The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-06
FOSS' BILL MAKES FUN.
Morbid SentimentaIity'I Is Not Taken
Seriously.


The now famous Morbid Sentiment
tality' bill, duly tagged House Fill 1872
by Mr.. Foss, came up on general Or
ders in the house yesterday with half
q. dozen other measures Of varying i'm
portance. When it was reached, the
members settled themselves in their
places, to be the better prepared for
q proper application Of It's import.
The bill, to be sure, had been recon-
mended by the crimes and punishment
committee for indefinite postponement,
but the house had reversed the &C
ton and placed the matter on general
orders.
Mr. Foss could hardly wait for his
turn to come. He was worked up to
concert pitch, and, without delay, SUBJ
mitted an amendment providing for
the substitution Of the word murderer
where felon occurred in the bill. This
was an adroit move, but, If he thought
his was the only amendment he was
soon reminded that "there are others"
AS a slight indication Of the interest
taken by his fellow representatives,
in the effort Of Mr.. Foss to do away
with this fostering Of crime, some of
the amendments are given. Mr.. Ferris
wished the bill not to apply to per-
sens having committed crimes prior to
the passage Of the law. An amend
ment was, sent up with the name Of
Representative Dare affixed to it, ask
ing that the words "or love-. be added
t. the sentence forbidding any token
OF sympathy. Here the author spoke
to his bill With bizarre gesture and
loud voice he deprecated the state of
affairs his bill sought to correct. He
talked about expressions Of respect
being paid to murderers such as would
have been more fitting to Washington,
Lincoln or George Peabody. He dra-
TOOL Ixr toll OF tIn If a1l
derers, the Hayward matter, generally
interspersing his remarks with refer
ences to ''the dark hand Of the assas-
sir" "reign of terror that which she
held more precious than life," etc.
One wretch had, he said, not only
killed every member of a family ex-
cept a daughter whom he treated
brutally, but had actually made her
cook a meal for him in plain sight
Of the gore Of her family. Such men as
this, he said, were flooded with flowers
and he proposed to stop it if he could.
He was serious. The only trouble was
that in this he was alone. The mem
bers would not treat his bill seriously.
Representative West wanted the or
dained minister referred to in the
measure left off the list of people who
might visit the poor prisoner but also
wanted it arranged so that the divine
might, If he chose, send or take flow
ers. Judge Lttleton thought prison
ers' attorneys had some rights in SUCH
case, and felt that he could not con-
sistently vote for the measure unless
such amendment was made. Objection
was made to this, on the ground that,
II attorneys should be admitted, they
should be allowed to take flowers, and,
If they were allowed, keys and saws
and other means to escape, might be
conveyed to their clients. This was
lost, and Judge Littleton voted nay on
the motion for passage.
Upon the motion Of Representative
f'eig, who does not care so much for
HcWers, anyway, vote was taken
and the chair was unable to decide
one way or the other, so hot was the
struggle. The excitement was intense
The matter was of the utmost impor-
lance. Division was called, while Mr..
F'oss held his breath. When Reading
Clerk Ryder-who was all along sus-
pected Of having been in favor of the
| bili-counted the votes, it was found
that the bill had been recommended
for passage by the committee Of the
whole. Therefore, it cannot now be
killed until 1t reaches the calendar,
all Of which made Mr.. Foss indulge
in great applause, which did not sub
side for some minutes.