The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1909-05-21
SOLONS READY
TO START HOME
State Legislature Is About to
c''0se Business.
SESSION CONVENED JAN. 6.

Officers of the Two Houses Have un-
iii June to Get the Passed Bills
Into the Hands of the Governor.
Last Of the SESSION Taken Up Prin-
cipalIy With tire Appropriation Bills.
Some Important Measures Which
Met With Defeat.
Lansing, Mich, May 1S.-At high
noon tomorrow the horses will be off,
That is to say, the solons, who have
been with us since early in January,
will be off for home. At the time in
. Dictated the regular session will come
TO q close SO far as the consideration
OF bills and the enactment of legisla-
ton is concerned, and the senators and
representatives will depart for their
homes. The officers of the two houses
will then have until June End to close
UP their business and get all bills
passed during the closing days of the
active session into the hands of the
governor for approval.
When the gravel falls at noon to-
morrow the legislature will have been
in actual session a total of eighty-six
days, total of 1873 days having inter
vened since the legislature convened
on Jan. 6. Under the terms of the
new constitution adopted by the people
OF Michigan last fall, the legislators
will each receive $500 for his services
for the entire session. 1t was enacted
early in the session, the provision be-
ing embodied in the first bill passed
by the two houses, that the senators
and representatives should be paid at
the rate Of S. per day, installments to
be paid every ten days, and that what
ever balance Of the $500 remained I'M
paid at the time Of adjournment
should be paid in bulk. Having, there
fore, been paid $665 for the 1873 days
that have elapsed since the session
commenced, each solon will have $135
due him tomorrow, and this, it is to be
presumed, he will lug home in his
jeans.
Rush at Close of Session.
Just at this writing matters are in
a somewhat chaotic condition. There
Is always rush at the close of the
session. Matters upon which the two
houses have disagreed are in the
hands Of conference committees, where
differences will be ironed out through
series of mutual concessions, and
many other bills which have passed
one house are awaiting action in the
other. The decks are so nearly cleared,
however, that practically all important
matters will have been disposed of
when the hour for adjournment is
reached. Out Of total of about GOO
bills introduced, it is probable that
some 200 will become laws. AS is al
ways the case, many measures which
are the pride of their sponsors will
fall outside the breastworks.
1t Is doubtless true, as has been the
case with all legislatures, that there
will be sins of commission as we'll as
sins of omission, but, on the whole,
the legislators have discharged their
duties intelligently and conscientious
ly. 1t has been a popular pastime in
recent years to criticise legislators and
charge them with all manner of short
comings. My experience and long con-
tinued observation warrants the asser-
ton that they do not, as a class, de-
serve the attacks that have been made
upon them. 1T is my judgment that
they very faithfully represent the
wishes of their constituencies and that
they are as honest and as faithful in
the performance of their duties as any
of their neighbors would be.
Appropriation Bills.
It having been the policy of the ways
and means committee of the house
and the finance and appropriations
committee of the senate to hold back
all appropriation bills until it could
be reasonably ascertained that the az
gregate of appropriations would nee
essarily have to be, the last week Of
the session has been taken up to
large extent with the consideration Of
these measures. The two committees
mentioned did their work so thorough
ly, however, and put the knife so far
into appropriations asked for that
these appropriation bills were prac-
tically all ironed out to degree be-
fore being reported out. Hence there
was not much for the two houses to
consider along these lines, the consid-
Grating having been done in advance.
1t can be safely asserted, / think,
hat no unnecessary appropriation has
been made even to the extent Of
single dollar. The complaint has been
that many appropriations which those
Interested deemed necessary have been
denied. In this respect the legislature
has been all that the most economical
,itizen of the state could desire. Many
new buildings asked for were denied
and only actual needs In the way OF
maintenance I'D current expense pro-
vided for.
Bills That Were Killed.
number Of measures which have
peen somewhat extensively discussed
In the press of the state have been
done to death during the past few
lays. One of these is the Farmer bill,
which sought to levy tonnage tax on
ron and copper ores. The house dis
oosed of this by a vote of 46 to SO. The