The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-15

| floor of the house next TUESDAY at
/ O'Clock. The bill was made a special
! order for that time.
Thursday the legislative apportion-
/ ment committee reported favorably on
/ the Rochester bill There was a min
4 GRITTY report against the bill signed by
Rockefeller, j. o. Boyle and j. H.
1 Mercer Those who represent the ma
! jority of the committee on legislative
! apportionment in this fight are Chat
| ten, Skinner, Rochester, ingalls,, MILL
gan Helmick and Hendricks.
The Rochester bill provides that
| Greeley and Wichita counties, and
Haskell. and Gray counties, which are
now coupled for legislative purposes,
shall be separated. and each given a
representative in the legislature. Each
! of these counties is now possessed OF
$50 votes, thus emitting them to rep
! yesentation The Rochester bill al
so makes a number of changes in 9th.
| err legislative districts, giving more
representation to some counties which
have increased in population, and cut
! ting off some representatives IRON
| counties which now have more than
one representative.
In 1901 the legislature, at the re-
quest of certain railroad attorneys,
| passed a law requiring that many SUITS
against railroad companies must De
| fled in the county where the company
/ has its headquarters. w. B. Ham OF
! Rocks presented a bill at this session
wiping out such legislation, and re-
storing the old law which allows the
suit to be brought in any county
through which the road runs.
This bill of Hams was passed by the
house by vote of 79 to 2. Davis OF
Bourbon tried to put in an amend
ment including pipe line companies in
the provision 5of the bill but the
friends of the bill were afraid the
amendment would be more of load
than the bill would carry, and voted it
down.
Prohibits Overworking Railway Men.
Robert Stones bill limiting the
hours of railway employees to 16 hours,
except in cases of emergency such as
washouts, wrecks or blockades, was
passed by the house by a vote of Sc
to o.. The bill is similar to the bill
now before congress relating to inter-
state commerce regulations.
Brandon Has a TWo-Cent Bill.
duced the third two cent passenger
fare bill in the house. The Brandon
bill is about the simplest of any of the
bills introduced as it only provides that
the railroad companies cannot charge
more than two cents per mile for pas
sengers over IL years of age and that
of baggage carried free. Children from
6 to II years are to be carried at half
the adult rate.
Berryman's Maximum Rate Bill.
A
troduced in the house Thursday morn
ing 1t refers only to the rates for cat
tie and was prepared by j. w. Berry
man of Ashland, Clark county. The bill
makes no charges of any consequence
in the present rates on cattle up to
distances of $50 miles. From $50 up to
500 miles the reduction contemplated
by the bill is about 20 per cent of the
present rates on live stock. The bill is
drawn on a five mile blanket basis for
distances below 100 miles and on a ten
mile blanket basis for distances be-
tween 100 and 500 miles. The reductions
in the rates as contemplated by the bill
are not enough to bring the rates back
to the original basis of cattle rates in
Kansas. From Ashland the old rate
to Kansas City was little more than
Is cents per hundred pounds. Then the
railroads raised this to "a cents per
hundred and the Bergman bill makes
the rate Is cents per hundred. The rail-
roads have been raising the stock rates
for several years. The big advance
came in 1900 when the change from the
car to the pound basis of making rates
was made. The change caused an ad-
vance in rates equal to about nine dol
lars per car of cattle. The cattlemen
tried to stop this by an injunction but
this was compromised and they are now
making an effort to get better rates by
legislation.
Agree on Oil Bill.
The house committee on railroads
this morning voted to report favor
ably a new maximum freight rate bill
for refined and crude oil. The bill is
the result of a compromise between c.
A Stannard and the independent oil
producers 1t provides for an in
crease of cents a barrel on the rate
for refined oil which was not opposed
by the independent refiners and also
provides for reduction of about rs
per cent in the crude oil rate. The re-
duction in crude oil is for the purpose
of putting it nearer on parity with
the slack coal rate
NO END OF AMBASSADORS.