Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1898-03-05
A Brief Review Of the Work Of the
Legislature.

and bonds to be listed for taxation
became a law and it is measure
that it is claimed will turn out to be
q revenue getter."
A bill taxing fishing nets has pas
sed and will, it is presumed, be sign
ed.
Some other measures Of minor i'm
portance, designed to bring revenue
into the treasury have become laws,
among them those changing the
method OF taxing telephone, tele-
graph and express companles-bllls
adopted as substitutes for the one
offered by Mr.. Saunders which was
quite sweeping in its provisions:
The Saunders bill to require all
railroad companies to fence their
tracks or pay for stock killed is law:
Among the measures designed
TO cut down expenses that were pas
sed and approved were those reduc'
ing the fees of jailors and magistrates
and witnesses.
Much of the time of both bodies.
the House especially, was taken up in
discussing retrenchment and reform
measures, but few of these bills were
passed.
Some bills to submit to the people
certain amendments to the Constr
tuition were passed.
There is more that can be said
about bill defeated than those that
were passed. To begin with, the act
to require each city and county to
pay its own criminal expenses.
measure that its friends commended
would solve the question OF criminal
expenses, failed to get through the
iouse. Most Of the retrenchment
acts passed by the Senate died in the
House and many of those that origl
mated in the House met tLeir death
in the Senate.
BILLS DEFEATED.
There was great fight over the
employers liability bill. 1t went
through the House easily, but WAS
overwhelmingly defeated in thu
Senate. The act to give the people
an opportunity to express their
choice of candidates for United States
Senator, attracted much attention
lt was ably advocated and vigorously
fought, and was put to sleep until
the next session. Mr.. Murphy's
whipping post bill did not even reach
the Senate. but Mr. Folkes' act TO
require all street-cars to have vesti
buled fronts in the winter months
went through and was signed
The attempts made to abolish the
Department of Agriculture and the
Offices of Railroad Commissioner and
Second Auditor were failures The
only positions of any Importance dis
uensed with were the Register OF
Land Office and the engineer at the
Capitol.
The Smith antitrust bill, the
Watkins bill. to prevent dealings in
futures, and the Watkins bill. to
allow State banks to issue notes,
redeemable in silver bullion, have
not been passed. and will not get
through the Legislature. The Wick
ham Railroad Commission bills are
sleeping among the committee re-
cords in the Senate.
OTHER DEFEATED MEASURES.
There We're other important mea
sures which failed to become laws
The resolution introduced by Dele
gate Willard providing for the ap-
pointmept of commission OF ten to
revise the Constitution and prepare
amendments to be submitted at the
next session of the Legislature failed
in the House where it originated.
The bill presented by Delegate
Bland, of Portsmouth, to regulate
the running of trains and the loading
of cars and steamships on the Sab
bath was bitterly opposed. A dele,
cation of truckers from Norfolk and
vicinity visited the committee AMI
plead that the bill would seriously
interfere with their shipping facili>
ties. The bill was indefinitely post
poned.
The bill introduced by Delegate
Pitcher prohibiting ticket calping
was not passed. 1t made provision
for the redemption of unused tickets
by the issuing company.
The bill providing that railroad
charge no more for long
than for short hauls, except under
certain conditions, was defeated in
the House, where it originated.
MIR. Pitchers amendment to the
oyster bill, providing that nom
residents as well as re idents might
take up grounds under terms of the
oyster law, an amendment also de
signed to add to the States revenues.
did not meet the approval of the
Senators.
The sugar beet bill, designed to
establish suga- beet industry In the
State, did not pass.
Delegate Switzer's bill to provide a
tax on building and loan associations
was defeated.
The bill to allow company 70
purchase five hundred acres of oys-
ter land included.in.the Baylor geodet
ic survey failed to pass owing to the
feeling in the House against inter
fering with the geodetic surveys.
A few bills designed TO change the
election laws were introduced, but
none of them passed. The election
laws have not been altered nor
amended in any way whatever.
One of the most important bills
passed is that in relation to negotl-
able Instruments. and another OF
much interest is the Wharton meas
ure to break up the Southeastern
Tariff Association.
The Senare passed the bill to en-
large the penitentiary, but it has
met its untimely death
in the House.
The LeCato bill to create a State
Board of Fisheries passed both houses
was signed and is now law. This
board, soon to be appointed, is
Tho roed with the duty OF enforcing |
the oyster laws.
THE FREAK" BILLS.
Two bills of the freak order were
defeated. They were the Barksdale
act to prohibit football, and the
McCune anti flirting bill. Delegate !
Turner measure, to tax bachelors, !
never saw the light Of day after being
referred to Eouse committee.
Thus it will be seen that the people
If Virginia have some cause to be
grateful to the Legislature for some
,naaS,,res 6efeated even If there has /