Hutchinson gazette., 1899-01-26
THEY FAINT AND GROW SICK.


1t is quite evident that the republl-
can purpose Of attempting a wholesale
overthrow OF the work of the special
session ls weakening. In the FIRST
place, II is apparent the attorney gen
eral In rendering his opinion and also
those who apparently forced 1t, were In
too much haste and did not examine
the law sufficiently to discover v hat a
case could be made against them.
The rendering of the opinion raised a
storm Of disapproval In their own
ranks. Even old man Morrill,, whom
they were defending 30 vigorously two
and three years ago, declared the opin-
ion to be bad.
1t also seems that Goddard could
never have had much faith in II, or
soon lost 1t, for only about twenty'four
hours after issuing 1t he presided over
a meeting Of he.cbarter board organ
lied under u law passed at the special
session, and issued charter to u cor
poration In accordance with It's provis-
ions. He thus by his actions tacitly
admitted the legality Of a statute he
had just declared illegal. 1t Is proba-
ble he had by that tlme received re-
suits from his opinion, the boldnesa of
which is thing unprecedented.
Never in the history of the United
States has special session of the leg
islature of any State been declared IL
legal,
OF course, on this occasion, the re-
publicans figured on the solid backing
and support Of every class Of corpora
tion in it, for there was hardly one
which was not more or less greatly at
tackled by the legislation of this aes-
sion. On this account,las prominent
politician OF the party said, declaring
the session illegal was good pOll.ics. "
Another thing which has conduced
to the undoing OF their schemes 10 that
they fell into every trap set for them,
and the populists hold the whip hand.
1t was promptly proposed that IL the
republicans undertook any such bold
and heroic measures In behalf Of the
corporations, so plainly In violation Of
all law, the senate would hold up ap--
preparations and block the machinery
Of state until they came to time. On
such proposition 1t was feared 1t
would be difficult to hold the populists
In line because they are nearly all men
of moderate means and they would
need their pay as much as the repub-
licans. so when the usual appropria-
tion bill for legislative expenses came
over to the senate it was amended to
make it cover the full expense of the
session instead Of only a part. Tue
house accepted the amendment and
the governor signed the bill.
There are many things tending to
show that the fight against the legal
ity Of the session has been practically
abandoned. First is the fact that two
members Of the administration, the
secretary of State and the attorney
general himself, as described above,
have recognized the legality Of the
laws passed by acting under them. In
the second place, we are informed that
the board whose duty 1t is to pass upon
the need Of printing public documents
has authorized the printing Of blanks
for the superintendent Of insurance as
; required by the new law. In the third
place, Immediately before the going
into effect of the new charter law re-
quiring the payment of fee Of one
tenth Of one per cent Of the capita
stock with some graduatiOns for the
largest corpOrations) for the issuing ot
! a charter, the law Grm Of Gleed. Ware
: & Gleed, which is one Of the highes,
, ranking firms Of corporation attorney
in the State, took out an immense num-
, ber Of charters for new corporations
r to speculate on; charters for railroads
| for water works, for street car compa-
, nies, for almost everything conceivable
/ all at the old rate Of 81 90 each. Al
? time goes on these franchises will be-
= come valuable. A corporation wishing
Q to organize with say ssOO,OO0 capital
Q under the new law would have to pa!
Q the State S4OO for a charter. But b.
= patronizing Gleed, Ware & Gleed, i
!, can buy one for somewhat less, ant
Q amend It without expense so as to max
. 1t answer It's purpose. If Gleed, War
o & Gleed, who as we have said, ar