The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-02-11
APPORTIONMENT BILL.
1t Passes the House with N Vote to
Spare-BabcOck for 1t.

The Republicans passed the apportion-
ment bill through the House yesterday aft
ernoon by a vote of SO to AZ and they
breathed easier. This was the critical point
i'm the legislation of the session and though
it has not interrupted business 1t kept the
Republican leaders in state of uncertain
ty and the relief will permit them to give
their more undivided attention TO the other
legislation pending. The members of the
steering committee were busy all morning.
They had divided the members among them
and it was the duty of each member of the
committee to see that all the members al
loted to him on the Republican side should
be in their seats during the afternoon. Mr..
Butler continued to aver that he could not
vote for the bill and Mr. Babcock had
given no intimation of any change in his
intention. The Republican leaders were
therefore counting upon passing the bill
with 81 votes, barely enough to pull it
through.
The expectation of a little political ex-
element crowded the Hobbies of the House
yesterday afternoon and though there was
a heap of political oratory going on in the
Senate. not few of the members of that
body slipped over to see the fun in the
House.
IhOl
Shortly after o'clock the speaker of the
House announced the special order
the apportionment bill. Mr.. Eichhorn. for
the minority. asked that hour be given
to each side for discussion of the bill and
amendments. and this agreed to. Mr..
Eichhorn then offered a substitute the
bill prepared by the minority. which fol-
lows closely upon the lines of all Demo-
Org an1a Of aSf tel
which have been but repetitions of the
lamented Jim Rice's handiwork enacted
into law in 1855.
Mr.. Eichhorn declared that the Repub-
can measure. III. Il. AL. was not equitable.
He said there We're two principles TO be
observed. that of equal numerical repre-
sentation and that of local representation.
He declared that the Republican measure
provided for fifty-one senators, declaring
that the effect of Ii would be the election
OF two senator's in Steuben and De kalb.
He criticised the Greene Monroe-B Brown
senatorial district and asked why when
Tlppecanoe and Wayne were given one
senator each Greene and Monroe should not
he given one alone The counties of Black
ford and Wells, he said would be swamped
by Grant in the joint Grant blackboard
Wells district. He said that eight OF the
short districts showed an aggregate short
age of SS023. while eight of the ''long" dis
trlcts showed an aggregate excess of lO3,-
u3S. There were fifteen Republican and six
Democratic districts below the ratio on the
basis of the last election. He next attacked
tiS representative uislIlclS- his HTSl Cd
lection was to the Ohio-Switzerland dis
trict having one vote. while IL took Dubois
and Pike together to make vote: He
White-Pulaski district. He attacked the
big joint Madison III amlton- Boone Mont
Eomery and Grant Huntington Howard
Miami-Wabash and the ignoring of local
autonomy of Lagrange and Steuben.
Then Mr. East spoke at some length. He
declared that the majority side had been
convicted of political robbery and addressed
himself TO the political phases OF the ques-
ton. Mr.. Spooner moved to table the
amendment and his motion carried by
strict party vote OF 50 to AZ. Messrs. Bah