The Forrest City times., 1909-04-09
LEGISLATIVE CHAT.

biII III tltHeF BId0Cn or unusual sldte- wide importance. Several of the young members of the House nave i passed bills in the House of state- wide effect. but none of such impor- 1 tanee and interest as the assessment i bill by Mir Hurst. His distinction is made the more pronounced by the i fact that his bill was lined up against 1 a bill which was endorsed by the as l sessors of the state, and also by ] measures of the same character in l troduced by other members of the 1 House
 If the Martin state capitol bill, which has been under discussion in the Senate. should become law, l S350. .000 will be appropriated for the completion of the building. The pres ent contractors. architect and com mission will be retained, and there will be three new members of the commission.
 William Jennings Bryan, who has been invited to be in Little Rock April Is. will address the legislature in joint session. President Martin has appointed committee in connec- ton with Mr. Bryan's visit and ar engagements for the event will be made
 The bill by Senator Turner to ere ate a system of drainage districts in Arkansas. which has passed the Sen ate. is said by it's author to be one Of the best bills ever passed in the state. The bill does not interfere with any drainage districts now Tn existence and repeals no laws on ] drainage matters. It is so drawn that if a number of small districts l are formed in contiguous territory, they will not only be working under the same general law, but will have ! the same general scheme of drainage. The bill goes into every detail of drainage. IL covers 32 printed pages and is in 34 sections.
 The bill introduced by Senator Win go to amend section 2S40 of Kirbys Digest. provides that an officer or sheriff who serves at the polls shall receive s1.50 per day, the same as the judges and clerks. When the law was amended two year sago, through inadvertance, TO provision for paying officers of election was made.
 The bill by Senator Montgomery to regulate the use of velocipedes. tri- cycles and handcars on railroads, which has passed the Senate. does not prevent the use of The machines on the right of way, but provides that no person, except an employe of the railroad company, shall run ma chine of the sort over the main line of track. without first obtaining the consent of some one in authority in the railroad company. The author Of the bill conteuded. and many sena-
 tors agreed, that the passage of the
 bill would tend to prevent wrecks
 The bill introduced in the House
 by Mr. Tyler ot Sebastian, providing for the regulation of ventilation of
 coal mines. Etipulates that the mini.
 mum amount of fresh air for each
 coal miner in a mine shall be POO cu- bic feet per minute and in mines
 where there is marsh gas or fire damp. 300 cubic feet. The bill pro- yides for inspections of the ventilat- ing systems and also stipulates that
 not more than % miners shall be
 worked to one split" Of air.
 The insurance bill introduced by Senator Freeman makes the burden of proof of erroneous statement fall upon the company and forces them
 10 prove that the wrongful informa-
 tion was given Intentionally.
 The passage of the bill for four
 agricultural schools" said one sena-
 tor, means the first step in getting
 away from the old slip-shod method
 of farming which has prevailed in the
 South for century l am enthusias-
 tic over the prospects of he agri. cultural schools. and believe il will
 be the best investment, dollar for , dollar, that the state ever made" It is interesting 10 no.e an observa- lion made by the state capitol eagi- neering experts, with reference to ) the retention Of Architect Mann for
 the work of completing the new state house. The engineers express doubt
 as to the right of the state to use ) the designs of the architect, should : he be debarred from the service ot
 the state in this connection
 The bill introduced by Mr. Toler Of Grant prohibiting corporations : from employing physicians against the will of the employees has been so
 amended that il provides that the 2 majority of the employees can elect 10 have a physician and name the
 physician if they want to. instead oi ad per cent, as first provided in ne ! bill
 : During the discussion Of Br Bouic's bill providing the shooting Of fish in streams and lakes in this
 state, Mir. Hogan of Franklin wanted 10 know if the provisions of the bill
 extended 10 shooting frogs I'm a froghunter, myself" he candidly ad mltted. and if 1t includes frogs. then