The record-union., 1897-01-15
IN THE ASSEMBLY.
The Perennial Question of the Com
mittee Junketing Jaunt.

The Perennial Question of the Com
mittee Junketing Jaunt.
Speaker pro tenn. Kenyon held the
chair at the opening of yesterdays ses-
sion of the Assembly.
brief leave of absence was asked
and granted for North of Yolo, also
Messrs Cartwright, Pohlman and Eli
ott Mr.. Moutrie, who has been seri-
ouSly i'll, is reported better.
The Governors message announcing
| that he had signed A. B. 152, for the
printing of bills in journal form, was
received and read.
| The Mileage Committee reported a
revision of the mileage list of members
| of the House, which has been adjusted
| eGuitably, as outlined in yesterday s
| Record Union" The report was adopt
! ed.
STATE LIBRARY ELECTION.
A message from the Senate announc-
ed that that body refused to concur in
| the amendment of the House setting
| the date of the joint session for the
election of Trustees of the State Libra
ry for January 2lsH. On motion of Mr..
| Cutter the House receded from the
amendment and adopted the Senate
resolution setting Wednesday, Febru-
| ary Sd as the date.
AN EMERGENCY BILL.
| Mr.. Bridgford moved that A. B. 10,
an irrigation bill described in another
column, be made a special order for
Monday. Carried.
Various resolutions ordering copies of
|
tions Committee, extra copies of bills
! for other committees and sundry SINH
| lar supplies went through the routine
and were adopted.
| IS 1T A JUNKET?
| During the early hour of the session,
while Speaker pro tenn. Kenyon was In
the chair, the Committee on Rules re-
ported favorably on Mr.. Malcolm's res
olution that the Committee ON State
! Hospitals and ASylums be granted
leave of absence from Monday until
Friday, that they might visit and in
spect the institutions at Ukia.h and al
| Napa. The committee had amended the
resolution to include the Glen Ellen
Home for the Feeble Minded, the Sol
diers' Home at Yountville and the Asy-
|
the adoption of the resolution and il
| was seconded.
Mr.. Chynoweth rose to speak, but was
not recognized by the Speaker pro tenn.
who called for the ayes and noes. The
resolution was adopted. Mr.. Chynowetf
began:
Il protest" but the Speaker pro tenn
| briefly told him to send his protest in
in writing, which he did. Later wher
| the order of business got as far as new
resolutions, Mr.. Price offered one which
plunged the House into a scrimmage
He desired permission of the ASSEMBLY
for Mr.. Guy, Chairman of the Ways
and Means Committee, to accompany the
Hospital and Asylum Committee on its
projected jaunt. By this time Speaker
Coombs resumed the chair and, not un-
derstanding that the resolution to &C
had already been adopted, he, in his
temperate fashion, advised gentlemen
| to pause before adopting a resolution
necessarily attended with large ex-
pense.
Mr. Shanahan asked if the invitation
of members of one committee to go or
a visit of inspection with another
committee was not unprecedented. The
Speaker replied that it was.
| The discussion which enSued left the
motion before the HouSe-to send Mr.
Guy ON the trip-far behind, and went
with a bound into the broad subject OF
junketing in general.
Mr. Cutter said he was opposed to thf
whole proposition of these junketing
trips The committees who made then
always went to see if they could reduce
the appropriations asked for, and they
invariably came back and made then
larger No other method of spending
the public money was 50 obnoxious tC
the people of the State as the taking OF
these trips all over the State by legis-
lators-to be wined and dined-for thai
was all it ever amounted to. No good
results ever can flow or ever did flow
from these visits, said Cutter
Mr. Price said that he believed tht
matter of going was settled. The ques-
ton before the House was. should Mr.
Guy go as Chairman of the Committee
on Ways and Means, the body which
had in charge the making of all appro-
priations?
Mr. Chynoweth opposed it strongly.
Mr. Clark was opposed to all junket
|
work of the committee could easily bt
obtained in less expensive ways.
Mr. Treacy believed the House wa:
getting penny wise and pound foolish
Here were large appropriations asked
form one case $4,000 for drains-ht
for one would not vote for such ex
penditures unless the committee Wen
to see whether they were needed.
Mr.. Cutter wanted to know what wa!
the good of sending committee to set
about drains, not one of whom knew {
solitary thing about them He would
rather vote ON the report of the Trus
tees of an institution-men who knew
something about it-than upon the re
port of such a committee.
Mr.. Melick of Los Angeles agreed
with Mr.. Cutter. 1t was not necessary
he said, for members from the NORTH
to visit the South, nor for member:
from the South to visit the North. Mr.
Malcolm's theory of investigating re
quests for appropriations was all right
but the practice had always bee1