The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-11
HOW ONE BILL GOT LOTS
IN NORTH DAKOTA MET
WITH A SAD FATE
HOUSE WAS IN AN UPRoAR
Members Charged Each Other With
All the Crimes In the CaIen-
dar Because of Its Dis
appearance.

BISMARCK, March 10.-(Special )-One
of the most amusing struggles of the leg
islative session just ended was that for
the possession of Senate Bill 1885, the bill
fixing maximum charges for transporta
ton of coal over railroads There were
several senators who did not want to see
this bill pass, although not enough to
prevent it's passage by the upper house
The bill passed on the second day before
adjournment Before 1t could be mes
saged down to the house the senate had
adjourned and it could not be sent down
until the following day. But bills origi-
mating in one house cannot be received
in the other on the last two days of
the session without suspension of the
rules. When the senate clerk took the
bill down on the following day, a motion
had just been made that the bill be not
received. Another member moved the
suspension of the rules and the receipt
of the bill. This motion was lost, and,
when the senate clerk heard the verdict
of the house, he carried the bill back
to the senate.
Subsequently the members of the house
decided to receive the bill and act upon
it. There was a long parliamentary
struggle over this matter but finally the
motion not to receive was reconsidered,
and the house voted to take up the meas
ure and act upon It, All this was done
under the assumption of the majority of
the members that the bill was still on
the desk in the house, and could be
Immediately taken up and acted upon
When the motion to receive carried, the
clerks began looking for the bill, but
it was not on the desk. Immediately there
was an uproar The members who had
been endeavoring to get the bill up
charged that it had been stolen, and in
discriminate accusations were hurled
about as to the purloiner of the measure.
1t was some time before the members OF
the house discovered that the bill had
been Immediately taken back to the SEN
ate upon the first refusal o. the house
to receive it. Then there was more
torridity Bad faith on the part of the
senate was charged. Members of the
house declared that they had been trick
ed-that the senate clerk had been In
structed to take the bill down just at
the time the house was voting on the
first motion to receive, and return to
the senate with it Immediately upon the
failure of the motion4 This the house
claimed was an unusual practice, and
should not be tolerated.
So the members of the house determin-
ed to get the bill back. But here was
a rub. Messages requesting the return
of the measure received no attention
from the senate That body was proceed
ing under a regular order of business,
and the minority opposed to the bill was
large enough to prevent suspension
of the rules and the return of the bill.
Every time the men who wanted to send
the bill down to be acted upon moved
that action, the minority insisted on the
regular order and defeated the attempt.
Finally Speaker Pollock, of the house,
sent down request for the bill. That
was not needed The speaker came up
to Tie senate to look over the land, but
found no consolidation. All the time the
house was in a turmoil, and charges and
counter charges were being hurled back
and forth. At length a committee OF
three members of the house was appoint
ed to call on the senate explain how the
bill came to be refused and ask for it's
return. But when the committee reached
the senate chamber it was found that
the senate had recessed until the follow
ing morning, and efforts to get the bill
back that day were futile.
North Dakotans appear to- have been
taking rapid advantage Of the Nelson
bankruptcy law. There have been, ac-
cording to statistics that have been COM
piled from the records of the federal
courts of the state 164 persons who have
taken advantage of the law and gone
through bankruptcy proceedings. Grand
Forks leads in number with SO and Fargo
has a few less. Nearly every county in
the state has some persons who have
been discharged in bankruptcy. In some
of these cases the liabilities have been
only a few hundred dollars, and yet
steps have been taken by debtors to clear
themselves This is the reason for the
memorial introduced in the legislature
asking the representatives of the state
in congress to work for the repeal of the
law. 1t is charged that conditions do
not justify so many bankruptcy pro-
ceedings and that not all of them are in
good faith. IA
The state reform school board at Mandan
came nearly being one member short. In
the first appointments that were made
one place was not flied and the omis-
sion was not discovered until the last day
before the close of the session.
Following the excitement of the legis-
lative session Bismarck will plunge into
what promises tolSbe the hottest city
campaign in it's history. Lines are al
ready drawn as between Mayor Patter-
SON. the present chef magistrate of the
CITY and Judge Winchester of the dis
trict court, who had a serious falling out
some months ago over the seizure of a
roulette wheel and the arrest of the
An issue of that battle will be waged
in the city election. Patterson will not
be a candidate. but it is stated that F.
II. Register, who opposed Winchester for
the district bench last fall. will be his
man. On the other side the candidate
will be Frank Donnelly, an old resident
of Bismarck. and the war promises to
be to the knife. A new paper is slated
to be established in the city about April
t. and this will support the present may
or. A feature of the first Issues. it is
stated. will be the publication of the af-
fidavits that were secured for the con-
templated impeachment proceedings
against Winchester, that were dropped
after the matter had been canvassed by
those who thought to proceed against the
judge Linen clean and unclean, is
scheduled to be washed and aired. and
if all the scalping knives that are being
sharpened now are unsheathed when city
election time comes there will be a
large amount of political gore spilled.
The first of the immigrants to Gen.
Washburn's lands havesarrived, special
train of ten cars Having been taken to
Wilton early in theEms1ith. Gen WASH
burns agent expects sG hundred families
in the course of the next thirty days.