Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-03-05
JOB DUNE AT LAST
FINALLY AGREES
UPON A BILL.
APPORTIONMENT is FIXED
Several Republican Senators Decline
to Vote at All on the Measure.
While One Is on Record against Ii
Governors Signature Assured
Appeal to Courts Probable.
Madison. February 2S-

WISCONSIN, now SXlSIS uQQ6r a repu D.
Gcan legislative apportionment. At
least it will after noon today, as Gov
ernor Upham Thursday announced that
he should sign the bill as now ar
ranged and return it to the houses so
that an adjournment sine die could be
accomplished this noon. The assem-
bly, apportionment bill which Wednes-
day passed the lower house with only
two dissenting republican votes Thurs
day morning was adopted by the as
sembly with only the slight amend
ments added to the bill by the senate
in regard to the thirty-first and ninth
senatorial districts, and the third and
seventh assembly districts of Milwau-
kee county. The vote in the senate
was Is to 9, and only one republican
Senator Putnam, of Brodhead, voted
against the bill. Three of the sena-
tors, however, who signed the senate
judiciary report, declaring the meas
ure to be unconstitutional, SpensIey
Officer and Austin, failed to vote on the
bill. The two former having absented
themselves from the room when the
roll was called, and the latter having
obtained permission to decline to an
swer to the roll call on the bill.
Thus briefly can be enumerated the
results of the session extraordinary OF
the Wisconsin legislature for the year
1896. 1t has been long and tedious
extra session, -commencing Feb. IS
longer and more tedious than any pre-
vious session of the character ever
known IN the state; but the result for
which it was called has been accom-
plished, and this state is again under
a republican apportionment. Whether
the bill is constitutional is still, OF
course, an open question, and one
which only judgment of the supreme
court can answer. That the bill will
there be tested there is little possibility
Of doubt. Leading democrats have
announced this fact, and within ter
minutes after the passage of the bill
Assembly Louis Lange, the democratic
whip in the lower house, had tele-
graphed his paper that the democratic
party of Wisconsin would at once cal
to issue the legality of the measure in
the highest court in the state. Two
points will be raised by the democratic
party in regard to the bill. The first
will be that this extra session itself
was illegal, and that no apportionmen'
can be based upon the returns of the
state census; while the second will be
the unconstitutionality of the bill be
cause of inequalities in population. At
torney General Mylrea says thai
neither of these points is we'll taker
and that in his opinion the court viii
pronounce both the session and the bill
which has been it's product lawful anC
constitutional. Other lawyers an(
notably the members of the senate ju
dietary committee of the legislature
controvert this opinion. Mr.. Austin
of Milwaukee, declared that he still
held to his belief that the bill was il
legal, and said: II am in earnest whe1
I state that l consider that measure
unconstitutional, and a palpable viola
ton of the population unit rule"
One assemblyman said that it wa
likely a better bill could have beer
made had both houses taken anothe
week 10 the work, but he declared tina
such a step was impossible as the leg
islators were DESTROYS of returning t
their homes and never could have beer
neld in Madison for a longer period
This was, however, but an individual
opinion, and most of the republican
members, including Senators Baxter
Phillips, Thayer and Mills, say that NJ
more perfect bill could be framed o
the state of Wisconsin.