The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1907-02-02
LEGISLATIVE NEWS AND GOSSIP

. ulOIt IMAM lup,vbV at 31OD Illbuih,
but no mileage within the limits OF the
county. was taken up in the commit
tee OF the whole in the Senate and
recommended for passage. Senator
Campbell offered an amendment fixing
the salaries of commissioners in coun-
ties having a population OF rs, 900 and
not more than lo0,0 at 500 per
month. with similar provision re-
garding mileage. The amendment was
withdrawn after some debate, but Sen
ator Campbell said he would introduce
It in a separate bill.
Mr. Kelly has introduced a bill in
the House in reference to the G.. W.
CLAYTON estate. The bill has been
agreed to, the introducer slater, by
both Moses Hallett. the administrator
of the estate, and r. w. Speer. mayor
of Denver The bill provides that the
will shall refer to property in the
county Of Denver, instead OF the
county of Arapahoe, and that the pro-
posed home shall be built in the county
Of Denver, instead OF the county OF
Arapahoe, these provisions being IN
line with the expressed wish of the
maker OF the will. The bill will also
permit the administrator to hold GER
tain real estate longer than the ten
years mentioned in the will Should
the sale be forced at the end of the
ten years 1t might result in loss TO the
estate.
Two bills by Senator Parks which
have gone through the Senate may
meet with opposition in the House
One is to abolish the salaries OF mem
bers of state boards and commissions,
| placing all in an honorary position
and requiring members to draw moth
ing more than their actual expenses.
This Is Buchtel proposal and should
have easier sailing. The other affects
county officers, and 1t is estimated,
would bring saving of from $3.50, 900
to 100000 per annum to taxpayers.
1t Is to keep down the expense ac-
counts Of county officers to actual out
lay. Under the law they can charge
10 cents mile as mileage, even when
they travel on passes. Under the pro-
posed measure the maximum charge is
3 cents per mile when fare is paid and
nothing when passes are used.
An effort to railroad the Werner irri-
CATION bill in the House brought vigor-
GUS objections from Stewart of Dou-
glas, VINO submitted two letters
asking that action be deferred
until the irrigation interests could
be heard. One letter was from
F. A. Meredith, chairman OF the
executive committee of the Irrigation
congress, and the other from Frank c.
| Goudy. AS explained by Collins OF Ell
Paso the object of the measure is ito
legalize execution of large reservoir
scheme without the necessity of begin
ming work on all of the reservoirs at
| once" In other words, that when 10
Gator shows reasonable diligence" in
| executing work on one reservoir he
shall not lose his rights on the whole
plan. providing the proper plats and
maps are filed with the state engineer.
Archuleta county comes to the front
with a new method of forcing the leg
islature to make better provision for
the care of the states insane. Repre-
| sentative Wilder introduced bill ask
| ing an appropriation OF $2,013.15, as
reimbursement for Archuleta county
for sums paid out in private institu-
tions for the care of the county's in
sane. Since 1897 the state asylum
has refused to receive patients from
Archuleta. on the ground that the asy-
lum is overcrowded. At a recent meet
ing Of the Board of County Commits
sioners resolutions were adopted urg-
ing Representative Wilder to secure
refund from the state Of the amount
specitied and, also, to use his intiu-
ence to get larger appropriation for
| the insane asylum, SO that counties
| will not be obliged to continue bearing
! double burden of caring for the IN
| sane at their own expense and con-
tributing to the support of the state
asylum.
| In an interview in relation to the
| Drake railroad commission bill, intro
duced by Senator Drake, Governor
| Buchtel is quoted as saying: There
| are serious difficulties in making rail
way rate law The peril is that capital
may be frightened from Colorado. The
| purpose of the bill as now introduced
| is to place abundant power in the
hands of the railway commission and
| at the same time give a sense OF Sc
| curity to capital. 1t is believed that
| this result has teen attained in the
provisions of this bill. This bill pro
poses that the commission shall hear
complaints and If the difficulties are
not adjusted by the commission in
| friendly way, the commission then has
| authority to make a change in rates.
| The change, however, is not to
go into effect until an appeal has been
| taken, both to the District Court and
| the Supreme Court. The bill provides
| that this business shall take prece-
dence over all other business in the
| courts excepting only criminal busi-
ness So it would be possible to Sc
cure a final decision at the end of ap-
proximately ten days or two weeks, as
in election cases"
A new railroad commission bill,
drafted by the attorney general on the
| lines of the national measure, has
been introduced in the Senate. 1t is
| the result of a number of conferences
held by the Republican members OF
the Legislature and party leaders, says
the Republican, which goes on to say:
This new measure, which was intro
duced by Senator Drake, makes the
State Board of Equalization the rail-