The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-03-18
Trouble Over Proposed Normal
School, Armour Matter and Con-
troll of Electric Lines
The AUTOMOBILE BILL
Provisions of the ZelCh Bill Which
Proposes to Regulate Vehicles
Run by Power

ST. PAUL, March It's the legisla-
tive combine in danger of being shat
teredP 1t looks that way. The Cass
Lake normal school scheme which was
part of its program, strained it to the
very verge of the breaking point. The
Armour controversy is punching it full
of holes. The insistence on the pas
sage of legislation in the interest of
the liquor people, such as the bill per-
uniting twin city clubs to sell liquor
ing the time saloons may be kept open
in st. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth
to twelve O'Clock, has made country
members of the combine restive. And
now comes the bill providing that
electric roads shall be subject to the
supervision of the railroad and ware
house commission to create new
breaches in the ranks of twin city
members.
The opposition to this proposition
in the twin cities is natural. 1t is
natural when it is dishonest. The
street railways are principally for the
convenience of the people living in the
cities. People dwelling in st. Paul
and Minneapolis regard their streets
rs their own and the regulation of
them and of traffic thereon as essen
TALLY a part Of their particular. busi-
ness. They want home rule. Politi-
cal bosses want home rule, too. They
want to retain their hold on the Twin
City Rapid Transit Co. for obvious
reasons. Both agree in opposing the
Nolan bill. And there wouldn't be
any doubt that such opposition would
be successful if a new element did not
enter into the conflict which has
ranged practically all the country
members on the side of the bill.
This new element is the rural elec-
trio line. We are late getting electric
railroads in this state, but they are
coming. The Dan Patch line has
been surveyed and considerable grad
ing done on it. Other lines are talked
of and their advent is welcomed every
where. But of necessity wherever a
trolley line is built in Southern or
Central Minnesota, St. Paul or Mime
apolis is its objective point. AS things
are now there is no way trolley lines
can get into St. Paul or MINNEAPOLIS is
unless they accept such terms as their
boards of aldermen and the Twin City
Rapid Transit Co. see fit to impose,
which would probably mean the ex-
pense incident to the purchase of the
former and an exorbitant tribute to
the latter. Rural trolley line COM
panies want to find an easier way.
Hence the Nolan bill and the PROPOSE
tion to give the railroad and ware
house commissioners control. There
is no question about the present tenn
per of the house. 1t will pass the
bill. But in passing it it may forget
other interests-those of the United
States Steel corporation, for instance.
There is nothing which looks little
like an agreement in the matter of
employees liability. The republican
program is to pass some measure of
some kind. But no measure so far
proposed which is at. all satisfactory
to employers of labor finds favor with
the employees and vice versa. The
committee bill is openly denounced as
pitifully inadequate to the demands of
the situation.
While it abrogates the fellow serv-
ant rule, the rule that an employe as
sumes the risk of any dangerous occu-
patton, and, therefore cannot collect
for injuries incident to it, and the rule
of contributory negligence, the COM
pensation provided for those who
elect to come under the operation of
the law is declared by the representa-
tives of labor to be altogether too
small. For instance, the amount to