The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1905-04-14
Assembly Accepts It but the
Senate Thinks It Is
Radical.
BREWERS ARE MUCH WORRIED
Temperance Bills Get Generous
Support in the State
Legislature.
The Play of POiitics-Senate Dotted
with Aspirants for Election
Honors-No Adjourn
memt in Sight.

Madison. Wis, April 11.--This is a
railway week, and, indeed, the session
approaches it's climate. Today the as
sembly is to vote on the railway rate
bill. There were hopes that bill
could be framed that would be ac-
ceptable to all sides, or that at least
easy majority in the senate; but q
fight is inevitable. The bill will pass
the assembly easy enough, but it is
predicted by some conservatives that
the requisite seventeen votes cannot be
secured Of the thirty-three in the SEN
ate and that no rate bill will be passed
It will be the first real lineup on an
administration measure, for this bill is
assumed to have Governor LaFOllette's
approval; and the matter is far-reach-
ing. 1t is supposed to involve Govern
or LaFoIlette's future action with ref
ence to going to the senate. and not a
few believe he will offer himself for
governor a fourth time, on the plat
form of persistence, until he gets Il
majority in the senate as he has in the
assembly If he declines seat in the
senate this is believed by his followers
to be sufficient ammunition with
which to oppose the cry of fourth
term
Organizing the Railroad War.
Three thousand extra copies of the
hill have been printed and there has
been a ceaseless patter of petitions on
the subject Mr. Braddock. the Jack
son county assemblyman. who as chair
man of the assembly committee has
managed the administration bill on
that side. is a Yale man; one of his
home interests is the drainage of an
enormous swamp of $1,000 acres.
Substitute bills have been introduced
and Kreutzer and Merton of the SEN
ate, who might be normally counted
on to vote for a reasonable adminstra-
ton bill. have railway rate bills bear
ing their own names for which they
will demand consideration. But the
session is so far advanced and the
proposition of railway regulation is so
complicated that an authoritative
measure bearing administration ap-
prevail has a great momentum. 1t is
a vigorous measure, giving the COM
mission fuller powers than were real
~ expected when the debate started
In short it is q bill with teeth in it.
and there is defiant talk of putting
1T up to the senate. with full reSpOn-
sibility for its defeat. Should it be-
come a law. of course the lawyers will
have their turn at it, and this is true
of the cigarette bill and all far reach
ing measures. They must run the
gamut of that conservative reversing
body. the supreme court.
Other Railway Proposals.
There are all kinds of railway bills
in all stages of advancement The
railway representatives are suggesting
that it would be We'll to hang them up,
leaving to the proposed railway com
mission the putting in force of the bet
terments and changes, as the commits
sion would have the power to do.
Thus the two cents a mile BILL which
Johnson, of Oconto, a little. but per-
sistent man. has urged for years. The
railways insist that the Michigan law
on this point only applies to railway
companies which earn $4,000 a mile on
passenger business.
One of the incidents of the railway
furry is published letter from Sena-
atOr Johnson, of Racine. 10 con-
stituent. 1t was melted by the prlc-
tice of petitions with the inference by
some that these expressions of opinion
are binding on legislator. Senator
Johnson is manufacturer, one of
those blunt, honest men who speaks
his mind He does not object to petit
tons, although he thinks there is too
much indiScriminate signing of them,
as to detailed legislation land the petit
tons have to do with particular bin.
that is, he takes the ground that be-
yond expressing of an opinion as to the
desirability of railway commission
the citizens at home can best leave to
their representatives the working out
OF details.
Corporations Under the Harrow.
AS an instance. of the loss of au-
thority of corporations in legislative
matters may be cited bunch of three
measures advanced in the assembly on
one day recently. One provided that
as shippers must pay penalty for
keeping cars too long, so the railway
company must pay if the shipper is
compelled to wait for cars he has or
dered. Another bill brings under local
taxation certain real property of rail-
ways, as dockyards; and the third en-
Joined rules as to feeding, etc, live
stock. 1t has been a saying of speak
ers that for a period of years no law
has been passed that the railways did
not approve and none defeated that