The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-02-26
WORK PRESSING
ON LAWMAKERS
Great Mass OF Business of Mo-
ment Will Necessarily Be
Left Over.
OUTLINE OF CLOSING WEEK
House to Take Up Cation Cen
OUTLINE OF CLOSING WEEK
House to Take Up Cation Cen
sral Insurance Bill as spe-
cial Order To-Day.

The present week will be busy one
in the Legislature. and both houses arc
expected to hold ut least as many as two
| sessions daily. There arc less than fifteen
working days left, and already nearly
| 1900 bills have been offered. OF these
less than seventy-fve have become laws
and the number yet to get through will
be much smaller.
The House will to-day consider the
Cation general insurance measure as a
| special and continuing order, and this
will consume both sessions. in all likell-
hood. The bill will probably pass.
The Williams bill to re-enact the Wharf
ton anti-compact law Is the next special
order on the calendar, and this will al
most certainly provoke a sharp contest.
There are many bills Of interest and i'm
portance yet unpassed. and some OF them
will remain in this state.
The Senate will take UP the general
appropriation bill, already passed in the
House. In few days. and Colonel Bow
man will to-day offer in the House a
| supplementary one and start 1t on its
way to passage.
Special local and private bills Will
have hard time from now on, and
little or no progress is expected to be
made with matters that are not of the
most sweeping general interest and
moment.
The measure before committee OF
Hon. David B. Powers, Jr. OF Caroline
which seeks. to sell the States interest
in the Richmond Fredericksburg and
Potomac railroad is one OF State wide
interest. 1t opens up the discussion OF a
question upon which the people OF the
state are much divided
The bill provides price for which the
the bonds shall be sold, and that same
when sold shall be devoted to the pay
ment OF the state debt. The Road COM
mittee has set. to-day at 10 A. NJ. for
taking up the bill.
Additional insurance legislation Of very
considerable Importance was proposed in
the Senate Saturday. Mr. Kerns, of Hail.
fax. offered bill defining and regulat-
ing mutual assessment and cooperative
fire. lightning and storm Insurance COM
panies. and Mr.. Fulton. of Warren. offered
bill TO require insurance, companies
doing business in Virginia to deposit
loans or invest moneys within the State
equal to 70 per cent OF the amount of the
net receipts of the business of the COM
pan!es done within the State. The Fulton
bill applies to all insurance companies
Any company refusing to comply with
the provisions of the act will not be
allowed to do business in the States and
any company doing business and failing
to comply will be fined not less than $500
for each offense. Any agent or officer
of any such company viii also be deemed
guilty of misdemeanor. and may be
fined not less than 500 or imprisoned
not more than sixty days or both Under
the act the companies must make a re-
port to the State Corporation Commits
sion. showing the total net receipts from
the business done in the State.
A bill introduced in the Senate Satur-
day by Captain Patteson, of Buckingham,
ccntemplates an increase of twenty-five
per cent in the pensions of all Confed-
crate soldiers who have reached the age
of sxty-five years. Another bill in
troduced by Captain Patteson proposes a
stamp tax of one cent upon all checks
of $50 and over, drawn upon any bank
or trust company in Virginia, the fund
created thereby to be ratably proportions
ed among all Confederate soldiers who
have reached or may hereafter reach the
age of sixty-five years. and this fund is
to be In addition to the pensions now
received by them. The bill is to go into
effect on the LIST of July. 1906, and Will
expire by limitation on the first Of July
1911, that is five years after its date
1t was suggested to Captain Patteson
by several bank officials that IL the bill
were limited to five years 1t would be
acceptable Captain Patteson will press
these new pension bills which he is
earnestly advocating.
"a man. he declares, who draws a
fifty-dollar check is we'll able to pay
one cent for the relief Of worthy class
who, in the nature of things. must soon
pay the great debt of nature
The Senate bill appropriat;ns s1-,c0O for
the establishment Of the Virginia school
for the Deaf and Blind, Saturday went
to the Committee on Finance with fa-
vorable report from the Committee on
Public institutions and Education.
Delegate r. E. Byrd will offer in tho
House to-day the following resol,l-
ton which speaks for itself:
Resolved by the House of Delegates.
the Senate concurring. That joint COM
mittee OF three members of the General
Assembly he appointed one by the Presi-
dent of the Senate and two by tho
Speaker Of the House Of Delegates.
.sThis committee shall sit during re-
cess of the General Assembly and in
quire as follows:
"d Is the price of school books re-
quired to be used in the public schools
of Virginia higher than In any other
State. and IL so. why?
"(2) Could the State with due CON
sideration to economy publish tho
school books used by the public school
pupils?
"(3) Are the profits of the school book
publishing companies exorbitant, and II
so, is there any remedy for this conai-
| ton? Ysss
1.-THE members of the committee shall
be paid at the rate of "a per day for
each day engaged in tho matter here
4 In provided for, with necessary travel
/ ing expenses. but. the per diem and
travelling expenses shall not exceed $50
| each.
1.-THE report OF the committee shall be
made to the next General Assembly, and
the sum of $50 is hereby appropriated
for the expenses of the committee"
| The House Committee on General Laws
| Saturday put quietus on Delegate
Gainess child labor bill and also on the
II r