The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1897-04-21
RAILROAD BILLS.
The House Takes Action on Sew
eral of Them
Two-Cent Fare Measure Not Yet FL
naiiy Acted Upon-Fltnt Charter
BiI Passed over the Governors
Veto-Other Capital News.
Especial Correspondence

Gov. Pingree, and place additional bur-
dens upon railroads, both in freight and
passenger traffic. Bills were agreed
to, TO which there was practically no
opposition, compelling railroads to &C.
cept bicycles as baggage under certain
provisions, and bill providing for a
system of automatic bell signals at
highway crossings in the discretion of
the railroad commissioner. The tug of
war was upon one of the Pingree bills
which prohibited discrimination in
freight and passenger traffic. After a
discussion occupying nearly the entire
session the bill was amended so that
1t should not apply to passenger traf-
&c by vote of AZ to "a. Further con-
sideration of the railroad bills in the
house which were not acted upon under
the special order of Wednesday was, on
motion of Mr.. Atkinson, the promoter
of the measure, postponed until
April 81.
BY unanimous vote, joined in by %
senators, the Flint charter bill was
passed over the veto of the governor in
the senate. Senator Moore made pro-
test against passing the bill over the
governors veto, but it had no effect,
and the vote was % to o against the
veto.
The Lusk-Gordon resolution, which
contemplated an amendment to the
constitution providing home rule in
cities without coming to the legisla-
ture for charters or amendments there
to, was resuscitated in the house after
Its defent of two weeks ago and barely
esca ped a second defeat by being re-
ferred TO the committee on judiciary.
Favorable reports were made in the
senate on bills providing for uniform
text books, prohibiting sparring
matches and creating the county of
Lincoln from the south half of On
tonagon county. The latter measure
the senate refused to pass.
The policy of placing women upon
the boards of trustees of insane asy-
lums has been inaugurated by Gov. Pin
gree by the appointment of Mrs. Jane
NJ. Kinney, of Port Huron, to the board
of the eastern asylum for the insane at
Pontiac. She will succeed Judge w. w.
Stickney, of Lapeer. The wife of Col.
A. T. Bliss, of Saginaw, was also re-
appointed upon the board of managers
of the industrial home for girls at
Adrian.
The Donovan bill providing for the
ringing of the curfew bell in cities and
villages as signal for children under
Is years of age to seek their homes after
eight o'clock in the evening has passed
the senate and has gone to the gov
ernor for his signature.
The Michigan legislature will in
few days receive request from the leg
isldture of Wisconsin asking for the
appointment Of commission to work
jointly with a commission appointed by
the legislatures of Wisconsin. Mime
sofa and Illinois to devise uniform game
and fish laws for the four states men
toned. The commission will comprise
five members of the senate and house,
and the work provided for will be done
after the close Of the present session
and before the opening of the lcgisla-
ture of 1899.
Hereafter every package containing
fruit sold in or shipped from this state
will be branded so rs to show the guam
THY of it's contents. This branding will
show either weight or measure down TO
half pints, the object being to prevent
short weights and measures.
The Bates bill, which provided that
1t should be unlawful for fraternal in
surance societies to incorporate in their
contracts Of membership any provision
which should prohibit benefcinries
from resorting to the courts to secure
the allowance of death claims. was
killed in the lower house. The measure
was aimed particularly at the Maccabee
fraternity, in which the death claims
are adjusted by board, from whose
decision the courts have held there can
be no appeal.
The right of the state sanitary live
stock commission to slaughter cattle
suspected of having tuberculosis with
out compensating the owner for the
full market value of the animals will be
tested in the supreme court in an i'm
portant action commenced Saturday
y. w. Shipman, of Detroit, was the
owner of large herd of valuable Jer-
seys. The state live stock commission
applied the tuberculosis test and found
that % of the best looking animals in
the herd were afflicted with tubercu-
losis. The animals were slaughtered
and Shipman was rendered one dollar
each fer the animals. which he refused.
He demanded their market value. which
was $4,000. He also claimed that the
remainder of the herd was so reduced
in value that, although they were worth
$4,000. he was compelled to sell them
for $500. The proceeding brought Sat-
urday is an application for mandamus
10 compel the state to pay the market
value of the animals. Some of the ques-
tions at issue are whether tuberculosis
is a dangerous. infectious and conta-
gious disease. The constitutionality Of
the law is also assailed.
EMMETT.
anI