The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-01-27
LAWMAKERS SLOW
But Little Progress Being Made
at Lansing.
RECESS WOULD HAVE SAVED CASH.

hEtE>S WOtLD HAVE SAVED CASH
Several Hoid-over Members Explain VIII,
They Voted Against Taking a Ten Days
Accommodation To Have the Law
Providing for Collection aud Publication
OF Farm Statistics Repealed-other In
teresting News from the state Capital.
Lansing. Mich, Jan. 2S-For legis.
lature made up Of men who, REGARDLESS.
OF party. were required TO make their
canvass on platform Of economy and
reform. IL must be confessed that the
present body OF lawmakers has accom-
plished less during the first three weeks
of its session than OF its predecessors
for many years. Your correspondent
has been quite closely associated with the
legislatures OF Michigan for the past ten
years. and his opinion on this subject
has the Endorsement Of Chief Clerk Mil
Ter and Journal Clerk Cook of the lower
house. who have been connected Official
ly with that body for the past quarter
OF century. Speaker Gordon is of the
opinion that the lack of progress this
year is due TO the fact that the passage
more cities Of the fourth class two years
ago has shut off the great mass of To-
cal bills and charter tinkering which
occupied previous legislatures for the
first few weeks of the session. il being
necessary in most cases. 10 get this
class of legislation out Of the way so
that action could be taken Hereunder
at the April election. Other legislators
profess to believe that the delay is due
to disposition TO wait until Governor
Pingree shows his hand more extensive
ly than he has thus far done in the mat
ter OF legislation. Affairs in Detroit
have occupied the governors attention
to such an extent since his inauguration
that he has not devoted much atten-
ton TO the legislature. although, so far
as the daily observer is able to Judge, he
has given it all the attention its work
has demanded.
Claim That Is Hardly TenabIe.
The claim that legislators are wait
ing to see what legislation the governor
will have introduced Is hardly tenable.
for the reason that several of the most
important matters which he recon-
mended in his inaugural message have
already been introduced in the shape
of bills and are ready for consideration
by the committees, but the committees
do not show any marked disposition to
work. The bill to prevent stock water
ing, the income tax bill, the measure
to require railroad companies to grant
a uniform passenger rate of cents per
mile in the lower peninsula, and bills
to reduce upper peninsula fares from
4 to 3 cents per mile, to increase the
specific tax paid by railroads p of |
per cent, thereby increasing the annual
revenue of the state from this source
about $4,000 per annum, to make |
stockholders who lend their names to
simply to give the latter |
credit liable for the debts of the COR
poration. and to make it unlawful to |
enter into any combine. trust. agree |
ment or contract designed to lessen |
in mercantile trade or man.
are all Pingree measures, |
and all Of them have been duly started |
on their way through the legislative |
hopper.
Experienced legislators and officials |
are all agreed that it would have been |
money i'm the taxpayers |
pockets If both houses had adjourned |
for ten days. so that all the commit |
tees could have visited the state insti- |
tutiOns at the same time. This opin- |
ion is expressed with full knowledge |
Of the fact that nine-tenths of the tax |
payers take contrary view of the mat |
ter. In fact, had il not been for the |
fear of their constituents a majority of |
the members of the lower house would |
have voted in concurrng in the action |
Of the senate in this regard
Constituents Could Not See 1t.
Several of the hold-over members |
freely said that they knew that a re- |
cess would be an economical measure, |
but they voted against the resolution |
because. as they said, they could never |
get their constituents to see the case |
In that light. The last time no such |
recess was taken was in 1891, and that |
year the session lasted until July 4.
and was the longest session in the his
tory of the state. The house has been |
plugging slowly along doing little |
Or nothing. and whatever it has accom- |
plished has been simply piled up await
ing the return of the senators. who |
have purposely absented themselves so |
that the upper house has been without |
a quorum. Without nearly simultane- |
ous concurrent action by the two houses
no progress can be made in the matter |
Of legislation. and the result will be |
that the house will have to daily along ]
for a week while the senate is dispos- |
ing Of the matters II has been dalying |
with. |
The most persistent effort thus far |
put forth in the matter of legislation is |
In the direction of the repeal of the law |
for the collection and publ |
cation of farm statistics The house is |
being flooded with petitions on this sub
iect all of them having been circulated |
from a central point as the heading of |
each is printed in the same type and |
couched in the same language. At first |
the supporters Of the bill said the repeal
Of the law was desired because of the |
great expense attached to the publica-
lion, but this was exploded by the state
ment of the secretary of state, i'm re-
sponse to a resolution Of the house that |
The annual cost is less than $4,000 An
other reason advanced is that the only |
persons who profit by the information
are the commission merchants and
grain dealers. who use il to the detri-