Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-03-12
THE LEGISLATURE.

the Senate.
Senator Houghton moved the adop
ton by the Senate of the House
amendment to Senate bill 81, the
beet sugar bill. In explanation of his
motion he said the Conference com
mittee had held three meetings, and
it is clear that the House will not re-
cede from its amendment raising the
: minimum price of beets on which the
bounty will attach to 50 instead Of 81
He said President Bryan Of the Pull
man College had been at work in the
House for raising the minimum pei
ton that must be paid for beets from
~ to 50 and his work had been effec-
tive. The Senate concurred on an
affirmative vote of 50.
The report of the committee on
Corporations other than Municipal on
House bill No. All was read, in which
several amendments were recon-
mended.
The Senate went into committee OF
the Whole on consideration Of the bill,
with Plummer in the chair. Nc
Reavy offered substitute for section
of the bill, which in effect makes the
maximum $42j instead of ~ and
making the proposed reduction 10 per
cent.
Crow OF the committee resisted the
proposed substitute. He had agreed
to the advance made by the commit
tee at sacrifice Of principle, being in
favor of maximum rate Of 1915.
McReavy said he had offered the
substitute i'll spirit of fairness.
Equal justice should be done to cor
porations and individuals.
Miller of Walla Walla opposed the
substitute, because the committee had
given much attention and study to
the matter and had reached what he
believed to be fair conclusion.
Plummer created something of a
sensation by announcing that he had
heard that the reputed author of the
bill of which this is the outgrowth had
framed the bill with the purpose OF
framing law that would be ineffec-
tive, in that i. would not stand the
test of the courts. The reputed
author, he said, had offered to have
this provision inserted in the bill and
that provision eliminated.
Senator Hall of Whitman stated in
contradiction of Plummer's remarks
that this bill was not framed by the
Whatcom county lawyer, who was
chairman OF the reform party, but an
honest man who is not lawyer.
Senator Crow made "facts and
iggers" speech. He told how much
the railroads had been making, and
showed how the figures were com.
puted.
The motion to substitute the Nc
Reavy "offering" for section l pre-
vailed. 1t is rs follows:
Section l. No railroad company or
other common carrier, its agents or
employees, doing business within this
State shall charge for hauling agri-
cultural products as defined in this
section, in carload lots, from one point
within this State TO another point
within this State to rate exceeding
1925 per ton for distance of haul OF
300 miles or over, and at q rate ex-
ceeding 80 per cent. OF the rate actually
in effect on Jan. ., 1897, for any dis
lance Of haul less than 300 miles.
Provided, that no charge for hauling
freight aforesaid, in carload lots, in
this section mentioned shall exceed
81 per ton from any point within this
State to another point within this
State. agricultural products" men,
toned herein are defined to be corn,
grain of all kinds, flour, feed, mill
stuffs, flax seed, hay compressed in
bales. and hops.
Section 2 and were striken out,
and Senator Lesh offered as a sub
stitute for section 4, which applies to
fruit, vegetables, etc., TO reduce the
maximum to 80 per cent. instead of
so. and making it applicable to mixed
cars at a rate not higher than the rate
applicable to the highest product in.
clined in the mixture. The substitute
was adopted.
Senator Baum introduced the Spo-
kane Falls & Northern amendments
to exempt roads Of $50 miles or under
from the provisions of the act. Mr..
Baum said it was in the interests of
the Washington Central, and was in
troduced because the people OF
Oksnogan county have been trying for
ten years to develop that country, and
that they have been withheld and
hampered in their efforts from lack OF
transportation.
Plummer strongly supported the
amendment.
The Senate passed the railroad
freight rate bill amended by the Senate
in committee of the whole. These
amendments increase grain rates and
decrease fruit rates and make numer-
GUS other changes not likely to be &C
cepted by the House.
Those who were responsible for the
amendments to the railroad bill in
committee of the whole maintain that
such amendments will stand, as a mo-
ton carried to consider the whole on
third reading. Thus the railroad
muddle becomes more complicated.
The Senate passed the following
bills: House bill No. PSI, exempting
the proceeds of life insurance from ex-
ecution for debt; House bill No. go,
for the relief of Il. M. Alvord; Senate
bill No. p, appropriating $4,5S9.06 for
the relief of the Union Savings Bank
and Trust company of Tacoma; Senate
bill No. 236, reducing the salary of the
Secretary OF the Board of Health to
500 per year.
In the House, Saturday, the follow
ing bills passed:
BY Pierson, providing for the dis
tribution of public documents; by
Bush, reserving natural oyster beds to
the public; by Kittinger, providing
for the assessment and collection of
taxes for street improvements in
cities of the first class by Kittinger,
providing for renewal of bulkheads
along city streets; by Kittinger, al
lowing ten per cent. of road taxes col
lected in cities to be expended upon