr.. Jones Of Dougherty to-day intro
/ duced bill revising the fee lists of JUS
/ tcos OF the peace.
one Of the most important bills Of the
/ session was introduced in the Senate to-
day by Mr. Mercer. His object Is to re-
/ lieye the supreme court. TO accomplish
/ this the bill provides that the supreme
/ court shall have the right to review the
decisions Of lower courts without writing
/ out a formal opinion when no important
/ questions are raised, and the amount of
money involved is small. This method
/ would not only relieve the court but re-
duce the number Of volumes Of supreme
court reports considerably, thereby sew
ing a good deal Of money TO the state,
as well as to the lawyers who buy the re-
ports.
The drst bill passed BY the Senate was a
/ local bill providing a public school sys-
/ TEN for the town Of Madison.
The Senate passed the bin introduced by
Mr. Roberts. making the offense Of cheat
/ ing and swndHns punshable under sec
tion l,3i0 OF the code, like all other msde-
meanors the present punishment being
/ Imprisonment.
In executive session the Senate con-
frmed the following appointments made
by Gov Atkinson:
Howell Cobb judge. and John ID. Nell
solicitor, city court OF Clarke county
John j.. Brannen, Judge and George w
Williams, solicitor, city court OF Bullooh
circuit.
Thomas ". Hopkins. solicitor. city court
OF Monroe county.
Sou IN Surgeons in Session.
Charleston, g. c., Nov i3-Tho seventh
annual convention OF the Southern sur.