The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-08-04
Hastings Veto Az.

Governor Hastings Friday disposed
of the last of the batch of bills left him
as a legacy by the last Legislature, then
started at once in q carriage for Belle
fonte.
The Mercantile Tax bill, looked upon
as one of the chief revenue raising meas
ures, was vetoed. One of the objections
the Governor found was that he doubted
its constitutionality and felt sure that it
would provoke no end of litigation. 1t
would oppose the Constitutional provis-
ion that all taxes must be uniform, since
under it the small merchant would pay
higher percentage of tax than the
larger, the volume of sales being the
basis. Beside these features the Gov
ernor found that the bill made no dis
tinction between the wholesale dealer
who handles large quantity of goods at
small margin and the retail dealer who
does the same amount of business at a
much greater profit.
Another closing act of the Governor
that will meet general approval WAS the
cutting out of the General Appropriation
bill of large sums of money voted by
the House and Senate to hangers ont
would be improper to call them employ
ees-whO were given places with exces-
sive pay attached, which were not only
unnecessary, but contrary TO law. Others
were voted salaries i'm excess of what the
law allowed them, and these, too, were
cut out. The extent to which this prac-
tice was carried on may be ju|ged from
the fact that 50, 40 was Topped off the al
legged expense bill OF the Senate, and
SIS, I34 from that of the House. Not a
penny of this is taken OFF on account of
salaries in excess of the value of services
rendered, nor because men who draw fat
pay never went near the place where they
were supposed to be employed by the
State, but hired substitutes at one-fourth
their salary, they meanwhile attending
to their customary vocation. These re-
ductions, the Governor states, represent
the amount appropriated for such officers
and employees as are not authorized by
law"
The Governor also vetoed the Simon
Electric bill, and in doing so thus ex-
plains its purpose: THE proposition
contained i'm the bill is that If a corpora
ton be created for the purpose of estab-
fishing an electric-light plant in certain
city, and such corporation makes appli-
cation to the municipal authorities for
leave to occupy its streets with poles or
cOnduits, and such leave is granted by
ordinance or otherwise, the right of the
municipality 10 light its own streets and
furnish light TO its own inhabitants is
thereby forever forfeited, except upon
the condition of either purchasing all ex-
isting light plants by contract, or, upon
failure TO agree, to condemn the same
and pay the value fixed therefor by
viewers appointed for that purpose, or
by jury on appeal"
The bill for refitting Grace Church,
which was one of the chief scandals of
the past winter, did not seem to have any
faults that the Governor could see, and so
not a cent of the S56, so is cut out. But
this measure is a child of the Governor
himself, and the usual parental blindness
holds good. In connection with this
same bill, another appropriation of S2O,-
GO0, is made for the rent of the church
and for fitting il up 30 that il can be used
for church purposes again.
The Bird Day" bills were disapproved,
while the appropriation Of SlOO, 900 to
jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia,
and the Liquor License bills were
signed.
The aggregate saved to the State by all
the Governors vetoes is sb53, ,726 IL. OF
this amount sl52, ,OO7 IL was taken out OF
the General Appropriation bill.