Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1895-02-07
DAKOTA LAWMAKERS
FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
IN Bic NNlAL SESSION.
Many Measures Of More or Less lmpOr-
tance Bein; Introduced at the Present
Session of the south Dakota Legislature
"A busy Session.
The South Dakota Legislature.

The South Dakota Legislature.
Neither drouth, frost, depleted treasury,
or hard times seem to affect the fertility of
the mind Of the South Dakota Legislature
SO far as the introduction of bills is con-
cerned. The 3Dth inst brought its usual
rush. fifteen in the Senate and twelve in
the House. The House bills are: To pro-
v!de private crossings furnished by the
railroad where a man owns and fences both
sides OF the track; to abolish public ware
houses and grain grading: to keep state
funds in state safe: to make taxes a prior
lien on personal property: to pay states
attorneys 4 mills OF the first 100000 of
county assessment and l mill on the next
S5OO,WO, with 4 mill On all in excess.
House bill No. 1877, int? 0 ,uced by Mr.. Col
win Of Mitchell. would also hold railroads
more strictly to account for injury or dam
age 10 employees and passengers.
The principal Senate bills are: To give
$25 premium for sinking an a~rtesian we'll:
to more severely punish indecent crimes:
to tax shot guns and rifles; to pay the
Railroad Commissioners $1,000 per annum
each and their clerks $500, and to make
more easy the terms of redemption of
;foreclosed mortgages. In passing the CEN
SNS "hhA wiz iNAS So NStiNAlNNa ~ 40 " l'uA
the work in the charge of the Commission
,er of Labor and Statistics instead of the
Auditor and cut the appropriation from
5000 TO $1,000. 1t also passed several
minor bills affecting court prejudice, but
when the bill changing the rate of interest
under contract from II to 10 per cent. came
up a snag was struck, and after Mc>srs.
Kelly, Day and Doran of Sanborn on one
sitn aud NIn Will, &c L,l d.. 80, A.,
other, had spoken the bill under motion of
MIR. Aplin went over for correction TO make
it comply with the rules of the Senate.
A little Juror of excitement has arisen
over the alleged effectiveness of the resub
mission resolution recently passed. Nose
Kaufman, the leading lobbyist for rcsub-
mission, has been at Pierre for several
days, and Mrs. Cranmer and Mrs. Simmons
have just arrived. 1t is not likely that the
,reSubmission resolution will fall short of
its purpose.
Additional excitement was created by
the introduction by Mr.. Gold Of a bill re-
Gently enacted. 1t is the bill which pro-
vides for the issuance of anticipatory war
rants based on taxes already levied, but
not collected. The Supreme Court has de-
cided the bill defective, hence the move
ment to repeal and substitute therefor
bill No. 200, introduced on the 31st. which
bases the warrants on taxes levied or to be
levied. This of course makes the issue
limited only by the bills that legiti-
mately demand payment, while the orig
inal bill limited the issue to taxes already
levied. and hence might have fallen short
of the required amount. Under the new
bill warrants at ! per cent. should receive
ready sale at the face value, as they will
be as safe as Government bonds.
just before adjournment the Senate in
!dulged in a series of resolutions, amend
mentS and substitutes, in reference to the
appointment of committees to visit the
public institutions, but after confusion had
'reigned for thirty minutes the whole mat
ter was tabled. \ majority and minority
report has been made on the referendum
and this will doubtless occasion a little
sskirmish when it comes up.
Eleven bills were reported favOrably.
The House succeeded in passing House bill
No. 50, known as the sheriffs' bill.
At the meeting of the Railroad Commit
tee it was decided to invite attorneys of
the jObbers and of the railroads, together
with any n interested. to a hearing be-
fore the committee on the evening Of the
7th.
There was eloquence in the House on
the LIST and a flood of new bills in the Sen
ate. The occasion for the 'big talks
arose over the final passage of a bill which
makes void a chattel mortgage that at
tempts to cover property not in existence,
like crops to be grown, or the Increase OF
stock, and also a bill which changes Grim
inal procedure and allows the defense to
close the case. The former discussion was
engaged in by leading members of every
profession and the latter by Speaker How
ard, Representatives Glass, Barron and
others.
In the Senate on the LIST twenty-six new
bills were added to the calendar and only
four or five measures passed. Most of the
new bills were Of general minor interest
No. 215, by Senator Hebal. would provide
an inspector of sheep; n. 225 would verify
the educational interests Of towns and
cities and No. 229 extend city Jurisdiction
one mile beyond the city limits to control
brOthels, gambling houses, etc. A join,
resolution by Senator Foote would limit
telephone rates to 81 for each instrument
used in an Office and So for residence and
rs cents for a single message with answer
Six Senate and three House bills were
recommended for passage. In the first
reading there was presented the text of a
bill introduced by Senator Boyce fixing
salaries of cities Of the first class and the
text of Senator Crawford's bill, which
makes it a crime for state officers, Judges
and Legislators to accept any railroad, tel.
egraph or telephone passes. A joint reso.
luton amending the constitution so tina
towns, ETC., can bond up to TOPPER cent. OF
their value, passed unanimously and the
bill allowing a verdict in criminal cases b,
a three-fourths vote passed-40 to /. A
joint resolution passed both houses raising
a committee to prepared memorial to Con
gress to entreat that body to do something
''to aid a prostr ate nation TO regain it's los,
prosperity" The committee of the Senate
is composed of Senators kingsbury, Foote
and Doran. From the House the members
of the memorial committee are: Messrs
Dickoyer, Glass and Dowdell.
Little of interest transpired in the Leg.
islature on the Cd. The return of Attorne,
General Crawford from his trip east was O
more interest to all connected with state
affairs than the doings of the lawmakers
Senate bill No, 121, introduced by Mr.
kingsbury, has occasioned considerable,
discussion. The bill provides for an irri.
CATION commission Of three, appointed b,
the Governor, to investigate the feasibilit,
of tapping the Missouri River to bring tn,
water across the Jim River Valley for irri
CATION purposes.