The morning call., 1895-02-26
REGULATING THE
ATTACHES AGAIN
A BILL INTRODUCED CALLING
FOR HOLD : OVER
CLERKS,
TWO BILLS WERE SIGNED.
NIGHT SESSIONS PROPOSED TO RUSH
URGENCY BILLS THROUGH
THE HOUSE.

SACRAMENTO, Feb. 25.-The attache QueS.
ton was attacked boldly by the Committee
on Attaches and Employees to-day. They
introduced bill providing that the secre,
tary of the Senate and his assistants, the
clerk of the Assembly and his assistants
the minute clerk and one assistant, the
sergeant-at-arms and one assistant, the
postmistress, three gatekeepers and three
pages of each House shall perform their
duties at thet next session of the Legis-
lature till their successors are elected and
qualified. The bill then makes definite
House. This allows sixty-six for the Sen
ate and seventy-eight for the Assembly.
This number includes ten clerks TO do the
work for the Senate committees and fiji
teen clerks for the Assembly committees.
Instead of stenographer for each com
mittee five are to be appointed for the
work of the Senate and six for the Assem-
bly,. The bill provides that the number
allowed shall only be increased by four
fifths vote of the House. The bill also
lowers the salaries of a number of the
clerks materially.
No more bills can be introduced in the
Assembly this year. To-day was the last
day allowed by law and the Legislature
hurried in tifty-six. This brings the total
number of bills up to 1914. Last year there
were S57.
Governor Budd this morning signed two
bills. One of them was the bill allowing
the State to purchase lands sold for delin-
quent taxes. The other gives the Super
visors power TO lessen the time formerly
allowed for commencing and completing
railroads under franchises granted by cities
An immense amount of business was
transacted. Not the least of this was the
formation of an urgency file," upon
which each member may put one bill A
second resolution, providing that these
urgency file bills be disposed of at evening
sessions, viii, if it is adopted, enable the
present Legislature to accomplish more in
given time than has been done for wears.
Among the bills placed on this file is one
which Will cause much commotion among
the money-lenders of the State. 1t comes
number eleven on the file, and so will be
considered Wednesday morning. This bill
makes any contract or device whereby a
lender draws more than 10 per cent interest
illegal. 1t also reduces the legal rate of
interest from to per cent.
Pet measures were given a chance to be
considered to-day. The new rule of the
House allowing each member to put bill
on special urgency file to be considered
Wednesday was started off by the listing
of the Assemblymen by lot. The man
whose bill viii be first considered is Nc
Aelvey OF Orange. Dinkelspiel and Powers
OF San Francisco come next, while Boothby
OF San francisco is last on the list.
This new rule gives each member who
desires an opportunity to take one bill ont
OF the file and make it a special order for
Wednesday. The idea is to give the House
chance to take out those bills of special
importance from the mass OF ordinary
measures.
The special order for to-day was the con-
sideration of the bills sent in by those con-
testing for seats in the Assembly. These
formed a part of the report of the Com
mlttee on Contested Elections. 1t was
decided to consider the bill in sections.
Wade of Napa objected to the payment
OF the expenses of the contestants where
the committee had reported that the party
had no ground for contest. This met with
no opposition and a resolution to that
effect was adopted.
Inc hrst bill to be considered was that of
l. M. Merrill of San Francisco, whose seat
was contested by Ed J. Reynolds. The
bill amounted to $2131. OF this sum there
were two items of $500 each for Merrilps
attorneys. AS usual when an appronria-
ton was suggested, Bledsoe of Humboldt
had an amendment.
This sum asked for" he said, sis too
large Attorneys come here, and because
1t is the State that has to pay the bills thew
demand amounts far beyond the actual
value of their services. 1 therefore submit
this amendment to reduce each fee from
$500 to $780,
brusle OF Sacramento had expected some
thing of this sort from Bledsoe. Reipo
forewarned he forearmed himself nv 1ooJ'
ing over the old files of the Assembly. pet.
ting Bledsoe's action at the previous session
of the Legislature.
lie said 1t seemed strange that the mem
Der from Humboldt should find that attor-
neys oyereharged this year while last wear
ne thought their charges Just. sFor. of
course" said he, che would not have rec.
commended an attorneys fee of$1oOO in the
contest OF Brown against DAILY at our last
session, as 1t is shown he did on naoa dao
OF the Journal. Nor would he have reco,,.
mended another fee of exactly the same
SIZE IN the contest of Campbell versus
Eahle, as is shown on page 446. Page 449
shows, too, that he concurred in allowing
another attorneys fee of $1,000 Now Of
course, these fees were earned else Mr.
Bledsoe would not have agreed to them. #
seems curious, therefore, that he should
object to bills only half the size of those he
recommended"
Mr.. Bledsoe said never word. The AS
sembly smiled audibly at his discontinue
and proceeded to recommend the appro-
priation of $6514 50 to pay the demands OF
the contestants. These amounts allowed
are: |. NJ. Merrill, $2131; E. J. REYNOLDS.
$50; J. J. Wilkinson, 1892; d. C. Smith.
1854 so; Mark A. Devine, $I269; James
Scheerer, 1878, and T. E. Treacy, 1890.
Dodge OF Alameda then asked that the
rules be suspended in order that he might
Introduce the new county government bill
out OF order. This was allowed, and it was
sent at once to the printer with orders that
1000 copies of 1t should be printed at once.
new classification of the counties was
also introduced of which the printer was