Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1899-02-01
THE PASS IN NEW YORK
Facts as to How MIR. Halls Bill
Would Work.
Disco cages FREE PASTEBOARDS.

Bat oficiaIs WHIT Would Ride Free Find
Way-Snpreme Court Judges aud the
so-fear Lilnit-opposition fur Joshua
Dodge This Spring Madi-
son Topics.
Madison. Jan &f-Next TO the matter
Of the ssnatorshlp, the liviiest Madison
issue is the question of PASSES and
franks
People generally are agreed that the
legislature vii! put some sort of law
through this winter. while a constitu-
tionai amendment is being adopted
this latter requires four years, ap-
prevails by two legislatures and by the
people at The polis) Al! the roliticai
parties are committed to it b. Ilatfcrm
Governor Scodeld is hot for it in his
message, And the evil is not to be
borne much longer. It is too great.
Peck cts damned with Passes.
went in TO Milwaukee with an on
cial OF the Capitol the other day. and
not very high official either. The con
ductor came through the train. and. my
word for it, when the Statesman pulled
out his pockettook, 1t was so crammed
with passes franks, privileges, many
Of which he can never have any use for
that the Traveller could not find his
''Northwe stern pass" The conductor
waited until the embarrassment was
intolelabe and then he passed on.
There have already been a number of
bills to do away with the evil. A. r.
iIalrs is exactly like the New York
constitutional hfohibition.
l recently wrote to a former news
paper associate in Albany, n Y. lie
has been legislative reporter and city
editor there for twenty eight years.
told him l wanted the facts as to the
working of this prohibition. / told him
he must rot color his narrative in the
least. Here is what he wrote week
ago
H0s st Works in New York.
The free pass prohibition has been
in force In New York state row for
four years and While by no means a
failure i'll many respects, it is violated
in spirit constantly. Its enactment in
alton on Jan !, 1885. has had the eff
feet of cutting down the aggregate
number OF passes issued by railroad
and steamboat companies. Now leg
islator, who is restricted by the prohi-
| bition from asking for free transporta-
ton, can side track all but those of
his friends and constituents whom he
desires TO favor, by calling their atten-
ton to the constitutional provision.
The legislature on many previous oc-
casiCns to the adoption of the present
corsli ution endeavored to have a law
ell GEO to prohibit or regulate the is
suance Of free passes by corporations
One of the last laws which they sought
to euect provided that all state officers
and members of the legislature be fur
nishtd with passes issued by the secre-
tary of state, which should be honored
on all railroad and steamboat lines. The
adoption of the new constitution put a
stop to this. the only passes issued by
the. secretary of state being to the state
railroad commissioners and the en-
plOyes Of that department when travel
ing on official business"
Auti-Pass Law Thirty Three Years Ago.
My Albany correspondent speaks Of
the act of 1866, thrtythree years ago
which prohibited the issue of free
passes to anyone except railroad en-
ployes and soldiers. but it was repealed
the following year Railroad compa
MES, he sal objected that it was i'm
possible for them to carry on their bust
ness in certain quarters and under GER
tain conditions without distributing
passes.
The courts he'd that PEI sons r.d;ns on
passes could recover damages for per-
sonal injuries, the courts reasoning that
the company were not carrying even
dead heads" without recompence. 1t
was this finding, combined with the
legislative disposition to abolish passes
that resulted in placing on free trans
poftation the words ION account Of"
But as to the present New York pro-
vision
How it is violated. how are it's re-
quirements gotten around"'
Politicians Have Their Tricks.
My Albany correspondent answers as
follows:
I'm many ways There was never a
law passed which could not be violated
and in some cases its provisions set at
naught.
There is nothing in the constitu-
tional prohibition as to a public official
accepting a seat in a drawing room car
| or berth in a sleeper. Passes for
| seats and berths are issued in a certain
book form for use as desired. The
conductor or the train is given to I'M
derstand that such as present these
passes for seats are not to be bothered
for car fare. SO the conductor does not
demand ticket or fare of such An
other manner in which the law is set It
naught is by an official securing a pass
under a fictitious name Still another
way, if there are two in the party. is
to have the pass made out to Mr.. or
Miss or Mrs. and brother the broth
err in many instances being a public
official. In some cases the person to
whom the pass is made out is the wife
of a state official. and to avoid paying
fare he rides as her guest under false
| pretenses and in viola ton of law These
latter cases, be it said 10 the credit Of
the state, are few
But a public officer who wants to
travel on a free pass has but little diff
Guilty in obtaining it and using it."
Judge MarshalFs Hard Work.
Judge Cassidy and Judge Dodge OF
the supreme bench come before the vot-
ers in the April election for continuance
| on the bench. Judge Cassoday was born
July Z, 1880. OF the other four, Mar
shall is 81; the others are even less than
that. Marshall by the way, is talked
of for the highest things. He has been
on the supreme bench but two years,
but his universal strength is a subject
| of remark on all sides and some predict
that he will Not stop being promoted
until he sits in the court at Washing