The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-05

that in the House over Representative
WOlfes bill to provide for and regulate
the holding of primary elections. The po-
litical history of this measure was so in
timately connected with the contest of
this week that IL should be briefly out
lined The last Democratic state conven-
ton, after declaring that it favored 1.-The
nomination of all candidates for offices,
both state and county, and of United
States senators, by a majority vote in
white Democratic primary elections, held
under the provisions of law, which shall
provide" etc, named Messrs j. Emmmet
Wolfe of Pensacola, J. Walter Kehoe of
Mariana, and J. Murdoch Bars of Jack
sonville, as a committee ito prepare and
present for passage by the Legislature a
proper primary election law" The gen.
tlemen named devoted much time and
, thought to the duty assigned them, and,
after many conferences, they formulated
a bill. which Mr.. Wolfe as one of the
representatives from Escambia county,
introduced in the House at the current
session. The bill is a very comprehen-
sive one, and, so far as practicable, fol-
lows the general outline of the general
election law of Florida.
To the great surprise of some of its
friends, however, Mr.. Wolfe's bill has
encountered INieHlfeSS opposition. w men
it was taken up for consideration last
| Tuesday scores of amendments were
showered at 1t, but Mr. Wolfe defended
the original measure with great spirit
On Wednesday the fight was resumed
with renewed vigor, and finally a motion
to kill it by indefinite postponement was
made. AT this stage the struggle became
bitter, and much passion was evidenced
There is small doubt that the measure
would have met its death had not Mr..
Wolfe secured the floor and held 1t until
the hour peremptorily fixed by rule for
adjournment for the day arrived Thurs
day morning a bitter feeling prevailed,
and in the interest of harmony it was
agreed to make the bill the special order
the understanding that the House
should then resolve itself into
committee of the whole House for
free and full discussion of the measure.
| Indications are that some kind of a pri-
mary law will be enacted, though it is
| impossible to say how much or how lit
tie it will resemble Mr.. Wolfe's bill.
Perhaps the most radical measure yet
| introduced in either branch of the Leg
| islature is the bill which proposes to
abolish saloons, and to establish a state
liquor dispensary, the leading features of
| which have already been published in the
Morning News. The total net proceeds
from the dispensary the bill provides,
! shall be devoted to the building of mod
ern public highways. Hotels are to enjoy
| some exemptions. and so also are dealers
| in wines made from Florida-grown
grapes and fruits.
There was a tendency at first to treat
! this dispensary measure as a Joke. The
| understanding Is that it was prepared by
| a group of well-known lobbyists, presum-
ably with a view to making better BUSH
| ness for their honorable and useful pro-
| fession. Business in their line has I'M
doubtedly been miser bly, dull through
| out this session, and the idea seems to
have been that the saloon interests could
| be given a sufficient scare to induce them
| TO put up enough handsome stakes to go
| around among 1.-The boys" and then let
| the measure quietly die. Be all this as II
| may, it is now certain that members or
| the Legislature are taking the measure
much more seriously than was expected.
| 1t is given out that the House Temper
ance Committee, to which Mr.. Wallis bill
| was referred is going to report 1t favor
| ably. and an actual canvass shows a
majority of the members of each house
| favorable to a dispensary system Tor
| Florida The progress and fate of this
| measure will be watched with deepest In
| terest.
The recent congressional apportionment
| act. based upon the federal census OF 1900,
| gave to Florida three members of the
lower house of Congress, instead OF two
| Much discussion was had over the state
as to how the state should be divided
| into three congressional districts. When
| tho LEGISLATURE metta special Joint COM
| mittee of the Senate and House was APP
| pointed TO take charge of, consider ana
report on all measures relating to such
redistricting of the state. This JOINT COM
mittee went over the half-dozen bills sub
mitted to cover this ground and the re-
mort of the majority of the committee
submits a bill dividing the state as fol-
lows:
The first district to be composed OF the
| counties of Taylor, Lafayette, Levy,
| Marion, Citrus. Sumter, fernando, Pasco,
| Hilsboro, Polk, Manatee, De Soto, Lee,
! Monroe and Lake, or, roughly speaking,
the Gulf coast counties OF Pelnsular
| Florida; the second district to be formed
| Of the counties OF Dade, Brevard, Osce-
| ola. Orange, Volusia, Putnam, St. Johns
| Alacbua. Clay, Bradford Suwannee, Co
| lurnbia. Baker, Duval, Nassau and Hamil-
| tan These are the Florida East Coast
| counties and also a tier of counties In the
| northeastern section Of the state me
| third congressional district, under the
committees bill, would be practically
composed Of all counties in the state west
| OF the SQWdnnet IlNtlt iehA'iS'
! Jefferson. Leon, Wakulla, Franklin, LIB
| erty. Gadsden, Calhoun, jackson, WASH
ington, Holmes. Walton Santa Rosa and
| Escambia counties.
Mr.. Frank =. Milburn, well-known
architect of Columbia s. c., has appeared
before the Joint Committee of the Legis-
lature on Capitol improvement and pre-
scented drawing OF the building with
the proposed additions, which included
two wings and a dome to the present
building The drawing made a very eX-
cellent impression, and the plan is faV-
orably regarded by the committee. The
cost OF the additions and improvements
viii not exceed $1,000. ana they will make
Florida's state house one of the most
substantial and attractive in appearance
IN the South.
The north wing addition will be used as
the Hall Of the House OF Representatives
on the third floor, with offices on the first
and second floors. Similarly win the third
floor OF the south wing addition be used
as the Senate Chamber, while the lower
floors will be divided into offices. In the
center Of the building a large dome will
be run up with a broad stairway lead
ing up under 81 TO the several floors OF
the building.
The added wings Will be made fro
proof with vaults and safes on the FIRST
/ 4. 81