The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1903-05-08

LEGISLATIVE GOSSIP.


|
proceeds of the Indian War claims
and the hire of state convicts, by
vote of 40 to 4. The bill reads as
follows:
Whereas, The State of Florida
has outstanding Indebtedness of
81 1892 500, which is evidenced by
bonds of the State of Florida, issued
in 1873 and 1901, and upon which the
State is annually paying as interest
large amounts raised by direct taxa
tion levied on the real and personal
property in the State; and,
"Whereas, The payment of this
Indebtedness will relieve the tax
payers of the State of payments ex-
ceeding 10000 year, and will result
in reduction of the tax levy in the
future; therefore
"Be it enacted by the Legislature
of the State of Florida:
Section |. That the sum of $579,-
576,87 be, and the same is hereby ap-
propriatCd, and the Comptroller is
hereby authorized and directed to
draw his warrant on the State Treas
urer, to be paid from the Indian War
claims fund, for amounts aggrega-
ting said 79,576,S7, payable to per-
sons holding the bonds of the State
of Florida, issued in 1873 and 1901,
in amounts equal to the face value
of said bonds delivered by them to
the Comptroller for payment and
cancellation.
"Sec. 2. All laws and parts of laws
in conflict herewith are hereby re-
pealed, and this act shall take effect
upon its passage and approval by the
Governor.
Senate bill No. %, validating the
recent Palatka bond issue passed the
House on Friday last by unanimous
vote. There is now no question as
to the legality of the issue.
Mr. Long of Bradford is the father
of bill which provides that the
proceeds of the school tax paid by
the whites shall be devoted to the
education of the whites, and that the
tax paid by the negroes shall be used
for educating the negroes. The bill
| has already passed the house by
vote of AZ to IS and is now before the
senate. 1t would not be possible to
enter upon a discussion of this bill
without opening up broad field
too broad for settlement in news
paper article. The late DR.. j. l.. M.
Curry of Richmond, one of the fore
most educators of the country, once
favored this plan and he is about the
only man of national reputation who
has given it sanction. After the
doctors death it was about the only
utterance of his life which was re-
ferred to as having look too narrow
for the man. The bill is play to
polictical prejudice; it is not states
manship; it will not meet the ap-
proval of the broad-minded Chris
tian men of Florida. The education
of the negro may be the white
mans burden" to tote which will
sometimes make him weary, but so
long as he conceiyes it to be duty he
will not lay down the burden. The
negro is here. He is citizen. Ed
ucation will make him better citi-
zen.
The House has, by vote of % to
80, dumped the bill which designed
to make adultery the only cause for
which divorce may be granted in
this state.
Mr.. Trammell's bill to regulate the
sale of cigarettes and cigarette pa
per by requiring a license and pro-
viding a penalty was passed in the
House on Monday by vote of Al
to 8.
The memorial to congress, passed
by both branches of the Legislature
by practically unanimous vote, and
which urges the call of constitu-
tional convention for the purpose of
amending the constitution so as to
permit the election of United States
Senators by a direct vote of the peo-
pie, has been vetoed by the Cover
nor. Before the veto was known,
Mr.. Gilchrist introduced resolution
in the House requesting the Cover
nor to veto the joint resolution, on
the ground that should constitu-
tional convention be held it cOHld
amend the constitution in any man
ner saw fit; that its work might re-
suit in cutting down the south's rep
resentation in congress. Mr.. Gill
christs resolution was passed and the
House sent d committee of three to
notify the Governor, who stated that
he had already vetoed the measure,
but that he was glad his views had
been indorsed by the House of Rep
resentatives. In the Senate the
point of order was raised by Senator
BlOunt that the governor had no We
to power so far as joint resolutions
were concerned; that his veto power
was limited, by law, to bills only.
President Adams read the constitu-
| ton and said the point of order had
never before been raised, and was
| inclined to believe that the point OF
order raised by Senator BlOunt was
we'll take Before ruling, however,
he called upon Senator Grill, a recog-
niZed authority on rules, for his
views. DR.. Grill said that the ques-
ton had never before been raised,
but it had been the custom to treat
| Joint resolutions as bills, and he was
of the opinion that the question be-
fore the Senate was to consider the
veto message. Senator Raney, who
is also an EX-Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, took the same view
as Senator Grill. The question was
a perpleXing one, on which such able
LAWYERS as Senators Raney and
Blount, and Senator Grill, the recog-
niZed parliamentarian of the state,
could not agree. The matter was
laid over until the following day, at
which time President Adams ruled
that the governor had the same
power to veto the resolution as he
had to veto bills, thus sustaining the
position taken by Senators Grill and
Raney.
Some gossip has been INDUCED at
Tallahassee over the continued alb
sence of Major G. p. Healy, distin-
guished diplomat and member of the
Third House. Members should give
themselves no uneasiness on ac-
count of the major. The News has