The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1906-01-18
THE MISSISSIPPI
LEGISLATURE
OUR CORRESPONDENTS WEEK
LY LETTER.
THE SOLONS' DAILY GRIND
Subjects + Legislation Recommended
and Acted Upon From Day to Day.
House and Senate Bills Passed and
Other Items of General Interest.

The following we're the pricipal fea-
lures before the legislature last week !:
A resolution memorializing congress
to appropriate 100000 for suitable
monument in the Vicksburg Military
Park, commemorating the herolsm OF
Anglo-American soldiers.
The house voted to reconsider the
resolution providing for a committee
to act upon leave f absence of mem
bers at this session and after very
lengthy debate tabled the resolution.
The speaker was authorized to ap-
point two stnegraphers for use Of
members at salary of not more than
$500 per day.
A resolution was also introduced
calling on congress to pay the state
of Mississippi the sum of $4,000,
which was spent last year for quaran-
tine expenses.
The senate adopted resolution
paying the code commissioners half
Of their stipend. The commissioners
are allowed $1,000 each under the res
olution which was passed and sent
Immediately to the house.
Mr.. Barber of Harrison introduced
in the house bill which is designed
to extend the powers of the railroad
cmmisSion so as to make them prac-
tically independent of the courts in
the matter of enforcing their orders
and DEGREES.
The bill provides that the railroad
commission "shall be a court of rec
ord, and all orders, judgments an dde-
crees made by said commission shall
be final, unless there shall be an ap-
peal from the same to the supreme
court of Mississippi within 80 days
after such final order, ETC., has been
rendered." 1t will be observed that
the commission is given authority to
determine its cases regardless of the
circuit judges and chancellors, and
that appeals from it go direct to the
supreme court. Such appeals, how
ever, are not to operate as superse-
IDEAS unless the commission itself ex-
pressly agree and direct that it shall
so operate.
The bill further amends the chapter
ON railroad commission so as to re-
auire the conductor of train in case
of serious accident involving lives of
passengers, or other employe if the
conductor be disabled, to 60 at once
to the nearest telegraph station and
report fully to the depot agent or
telegraph operator the details of said
accident, giving if possible, names of
killed and injured. 1t is then made
the duty of such depot agent or tel
egraph operator on the line within the
state of Mississippi, of such accident
and all details thereof, and each and
every agent is then required to post
the facts of such accident with names
of dead and injured, if possible, on
bulletin board in the passenger depot
The proposition to sell the old state
capitol is growing in favor since il
has been seen that the sale of the pro-
perty will go far toward bringing the
state through without much of new
bond issue. The property. including
the park donation on which the Con
federate monument stands, ought te
bring on present valuation here, about
100000. Some objection to selling
the monument site has been raised by
the soldiers, but it is argued that tht
state could better afford to move tht
monument to the new capitol ground:
and pay the expenses of moving, ra
ther than keep the property tied vi
doing nothing while the state is need
ing revenues and has no use for th'
property.
1t is pointed out that the $500,0O(
Of bonds due next January are bearing
6 per cent interest and could easil!
be refunded for 3 or 3 and one-hal
per cent. The sale of the eapito
property would 7pay all of the none,
that the state had to borrow las
year.
The governor informed the hous'
he had signed bill appropriating mon
ey to defray expenses of special ses
sion.
Mr.. Denton called up H. B. 81, au
thorizing supervisors to donate none,
to erect Confederate monuments t.
dead, both men and women, of thei
respective counties.
An elective Judiciary amendmen'
introduced in both bodies is as fol
lows:
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