Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-04-01
Senate is eOinT Over ApprOp iatiOn Bills in
Conservative Manner
INSTITUTION LOBBY HARD AT WORK
Lincoln Trying to Get $4,000 for State
Historical Society Building.
FRICTION BETWEEN HOUSE AND SENATE
Upper House Refuses 70 Consider
Adjournment Because SO Many
of Its Bills Are Yet on
House Files.


(From a Staff Correspondent)
| LINCOLN, March s1.--(Special 1.-The leg,
| islature has stll to wrestle with the econ
omy pledge in the republican state platform
and that practically is ali. While the
house ran wild with appropriations in
order to get the bills out OF the way to
take up other important matters, the SEN
ate is going at the appropriation measures
! in a conservative manner, which no doubt
will result in even this pledge being kept.
| This will leave clean slate for this re-
publican legislature. OF course, powerful
| lobby is at work and many combinations
are getting busy to keep the spproprda-
tious where the house left them. but in
ssmuch as there is just much money
to spend, the senate is working on the
theory no more will be appropriated. The
greatest lobby, of course, is located right
here in the city OF Lincoln, which wants
all kinds Of appropriations, not only to
boost the state institutions, but to help
out the municipality as well.
One Lincoln Graft.
A graft pure and simple which the Lin
| coin lobby is trying to work Is the $4,000
for the first story and basement of a
building for the State Historical society.
To review past history leading up to this
| request is to recite one Of the biggest pieces
Of unadulterated brazenness ever pulled or.
Way back when the state capital was los
Gated here block known now as Hay
market square was donated to the State
Historical society, A few years later by
one vote a bill was juggled through the
legislature to give this block OF ground
! to the city of Lincoln to be held as long
as the city used 1t for municipal purposes
and when It ceased to be used as city
property II was to revert to the state.
Now then the city of Lincoln no longer
uses this ground, which is worth anywhere
from $4,000 to $4,000, for city purposes
and by all right and Justice II should be
| decided back to the state without ques-
ton. But the public spirited people OF
Lincoln instead Of doing this served notice
on the legislature II It would appropriate
! t2K.Oo0 TO malSe start on a historical
building, 1t would either deed this ground
back or other ground equally as valuable.
This bill is on general file in the senate.
1t is state fair history being repeated.
When the fair was located permanently
in Lincoln the citizens pledged themselves
that the town would donate the ground.
The next legislature appropriated the
money to pay for the ground which Lin
coin was to donate
Feud Between Houses.
There is a small-slzed feud on between
the house and the senate that will prob
ably complIcate matters during the last
few days Of the session. Because Of it
the senate has repeatedly refused TO APP
point a committee to confer with the house
committee to fix a time for final adjourn
ment. though the house requested such a
committee a week ago. 1t will also un-
doubtedly crop out in the final conference
on appropriations and in the last struggle
over the pure food bill
The cause of the feud as has been indi-
Gated before is the refusal Of the house TO
consider senate files to any extent until
the last two or three days. Instead of taxi
ing up bills that had passed the upper
branch the house continued to pour new
bills over onto the senate by the dozens.
The unsophisticated senators took up tlH
house measures and considered them as
fast as they came over. The result was
y that the number of house bills that have
been enacted into laws is clear out OF pro-
portion to the number OF senate fles sent
to the governor. A little over a week ago
the senators woke up to the fact they were
being worked and then they got mad. Fuel
was added to the fame when they learned
} that in a list Of twenty-four measures acted
on by the governor in the last two days
) only one was a senate bill and that was
/ the King anti-pass law.
, It was only within the last few days that
the house has been taking up any large
number Of senate bills and the senators
J who have pet measures buried on the house
general file are In mood to do some
scrapping. The senate has come on some
OF the house appropriation bills and II Is
hinted that some OF these may be used
as club to get the house to pay more at
/ tention to the senate bills The fight win
also crop out when the senate gets hold
| OF the amendments made by the houss to
the senate pure food bill From threats
= made in debate on the floor OF the senate
! It is probable that there viii be consider
able difficulty In the two bodies getting to-
gether on the bill. Some OF the leaders In
the fight for the bill in the senate declare
they cannot support the measure with the
house amendments attached to IT, An at
tempt was made to add the same amend
ment when the bill was up IN the senate
but Il failed. For these reasons the fate
p of the bill is in doubt.
Newspapers Fight Burns.
The closing days Of the session are an
livened by a scrap between Senator Joe
Burns and a couple OF Lincoln newspapers
The trouble arose over the indeanito post
ponement in the senate OF the bill carrying
an appropriation OF $4,000 for the state
farm. Burns has always used as one or
his principal campaign arguments his
. ability to pull big appropriations for the
state university. Consequently when thiS
bill was killed the Lincoln papers jumped
all over him and by one he was dubbed
Back Number joe" The senator IL nave,
happier than when hshting and ne eams
back with vitriolic letter. In which he
charged the failure OF the bin up 20 the
/, State Journal for continually discreditinV
: him The Evening News took up the battIo
! Saturday and fired this shot at the senior
senator from Lancaster:
He (Burns) has persistently and consist
emily fought against the redemption OF