The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-03-02
IMPORT IAN WORK
BEFORE LEGISLATURE.
All Fouse. and Senate Committees at Hard
abor--Appro priation Measure, Con
testedEleetion Gases. and Reap
portiornment Bills. Claiming
Attention

It looks as If the Legislature would be
here for at least month longer. The
committees of both branches and espec
i;lliy Of the House have fixed enough spe
cial and continuing orders to hold them
for nearly that length Of time, and bills
are flowing in in. great patches every day.
Perhaps there were never SO many pri
vate measures presented iii the same
length of time as have gone In and been
adopted at the present session and num-
scrous bills have been offered and passed.
giving vested rights to certain corpora
lions. which they could not acquire un-
der the proposed new Constitution. Nor
is the number of general bills less than
at former sessions. Fish and oysters leg
islation is receiving its share OF attention,
and dog laws for the protection OF sheep
have been presented. lea sures; relating
to telephone, telegra phi and railway. COM
panies arc under Amusement, and the
statutes on various subjects OF general
interest are being amended and read
iusted. The appropriation bill for the
fiscal year ending September 80, 1902 is
one of the closttimportant matters under
consideration. The two Committees on
Finance have The bill under Amusement
and will be able in a short while to re.
port it to both Houses.
4 ne committee Oll lltii 1IiSS-
lions of the House is going to be one of
the hard worked committees Of the pres
ent session Ordinarily this body has
very little to do. but work 1s4.croWding
upon 1t and shortIy it will have to hold
meetings daily.
The contested election cases will en-
gage great deal of its time, and then,
like the Corresponding Committee of the
Senate, it has three other Important mat
tiers that must be disposed of. One is the
bill reapportioning the State into legis-
ative districts; another that reforming
the congressional districts, and thu other
the appointment of registrars for the
several counties and cities of the State.
The contested election case of Fulton
DENY vs. Hibbetts (Rep.) for a seat
from the district composed of the coun-
tics Of Buchanan, Dickinson, and Wise
has been set for hearing next Wednes-
dav. The record is short, and only a
few days will he consumed In reaching a
report. Ex-Attorney-General Rufus A.
Ayers, of Wise, is counsel for Mr.. Full
ton. arh the interests of. the contestee
will be looked after by Hon. Robert w.
Blair. of WytEe When this contest shall
have been disposed Of, the case Of Lam
beth and Bipb VS.. Whitehead and Wood
ward will be taken up. This case IN
wolves the right to the two seats from
Norfolk city now occupied by the con-
testees
The record in the Norfolk case covers
$50 printed pages. andzhas been in the
BANDS of the committee for several days
1t is said that much partisan politics is
liable to crop out in the investigation
of the case before the committee. and all
the leading politicians in the Trehy and
Dey factions will oeisnefe @tot takcSpart
in the hearing. It is believed thatAthe
recent decision of the State Committee
which was favorable to the Dey5 people,