The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-04-09
SENATE PASSES
! CIGARETTE BILL
Amends It to Make II Go Into
Effect on Aug. l.
NOW RETURNS TO THE HOUSE

But II Is Not Believed That 1t Will
Meet With Serious Opposition
There-House Passes Bill Creating
Commission to Draft Measure to-
Be Presented to Next Legislature.
Governor Vetoes cass Lake Normal
School Bill.
st. Paul, April 7.-Cigarettes and
"the markings" are to be barred from
sale or gift in this state after Aug. /,
if nothing goes amiss with the house
bill passed by the senate. The pass
age was received with acclaim by a
large number Of the solons, and the
first outbrrst of applause to greet the
passage of any bill this session re-
sounded when the lieutenant govern
or announced the vote: 80 in favor, 16
against
There was little opposition to the
bill in the committee of the senate,
where it was carefully considered, and
on the floor only Henry McColl OF st.
Paul and X. G. Harrington Of Orion
vile spoke against it.
The bill passed the house under
suspension of the rules at night ses-
sion. The senate has considered it
carefully, and amended 1t so that 1t
will go into effect Aug. l, instead of
Of
vided The bill will have to pass the
house before going to the governor,
but 1t is not expected that 1t will
strike the rocks in either place. Both
the sale and gift of cigarettes and pa
pers to contain tobacco are barred.
The house passed the bill for a
commission to report to the next leg
islature a bill providing compensa-
ton for injured workingmen. At the
same session it killed the last of the
liability bills, the Stuart measure,
drawn by special committee OF which
Mr.. Stuart was chairman.
Warm Debate in House.
The house spent three hours on the
of the session. The votes passing one
bill and killing the other were both
decisive, and the most interesting vote
and the warmest debate was on the
question of whether Republicans or
Democrats should go on the proposed
commission.
The bill limited the expenses of the
- orb co
sured an amendment which cut this
to $4,000, as he said that he could not
see where they could spend $4,000 un-
less they contemplated trip to Eu-
rope, as the members were to serve
without compensation.
The senate reduced the amount of
appropriation for fighting forest fires
and passed the Holmberg bill. AS the
bill came from the finance committee
the main appropriations for various
parts of the work were cut in half.
Under the present law $4,000 is ap-
propriated to fight forest fires. The
house bill made the amount $2S,OOO.
and the senate finance committee rec
commended that the amount be made
S14, 900, and the bill was passed In
this shape after little tilt on the
floor. The vote was 80 to Is, none to
spare.
T. E. eastman of OwatOnna urged
that the appropriation as asked in the
house bill should be permitted to
stand, because of the great danger
from fires in the northern part of the
state. The bill as a whole was OPP
posed by other Democrats on the
claim that the entire forestry depart
ment should be reorganized, but the bill
as reported by the senate finance COM
mittee passed.
Cass Lake School Bill Vetoed.
The first veto message of the ses-
sion was read in the senate when Gov
ernor Johnson returned without his
approval the Cass Lake normal school
bill. 1t was this bill which caused
more commotion and more trading of
votes than any other measure before
the legislature during the early weeks
of the session, and which was only
passed by narrow margins after hard
work in both branches.
The governor declared that he Is not
In favor of the establishment of any
new state institutions unless there Is
shown to be a decided need for them,
and he is further opposed to placing
a normal school at CasS Lake, because
It cannot yet be determined where the
center of population of that district
will be.
The bill for the establishment of a
normal school at Bemidji made it's APP
pearance early in the session, and
while there were several other towns
i'm the race for the school they were
soon distanced, leaving Bemidji and
Cass Lake in the race. A proposition
TO authorize the establishment of a
normal school and to leave the loca-
ton to the judgment of the normal
school board was rejected. The Be-
midi bill was permitted to die in the
senate.
The governor would rather see the
present schools enlarged than new
schools established, and as none of
the bills can muster enough strength
to overcome his veto there will be no
normal school bill enacted into the
law this session.
The house passed Senator Works
Ia - lott