The Ravalli Republican. [volume] (Stevensville, Mont.) 1894-1899, 1897-02-03
"A LILL|PUT|AN BEDLAM. y
Our Butte Correspondent Thus
Designates the House.
Members More Intent on Watching
Each Other Than on Public
Business.
Special Corr. Of the Republican.

Butte, January p.
So far this assembly Of the lcgisla-
turc is a frolic and u farce They
have been in session now three weeks
and have passed two appropriations
and one Or two other bills Of minor
Importance, after a struggle. They
spend most Of their time abusing the
last assembly and scrapping among
themselves.
a member will Introduce a bill
and it is at once spcarcd by the re-
mainder Of the house, who arc all
critics: they pick out the flaws and
dcnouncc the wording Of the bill un-
grammatical, therefore rendering the
bill invalid. In fact, the prOstra-
tion Of measures on this account. has
brought to i legal friend Of mine an
unlimited amount Of business draft
ing new bills and grating the dam
aged ones that have been showed to
the wall because Of the defects in
them. lie has drafted nearly all Of
the more important bills for the
members, and the many bills drawn
by other persons, and sent back to
the committees, because Of detected
errors, have eventually found their
way into the hands OF my friend to
be rcviscdand freed of mistakes. The
renovated article then, engineered by
its promoter, bobs up complaccntly
and svaggcrs back into the house to
lccr ut its enemies.
put in few days in Helena last
week aud watched the sport with
amused interest The house is a
lilliputian bcdlam half Of the time;
the other half is occupied by the re-
representatives. Watching like hawks
for some opportunity to present that
will cn3blc them to jump upon their
incautiouS brethren. The rcpubli-
cans are mighty small in numbers,
but they are all keen and will OBJ
struct all pcri!ous measures to the
best Of their ability. The demo-
Gratis arc crazy and the populists have
gone stark, raving mad, and the tax
payers Of Montana must appeal to a
higher and occult power for protcc-
batch of legislators. There is some
hope in the senate, but rs yet the
members Of the higher branch have
had absolutely nothing to do. They
sit quietly in their scats-waitin4
for business and drawing their brcathS
and salaries. During adjournmcnts
they discuss the situation freely and
designate Il warm region as tit To-
caltv FOR the majority in the house
to reside.
Coy. Smith, advised an immediate
and moderate appropriation to meet
salaries and other imperative needs
suggesting at tho same time, re
trcnclmcnt. The house dclibcratcl lS
apportioncd the modest sum of $57,
900. Delightful and conservative
rctrcnchmcnt, isn't it.
Another unprecedented feature 0
rctrcnclmcnt is Speaker Kennedy:
clerk at s. per day. The clerk is re
tanned to carry the speakers gaze
to and from from the hotel to th'
chamber, and attend to the appear
ancc Of the speakers attire.
Mr.. Kennedy makes a fair to mid
ding speaker but occupies too mucl
time on the floor Of the house talk
ing.
One dcplorablc feature is the }acl
Of Il competent person to assume tn
duties OF Il leader. There arc scvcra
who aspire to asccndcncy. Stanton
of Cascade: Ramsey, Of Gallatln
Campbell. Of Park: Clark, Of Madi
son: Lcchcy, Of Silver Bow, all ar
anxious to be designated leader, bll
all are unwilling to coEecdc to an.
one the honor They have WORKED
themselves into a frcnzicd jealous y
and whenever any one Of the lcadc
asprants arise to applaud or dcnounc'
a bill his rivals conccrtcdly dcclar
their Lustility then and there. |
reminded me Of cutthroat poker.
The democrats hold a caucus ever
ether night and accuse each other o
flirting with the populists, and tn
latter band themselves together ever
night and accuse everybody, them
selves included, of all sorts Of mvS
tcriOlis cOnSpiraclcs. Elliott an
Bartlett, both of Silver Bow, ar
really the recognized leaders Of tn
Hpops," but the strange and unln
structcd manOeuvrcS Of their follow
crs keep them continually guessing
McIntirc. Of Custer. is the leadc
of the forlorn force Of republicans
Lewis. of Valley, is the wit Of tn
house; Hewitt, (populisD is the bcs
, l,or.or. C',r.,lt f,f CaSculp excel