Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-17
ANTI BILLS TO
SET LEGISLATIVE
KETTLE BOILING
LIVELY LINEUP OF FORCES
DUE THIS WEEK
REPORTS ON VITAL MEASURES
ARE SCHEDULED
Japanese Exclusion and Race Track
Laws Are Those Expected to
Precipitate Bitter Con-
tests
Especial to The Herald.I
N ACRAMENTO Jan. 16.-In the Cal
fnrraia Ieoisla tllre the coming. WEE

G ACRAMENTO, Jan. 16.-In the Cali
fornia legislature the coming week
~ anti-Japanese, railroad rate, cleo
tion, anti-race track, anti-gambling and
labor legislation will be the paramount
issues.
In the case of nearly all of these sub
jects committee hearings have been
scheduled.
So far no vote clearly defining the
''lineup" of any two factions for or
against measures of general public IN
terest has been taken, although the as
sembly roll call on the adoption of the
rules early in the week was claimed as
a victory against the "old organization"
by friends of the anti-race bill, while
the latter claim also twenty-three out
of forty votes in the senate.
Among the measures indorsel by both
branches were the Hetch-Hetchy water
resolution, the memorial to congress for
better roads in Yosemite park, the bill
making February II, the centennial Of
Lincoln's birthday, legal holiday,
and several emergency appropriation
measures to pay the expenses of legis-
lation during the thirty-eighth session.
More than 1000 bills have been intro
duced, and the state printer has been
unable to keep pace with the legisla-
tors, with the result that consideration
of numerous bills has been delayed; but
it is expected that when the members
take their seats again Monday the files
will be complete.
In the committee on common carriers
the question of reciprocal demurrage
will be thraShed out and large delega-
tiOnS will appear for Or against various
railroad measures pending.
Whether or not the demurage laws in
Texas and Oregon, of which duplicates
are before the legislature, are constitu-
tional will be one of the points raised
by their opponents.
Friends of the measure assert that
while the supreme court of the United
States has held it to be unconstitu-
tional, as applied to interstate COM
merce, the Texas law is being enforced
between points within that state.
Laws of other states upon other sub
jects are before the law makers. The
Walker-Otis anti-race track bill is ylr-
tually a reproduction of the measure
enacted through the efforts of Governor
Hughes of New York, and the bill in
troduced in the assembly by Grove L.
Johnson at the request of the woman
suffragis is the same as the law of
Colorado.
The Oklahoma graduated income tax
law will be presented in the senate on
Monday by ]. B. Sanford.
More characteristic of California,
however, is the legislation proposed by
Assemblymen Johnson of Sacramento
and Drew of Fresno, who have revived
the movement against the Japanese
that gained an impetus during the
school segregation in San Francisco
two years ago.
Governor Gillett used his influence
with the legislature to smother these
measures at the last session, at the
urgent request of President Roosevelt;
but while he is investigating the four
measures proposed (segregating school
children, segregating all aliens, deny
ing aliens the right to be directors of
corporations and denying them the right
to own land) he has received so far no
overtures from Washington to stop
them and is non-committal as to their
merits.
The 1000 bills introduced during the
last week affect everything from freight
rates to art, and call for appropriations
aggregating nearly $4,000,00O.
japanese Outlines Land Laws
Governor Gillett has received a let
ter from the Japanese consul general
at San Francisco outlining the laws of
his country affecting the ownership of
land by aliens. This was at the re-
quest of the governor, made when the
consul visited him to protest against
proposed legislation against Japanese
holding property in this state.
A. M. Drew of Fresno. introduced
early in the session a measure provid-
ing that aliens may hold lands for five
years after they shall have reached
the age of 81, but if at the end of that
time the lands shall not have been
conveyed to bona fide PURCHASERS they
shall be sold by the state.
It also provides that no contract,
agreement or lease of real estate shall
be made to an alien for longer period
than one year.
In order to determine what action
to take when the bill should come to
him for signature, the governor asked
the representative of Japan to furnish
him with information of the treatment
accorded aliens in the islands, and the
reply shows that Drew's bill is more
drastic than the Japanese law. In that
country aliens are not allowed to own
land on account of the crowded con-
dition of the islands, but corporations
may lease property for 100 years, Civ
ing them all the rights, except actual
ownership, allowed to natives.
The governor said today he had not
completed his Investigations and was
not ready to pronounce an opinion of
the merits Of the proposed measure.
Bakers to Send Delegation
The California Bakers association
has notified Chairman Charles A. Mel
son Of the assembly committee on Ia
boz and capital that it will send a
delegation to this city to appear
against Transue's bill providing for in
spection of bakeries and denying GER
tificates of sanitation to those located
in Easements.
Chairman Nelson himself has a bill
which does not disturb cellar bakeries
already established, but prohibiting
them in future.
Another bill of great Importance to
labor which will be considered by this
committee Monday at 10 o'clock is
Coghlan'S measure introduced at the
request of Labor Commissioner J. D
Mackenzie, creating the office of sta
tistician in the state labor bureau and
giving the commissioner and his as
sistants all powers and authority OF
sheriffs to make arrests for violations
of the act establishing the bureau
Deputy Commissioner F. G. Jones
representative of the State Federation
OF Labor, San Francisco Labor coun-
<dl, Sacramento Federated Trades and
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