Omaha daily bee., 1907-03-28
Local Option Feature Appeals to Members
Who Vote in Affirmative
SENATE BUSY WITH APPROPRIATION Bills
Finance Committee hard at Work on the
Measures from House.
MUCH PRUNING MUST Be DONE
Total of Bills Passed by House Ex-
ceeds the Estimated Income by
Million and Quarter and Cut
IL Imperative.
tFrom a staft correspondentl }

(From a Stan Correspondent.)
LINCOLN. March 27.-(SpeciaL ALI
though several chapters of the history OF
the Issuance of railroad bonds by cities
and villages were recited by several OF
the members the house in committee OF
the whole this afternoon recommended
for passage Hamer's H. II. 52s, providing
villages and townships may issue railroad
bonds by a two-thirds vote of the people
upon a petition for an election signed by
80 per cent of the voters. While the vote
to indefinitely postpone the bill was Is for
to 55 against, there was quite a fight
against the measure, and one of the objec-
tions offered by Speaker Nettleton against
the bill was that the house had already
this session passed bill providing town
ships and villages could not vote rail-
road bonds, 1t had gone through the sem
ate and had been signed by the governor.
This bill repeals that measure and Speaker
Nettleton was Of the opinion that the
house certainly should not stultlfy itself
by passing this bill and thus show to the
people it's members did not have sense
enough to enact law which would stand
even through a session of the Legislature
Some Clay County Experience.
In his talk Speaker Nettleton gave
little history of railroad bonds issued by
precincts in Clay county, particularly
Spring Ranch. Here he said the rail-
roads brought in men and colonized them.
He stood at the voting booth, he said and
challenged their right TO vote and each Of
them swore he had been in the precinct
ten days, the county sixty days and the
state six months. The next morning, he
said. when he went to swear TO COM
he Vf,a xuh had hapn
sponsible for the bond proposition pass
ing he said he discovered the railroads
had already taken them out OF the COM
munity. Fairfield, he said, had voted S2D,-
900 bonds for a railroad and had secured
one mile OF trackage. He characterized
the issuance of railroad bonds as a CROFT
pure and simple, worked by promoters
| Just the same as fake mining gratis arc
worked.
Baker of York recltad how men we're
brought into his community to vote for
the bonds and the promoters secured
board for them at farm houses where
they were supposed to work at shueKing
corn. The promoters made some prom
| ises to some of the men in town about
sidetracks, and while he and others
| thought they had the proposition defeated,
when the vote was counted the imported
railroad hirelings had carried the day, the
bonds were issued and the sidetraoks
promised were never put down.
Just an old Game.
Farley Of Hamilton said the bond voting
method was an old one and in many In
stances a town walked up after mortgaging
its property to find it would have secured
the railroad anyhow. In a town where
he lived he said, they had voted $4,000
railroad bonds and found six months later
they would have gotten the road Just
the same. Jenison told how the promoters
worked the bond graft through. He wes
OF the opinion a railroad would build
whether bonds were issued or not When
the villages were voting bonds out in Har-
Ian county, he said, Alma walked up and
refused 20 stand and deliver. The towns
west of there got the hunch and refused
and the roads were built just the same,
Logsdon was against the bill and moved
its indefinite postponement. Doran said
his constituents had written him they we're
In favor Of the BILL Cone spoke against II.
Cariin was for the bill. but opposed to bond
issues Grieg of Platte was for II. as was
Harvey and Barnes and Hill and Hamer
and McMuilen. while Snyder opposed It.
The argument for the bill was home rule
more than anything else. Each Of the
speakers believed the people OF a cons
munity should have a right TO vote on the
bond proposition II they desired to do so.
Hamer quoted figures to show that Clay
county had voted $4,000 railroad bonds.
while last year the railroad taxes In that
county amounted to $4,000 The motion to
indefinitely postpone was lost by vote
of IS to 55.
Indication of Future Action.
The house gave an indication Of what n
will do with a maximum freight rate bill
when It acted favorably upon the Quack-
enbush bin to put a maximum rate on
oil shipped into the state. Tucker moved
10 indefinitely postpone the bill. but his
motion was lost by vote OF IS to IS.
ouackenbush OF Nemaha was called home
today by the illness Of his son and he will
likely not return this session. Inasmuch
as Mr.. Ouackenbush has voted with the
, republicans on the platform measures and
especially was he a useful member on the
, terminal tax BILL many Of the republicans
expressed deep regret that he had to leave
and the entire house by rising vote
expressed sympathy for him and bis.
Governor Sheldon today signed the rait
way commission bill and the commission
viii be able to get down to work at once
as the bill carries the emergency clause.
PAIRING House Appropriations.
The senate finance, ways and means corn
mittee today got IN its FIRST work on th'
house appropriation bills and made 70
! port on the measure TO the senate. larE'
number OF the amendments were offered
! but the total OF ts9l6s0 OF the original bill
{ was not changed much. The eommitte'
I found II necessary TO increase some OF th'
appropriations made by the house as thel
-.
! ally provided for by law. and while thi
total may be reduced little the reduction
] viii not be material. The salary charge Il
not very flexible, and the committee vii
look to some OF the other bills for the re
ductions that will have 20 be made In orde
70 make the expenditure for the next bien
4 MUM come somewhere near the income.
0 The recklessness with which the hOus
s has passed appropriation bills will TpslS