Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-02-12
ANNEXATION BILL HEARING
Indications Of Favorable Report, with
Amendment as to Time.
PRIMARY BILL COMMITTEE HOLDS SESSION
Terms of Dodge and other Bills Gone
Through with Informally, but No
Agreement Reached on Num-
her of Points.
(From a Stan Correspondent)

AAAANSOA1AN, NeDt teD, ll--NSpeClal Iele- |
grandfather joint debate on the Thomas
bill to consolidate Omaha and South !
Omaha, held in Representative hall, 1t ap-
pears practically certain that the senate
committee on judiciary will report favor
ably on the bill with an amendment TO
allow the present officials Of both cities to
serve out their terms. This would delay
consolidation for over a year, but It Is un-
derstood the amendment has practically
been agreed upon and Senator Thomas to-
night said he would not oppose It, The
Thomas bill does not provide for the sub
mission of the question to a vote of the
people of either city.
The meeting tonight was held by the
house committee on cities and towns and
the senate judiciary committee. John p.
Breen, author of the Thomas bill, and
Mayor Dahlman championed consolidation,
and A. II. Murdoch, II. B. Fleharty and
Rev. Robert l.. Wheeler Of South Omaha
vigorously opposed 1t. The opponents of
the bill spent considerable time 'knocking''
on Omaha. Mr. Fleharty said the people
Of South Omaha favored ultimate consoli-
dation. but not until all of the suburbs
could be merged into one consolidated city
and county government.
While Mayor Dahlman favored annexa-
tion. he gigged back on his former offer
to give up his office any time and said he
thought a bill which would cut short his
term of office would be unfair. Besides the
speakers City Attorney Burnham, City En-
gineer Rosewater, W. H Herdman and sew
eral of the councilmen from Omaha, and
Mayor Hoctor and number Of the South
Omaha officials attended the meeting.
Hearing on Game Bills.
An open meeting Of the fish and game
committee OF the senate was held tonight
and stereopticon views were used TO con-
vince the committee that spring shooting
of ducks and geese should be prohibited.
Prof. r. H. wslcott Of the State university
was the principal speaker. A number Of
( the senators from the northwest are trying
to close the season during the spring
months. The committee Is considering
amendments to the bill passed by the house
to permit quail shooting from November
! to November IS, and to close the duck sea-
son April instead Of April 1b large
number Of sportsmen attended the meeting.
Considering Primary Bills.
The direct primary subcommittee met to-
night and discussed section by section the
Dodge BILL the principal changes made be-
/ ing the elimination of the petition for nom
nations. other minor changes were made
with the view to simplifying and shortening
the bill, though the filing fee was left as
il was In the original bill. The question
of the rotation ballot went over with little
discussion, as both Patrick and Dodge fa-
vor 1t and II is thought Brown and Aldrich
are against II. This probably will be left
to the Joint committee. The committee did
not finish it's work.
1.-THE merits or demerits OF a direct pri-
mary law are not up for discussion at this
time" said former Senator A. p. Cady,
who came IN from st. Paul tonight, THE
party is pledged to such a law in it's plat
form and the individual members are
pledged to enact such law, so II should be
done. OF course, there are seemingly some
objections to a state primary, but there
are many objections to convention, which
experience has shown us. A direct primary
will bring the government closer to the
people and 1t will also bring the people
closer to the government and this is what
the country needs. 1t places responsibility
upon the citizens"
Inasmuch as he fathered the railway
commission amendment to the constitution,
Senator Cady is naturally interested in the
commission bill. ''I read the BILL" he said.
"and thought It good work. hope the
legislature will pass bill which will give
the commission absolute power to change
and fix rates along the lines of the ma
tional law. The commissioners should have
power to classify the railroads. so II a
rate is not compensatory on one road, 1t
cannot be declared void on all the roads.
did not notice whether such provision
appears in the bill. but 1t should. For in
stance, the commission may make rate
which would be compensatory to the three
big railroads. but which may not be COM
pensatory TO some of the smaller lines. BY
classifying the roads the rates could be
applied where they would be just both to
the roads and she people"
Senator Cady believes the 2-cent passen-
ger rate can be knocked out in the courts,
as there is a strong likelihood that 1t will
not be compensatory to some Of the smaller
lines.
Mr. Cady came to Lincoln to look after
the passage of a pure food bill in con-
formity with the national pure food law.
He will remain until tomorrow. The sena-
tor is much improved in health and appears
stronger than he did two years ago, not