Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-06-03
HARRISBURG.

enue bills passed the House including
one taxing foreign beer one cent
gallon, and one taxing domestic beer a
half-cent a gallon. \ bill was also
passed authorizing the State Treasurer
to issue brewers licenses at 81, 900 each
Monday night Gov. Hastings. sent to
| the Legislature vetoes of the bills in
creasing the salaries of deputy sheriffs
in Philadelphia, allowing public school
houses to be used for Sunday schools,
and for the assessment and collection of
special taxes for street sprinkling. His
objections to the Sunday school bill are
that il is local or special legislation. and
| is in conflict with the Constitution. He
! avs il Is a matter Of common know
| ledge that in many places school houses
are used for Sabbath school purposes
and the conducting of religious exer-
| cises but he does not deem it wise, in
dependently Of the constitutional ques-
ton involved, TO place upon the statute
| books any legislative authority for the
nse of public school houses for any
other purposes than that for which they
are created
The Governor also, notified Superin-
| tended of Printing Robinson not TO
print the 5000 copies of the Lexow re
port ordered by the Senate, on the
ground that it requires a concurrent
resolution. 1t will be remembered the
| Governor vetoed resolution to print
?, 800 copies of the report, because it
pledged him in advance to approve the
appropriation to follow.
These moves on the part of the Gov
ernor made some of the rooster senators
| squirm, and Grady Immediately intro
| duced a resolution intended 10 load the
responsibility for raising revenue on the
| Governor He had concurrent reso-
luton passed, with little opposition
calling upon the executive to say
whether there will be a deficit, and to
suggest subjects of taxation. The fol
lowers of Grady, who is leading the
Senate battalion, are full of glee and
think this will put the Governor deep
in the mire; but others, with no axes to
grind, can see where Grady has placed
club in the hands of the executive.
The session of the Insurance Scandal
Investigating Committee, Tuesday, was
very interesting one. John French
| of Oil City, agent for a New York Life
| insurance Co, told of Wis iting State
Senator C. NJ Shortt of Warren Venan-
90 district, at Shortt's home in Sugar
Grove, Warren county, and making ar
| rangements with him for the defeat of
| a certain bill. In his evidence French
quoted Shortt as follows:
% Well now, Mr.. Fiske should re
| member that he shouldn't dare the boys
| to do anything for he is in our hands
and not we in his the bill is slated to
go through all right He added: Eow,
/ tell YOU, the men you want to get
after are Judge Durham, of Phila
| delphia and Senator Andrews, of Titus
vile. he referring to Andrews) is right
| in that kind of business and doesn't
make any bones about it. OF course,
| for me, have got plenty and wouldn't
| do anything of that sort You know
| the countrymen are straight and square
| and yet with a shrug of the shoulders
| that isn't to say | cannot be touched
Il then said to Short: Then You
| think the only way this thing can be
| fixed is by dollars and cents? to which
Shortt replied: Most assuredly why
d-n it. You have already spent enough
| in postage stamps to settle the thing.
Shortt continuing said: L learn your
company Is paying one agent SO, O9O a
year, and of course you know the boys
| think they ought to get little stake
out of it. Why, with insurance com
panies and railroad companies and the
Armour Beef company, it is n common
practice to fix these matters all right
| If bill comes mp affecting a railroad
| company, they never appear, but the
| matter is fixed up all right. Why,
when your company was asked for It's
assets and liabilities and its standing,
we already had that information, but it
| was asked to determine how much to
| strike them for
Il then said: Supposing another bill
of this kind should crop up and similar
settlement had to be made, why it
| would be dead robbery. To which
| Shortt replied oh, no. by - the boys
are honorable; they would never forget
| it,
A Treasury Deficit.
Next to the Lexow committees bill
| the most sensational feature of the
week was the declaration by Auditor
| General Mylin that there would be IA
| deficit in the revenues of s3,600.000
| This Ia Just 81, 900 more than the
previous estimates In other words,
| the state has to raise just this amount
| OF money in addition to the s19, 900 900
| or $40 1000 900 which 1t must ordinarily
raise to pay the running expenses of
| the state government, it's schools. pris-
nj fa1g hon
with the other demands upon it's treas
ury And yet with the states finances
| in this condition the Lexow committee
is demading ss5, 900 to pay its expenses
| contracted to no purpose whatever.
1t is proposed by the bosses to force
| this Lexow appropriation bin through
| the Legislature. The LeXow appropria-
| tion bill will undoubtedly be used as
| forcible argument to compel members
| to vote for II under penalty OF losing
| appropriations in which they are in
| terested.
This means. as already explained In
previous letters, that unless members
| of the Legislature vote for the Lexow
| bin OF $50. 900 they win be threatened
| with the defeat OF appropriation bills
| for hospitals, asylums and charitable
! institutions in which they are interest
| ed. 1t IT proposed to hold the Lexow
| bill as club over the heads of mem
| bcrs who do not believe that the state
| should pay the enormous sum Of money
| for "A farce.
| That the bosses are growing desper-
| ate is shown in the fact that they have
| commenced openly to fight Governor
| Hastings because Of his attempts to
| restrain the wasteful expenditure of
the public funds. a dispatch from
| Harrisburg On this subject to "a Phila-
| delphia newrr2per says:
Fighting thc Governors Economy.
| For several days past It has been an
| open secret here in Harrisburg that
| determined and vigorous attempt was
| to be made to override as many OF
| Governor Hastings recent vetpcs as
| possible. Sore OF these vctoes had
| touched interests very close 10 the
| hearts OF certain alleged leaders. In
| vetoing these measures. however, the
| governor had saved thousands Of dol
| lars TO the state but this fact did not
weigh I'm the balance as against the
selfish interests Of certain members of
| house and senate.
| "a combination led by two PhiladeI-
| phia senators was therefore formed
with the express purpose Of passing
| these measures over the governors
veto, and not only these bills, but all
future bills in which the combination
| Of senatos were Interested.
THE plan as arranged by these
| gentlemen was not TO consider auV OF