Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1907-03-16
TWO-CENT FARE AND ANTI-PASS
The Two Houses are Still Deadlocked and
the Latter House Railroad Committee.
[By LYNN HAINEs, st. Paul Correspondent

1By LYNN HAINEs, S
The sentiment of the state has been
disregarded in at least one important
particular. In putting the county op-
ton bill to bed for another blannual
sleep the Senate gave a resounding
slap to very large and intelligent
element in the citizenship of Mime
sofa. A goodly number of the people
of practically every portion of the
state united in demand for the refer
endum in the local regulation of the
liquor evil. That there is and was
general desire for legislation along
that line cannot be denied. Why it
was so summarily sat upon by the
Senate would, if adequately detailed
make an interesting story.
Those Senators who voted affirma-
lively on the motion to indefinitely
postpone the county option bill were
the following: ng:-Ahmann, Alderman,
Anderson, Calhoun, Campbell, Car
penter, Clague, Collier, Cooke, Donald
son, Durment, harrington, Glotzbach,
Gum, Hall, H. E. Hanson, Hardy,
Hinton, G. A. Johnson, Laybourn,
Mccall, MCGOWAN, Pauly, Pugh, Rob-
inson, Schaller, Seward, Stephens,
Sullivan, Swanson, Vail, Weiss, Works
-36.
The Senators who voted to grant
the people of each county the right to
decide for themselves whether Or not
the should prohibit saloons were the
following: g:-Bedford, Canestorp Can
field, eastman, Dale, Elwell, Fitzpat-
rick, Fosseen, Gunderson, Hackney,A,
L. Hanson, V, L. Johnson, Moonan,
Naeseth, Nelson, Peterson, Putnam,
sageng, Sundberg, Thorpe, White,
Wilson-22.
Although all hope of county op-
tion law at this session is lost in the
decisive action of the senate, the
people will insist that the question
come to vote i'll the House i'll order
that the record may be made to re-
veal both the friends and the enemies
of the measure. If the matter had
come to a vote in this branch first it
is likely that about fifty out of the
membership of one hundred and nine
teen who have supported the propos-
, ed law; but now that the Senate has
accomplished the assassination of the
measure it is not improbable that
majority may support it in the House.
A situation like this enables members
to vote on the popular side simply be-
cause it would do the special interests
no good for them to vote wrong.
The friends of the county option
idea do not feel very we'll satisfied
over the termination of the fight.
They have no right to complain be-
cause majority voted against their
views. But they feel that they were
not given a square deal. The two
ways in which the people could give
expression to their approval of the
bill were both apparently manipulated
in the interests of the big breweries.
These two avenues of affirmative ex-
preston were through petitions and
public hearings. The former, in the
Senate at least, availed little because
all petitions were placed in the hands |
of the committee on temperance
where they were were probably never
weighed or considered, except possi-
bly by the single member of the COM
mittee, Senator Elwell, who favored
the bill. And those who attended the
''public hearings" unreservediy assert
their belief that the adjournments and
delays we're made possible by the un-
friendly character of the committees. |
In passing it might be well to state |
that the standing committees i'm both |
Senate and House in which the special
interests are always especially inter-
ested are those on temperance, rail
roads and taxes. Even with a ma
Jority of members in both branches
against them, if the corporations can
control these three committees they
can accomplish great deal in the
way of preventing real reforms. Con.
troll OF certain committee would al
ways enable the combines to have re-
ported out the bills which they prefer
and there is very decided advantage
in that. When the corporations are
compelled to submit to the passage of
a certain law they very much prefer
that that law shall be prepared by