The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-01-16
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

c"ietllVhtSI Ut ueCOIle a member, OF TN
campaign committee of any candidate
or shall in any way endeavOr TO In
!. fuelce the vote Of any elector for an,
I candidate for Office. such judge Of
chancellor shall be guilty Of a misde
meanor in Office and subject to i'm
. parchment, and, upon conviction. shall
be removed from Office
, In the House.
Speaker Thomas called the house
to order at 10 o'clock ant
It was led in prayer by Mr.. Duncan
of Tippah. Roll call showed a quorum
present.
On motion Of Mr.. Coleman Of lie
fore the clerk was authorized to cast
one vote for the officers nominated
in committee of the whole yesterday
which was done.
Messrs. Bynum and Ethridge mp.
peared before the bar Of the house
and took the oath of office. not hay.
Ing been present the day before.
The committee Oh rules was an
nounced by the speaker as follows:
Sif. Thomas. chairman; Brown of Ad.
ans. Hoyle Of Lee. StelnIs of Lauder.
dale and Miller Of Sharkoy.
A resolution offered by Mr., T0lbert
was adopted inviting all the ministers
of the city and visiting ministers to
open the house with prayer.
On motion Of Mr.. Greaves the fol,
lowing committee on the part of the
house to cooperate with a like com
mittee from the senate to notify the
| gplar1py that Moth ln,,Enn .y,t,, y,Nlr
for business was appointed Mcssrs.
Sheffield, Stevens, George, Kyle and
Dulaney,
After the election of Miss Miller of
Tishomingo as postmistress of the
house, an adjournment to 3 o'clock was
taken.
In the Senate, .
Lieut.. Gov. Harrison called the sen.
ate to order at 10 O'Clock, after which
Bishop G. b. Galloway invoked the di.
vine blessing. A roll call showed that
there was a quorum present. The min
utes of the previous day we're read and
approved.
The first business of the morning
proved to be a very lively resolution
introduced by Senator w, b. Walker
Of Monroe county, expressing the sense
Of the Legislature on the Panama canal
proposition.
The Walker resolution instruCts the
United States senators to vote for the
Panama canal treaty, The resolution
caused a great deal Of discussion.
The resolution was discussed by
quite q number of senators both for
and against, al amendment and sub.
stitute offered, which were both voted
down, and the resolution as offered
was finally passed with but
one dissenting yote-that of Senator
KendriCk, who explained that he did
not feel himself competent TO instruct
United States senators. Following is
the resolution in full;
"~Appreciating the tremendous i'm.
~portance Of an itshmian canal TO the
commerce of the world and especially
the benefits that 1t will be to the whole
South from the construction OF such
a waterway between the Atlantic and
the Pacific oceans, which would make
of Mississippi an open gateway for
worldwide commerce and traffic; re
ali2ing that conditions have SO shaped
themselves that the country must
choose between the Panama route
and indefinite and probably permanent
poStponement of the elimination of the
canal at any point across Central
America; and waving all questions Of
right or wrong in the recognition Of
the government of the republic Of
Panama, for which we of Mississippi
are in no way responsible, all Of which
is now an accomplished fact, present
ing a condition which must be met by
this country. Therefore be 1t
Resolved, BY the senate, the house
c%oncurring, that it is the sense of the
legislature that the treaty touching
the construction of this canal now
pending beween the government and
the republic Of Panama should be
speedily ratified, ald thereby make
the only apparently possible
opportunity presented to this country
for the construction Of an isthmian ca
nal.
Second. That Senators Money
and McLaurin be and are hereby urg
ed to use their best endeavors to Sc
cure the ratification of this treaty"
A concurrent resolution indorsing
the action Of the recent levee conyen-
ton at New Orleans and urging con
gress to take action on the leyee ques-
tio1 was tabled subject to call.
By resolution the senators over six.
ty years Of age were given their
choice of seats.
The following bills were introduced:
BY Senator Smith-To divorce the
judiciary from politics.
BY Senator Walker--To create and
establish a department Of agriculture
and statistics.
By Senator Walker-To empower
the city Of Aberdeen to build and own
It's own Waterworks and sewerage sys-
BY Senator Dun1-To empower the
supervisors Of Lauderdale county to
)ay J. w. Stenton $1,000.
By Mr.. Dunn-TO amend an act pro
yiding for the election Of the State
'evenue agent and to define his powers
md duties.
By Senator Walker-To amend code
in reference to making con
racts by boards Of supervisors for
public works.
The governors messake was then ,
eceived and pending its reading the
ienate adjourned to 3 o'clock. {
The Joint Session.
The senate and house met in joint
esslol in the afternoon for the pur.
'ose Of electing a State librarian. Both {
louses assembled at 4 O'Clock in the ,
lall Of the house Of representatives.
Ill candidates were withdrawn ex.
eDt Miss Plunkett, Of Leake, who raj
lected by reclamation.
The senate then retired to it's cham ,