The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-24
POLITICS BOBS UP


In the Bill to Establish Nelson Coun-
A fairly full attendance of the house
membership was on hand yesterday,
and without loss of time the house
calendar was taken up. There were
! thirty-five house bills and five senate
| files ready for third reading. The first
! bill upon which there was any debate
was Judge LittletOn's bill, H F. 1928
to amend section 5, chapter 2OS, Gen
| eral Laws 1885, providing that tele-
| graph companies may be sued for in
! juries to feelings growing out Of non
/ delivery of messages in seasonable
time.
Judge LittletOn had charge of the
bill and in his opening argument he
stated that the object of the bill was
simply to place the telegraph COM
panles upon the same plane as other
corporations and individuals, which
the law referred to forbid, holding that
the telegraph companies should be
liable only for actual damages. Mr..
Coe was the champion of the opposi-
ton. He had primed himself for the
occasion by study of the law books
Judge Mitchell, Of the supreme court,
to show that the injury was not in the
nature of a tort. Mr.. Feig was for the
passage of the bill, and spoke his SEN
timents next. Mr.. Dahl argued that
there should be a limit to the amount
Of a verdict on account of sentimental
damages and suggested $500 as about
| the right amount. Mr.. Coe argued
against this suggestion, but Judge
Littleton thought it was right and Of
| fered to accept the amendment. Judge
Hicks, who opposed the bill, and Mr..
Johns, who was in favor of its pas
sage, got into a personal dispute about
the legal propositions involved, but
neither threw a great deal Of light upon
the merits of the measure. Mr.. GrOn-
dahl spoke against the bill and Mr..
West followed with a speech in it's
favor. Mr.. Meyers said he was in favor
of the amendment and should vote for
the bill anyway because he wanted the
telegraph companies to have an in
centive to greater diligence. Mr.. Dahl
moved to lay the bill on the table 50
| that it might be taken up and amend
! ed, which the house assented to. Mir
| the bill was passed by vote of so to 6.
The next bill which caused a rifle
| was defeated by just one vote. 1t
| was Mr.. UNDERTAKES bill Oh. F. 359),
to extend the terms of service of county
auditors from two years to four years,
the bill not to go into effect until 1900.
! Mr.. Feig spoke against the measure
and was seconded by Mr. Foss, both
| saying that it was not bill demanded
| NV hn nn1N1n hut Mt n 10
| instance of county auditors. The vote
| was 81 to 43 and so the bill died.
A little politics, something unusual in
| the ordinary deliberations of the house,
| cropped out in the passage of bill in
! troduced by Mr.. GOar, by request. Mr.
| GOar is the Populist member from Kit
| son county but the bill which he in
| troduced Oh. F. 1888 applies only 10
| Polk county, and particularly to the
| southeastern section of this county,
which has become identified as the
| prospective Nelson county. When the
| till was reached Mr. GOar explained
! that he had introduced it under a mis-
| apprehension and that he would like to
| see it defeated because the people In
| teIested did not wish to see it passed.
| Mr.. Feig said there was something
| behind this proposition of Mr.. GOar
| which he would proceed at once to I'M
! mask. He said the man who introduce
| ed the bill, Mr.. Goar, had done so in
| good faith, but it had been discovered
that if the bill was passed it would
! make one more Republican county.
Nelson county would be Republican
| and hence the Populists wanted to keep
it as it was. He urged every RepuD-
lcan on the floor Of the house to vote
! for the bill to give these Nelson cOun-
| ty people self-government.
Mr. Underleak, a leading Republican,
! declined to be coerced by the party
| lash, as he put it. He said the dis
| trict to be affected was only fourteen
| government townships and that was
too small an area to support the ex-
! pense Of county government partlc-
! ularly when composed of frontier town.
ships, as these were.
! Mr.. Jacobson said he was for the bill
! not because 1t was demanded as a Re-
| publican measure, but because the peo-
| pie of this part of the state were en-
titled to government He said the
| census showed that there were over
/ 10000 people in these fourteen town
ships and that they were occupied In
| every quarter section, which was more
than could be said of some counties
which had supported county organiza-
| ton for ten or twenty years.
Mr.. Feig supplemented this statement
! by Mr.. Jacobson by showing that quite
a number Of counties in the south
! western part of the state including
| Rock, were composed Of even a smaller
number Of townships and yet they had
| a county organization. He admitted
! there should be more but this was an
emergency measure, because if the bill
was not passed the people would be
| cut off from Polk county, by the or
/ ganiZation of Garfield county, and thus
! be in an anomalous position. Mr.. ia
cobson also made the same point Mr..
Marin replied to Mr.. Feig He said it
was not a matter Of politics. The peo-
| pie did not want to have county or
! ganizatiOn and he had letters from Re
! publicans and Democrats, as we'll as
| from Populists, protesting against the
bill
Mr.. Cray made the point that TIE
bill did not provide for a judicial dis
trict in which the new Nelson county
should be placed, but Mr.. Hartshorn
had already prepared an amendment
| which provided that they should re-
main in the same judicial district as al
present, which was adopted. Mr. Dom
nelly spoke against the bill, and after
a call of the house, the bill was passed
by vote Of 60 to 80.
The other measures passed were:
H. F. 574 DEMONSTRATING to the liability
Of railroad companies. "a to 0.
H. F. 12S CMarin)-To legalize defective
township organizations.
II. F. 70 Hicks)-To provide for the accept
ance by the state of grants of denuded forest
lands which to be placed under the con-
troll OF q state board OF forestry and to be
replanted for permanent forest reserve the
proceeds. II any, to go to public or semi-pub-
lie schools. Passed; so to 6.
NEW BILLS.
II. F. $50 ramsey Hennepin and st. Louis
county delegatons)-To regulate the practice