Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1911-04-28
board Of p pa TO- :. life term Of i'm
pris0nment.


way commission. This bill appropri.
ates $4,000 for immediate use and
proposes constitutional amendment
Tor the levying of a 1-mill tax for the
permanent support OF good roads in
the state. Many reform measures
were suggested, like the direct pri-
mary the Initiative and referendum,
the recall, bill to prevent the issu-
ance Of watered stocks by railroads,
J: but all We're killed, most OF them in
the senate. It. appears that. the. one
trouble with the n legislature was; in
both houses, that there were no lead
1ers and; every one wanted to@be a.
leader. This was. not true Of the, Dem
'ocrats. In the house they acted as a
unit under the direction Of rRepresen.
tative Pfaender Of New, Ulm, while in
the senate, with Senator Works las
the nominal leader, and with men like
Schaller, Moonan, Wels and Collier al
ways on the job, they were able to
hold the balance of power in both
bodies.
!. i !.
Trouble has arisen over the passage
Of the 'seven senator" bill. A restrain.
ing order may be asked from the
courts by Representative Washburn
of Hennepin county on the ground
of irregularity in the passage of the
amended bill. In the earlier part OF
the session Speaker Dunn used all his
influence to secure the passage of the
Congdon reapportionment bill, but in
the latter part of the session, follow.
ing the filing of the Klemer charges,
ne underwent a change of heart. He
used all his influence to secure the
passage of the seven senator" BILL
The amended measure was passed in
the house amid scenes of wild tumuH
in which Representative O'Neill and
Frankson engaged in a personal en-
counter and the speaker threatened
to ask the governor to call out the
militia. Representative Minnette OF
Stearns county moved to: reconsider
the vote. While this motion was
pending a motion to adjourn was
made and carried. The senate held a
session that evening and the bill was
mysteriously rushed from one house
to the other: Chief Clerk Oscar Arne-
son explains that he was instructed
to send it over by the speaker. The
next day the senate" passed the bill.
The house journal shows that a mo-
ton to reconsider was pending before
the bill went out of the possession of
the house and the contention is made
that a bill could not properly 60 out
Of the possession of the house while
a motion upon it was: pending.
!. + +
= Both Speaker Dunn and Lieutenant
+ Governor Gordon changed front, dur;
+ ing the closing hours of the session.
The rulings of the lieutenant governor
| had been made in favor of his senate
organization and in opposition to re-
| apportionment. During the last week
he made one definite ruling in favor
! Of the reapportionists and had he stood
! pat on his decision that it required
| two-thirds of the senate to lift call
! of the house the seven senator" bill
! would never have been passed, but he
! threatened to reverse his ruling the
next day, a fact that resulted in a
surrender on the part of the opposi-
ton to the ''seven senator" bill.
One of the most dramatic incidents
I ~ ho S@f1 Of %1o
| recall bill by fluke in the last hours
! of the session The bill had been
amended and reamended so as to in
clude the judiciary and later to ex
| clude them. On the last night for
| passing bills a vigorous fight was
made for and against in the senate
| The clock had been turned back time
| and again to avoid the constitutional
| requirement that the passage Of bills
should cease at midnight. A vigorous
! filibuster against the bill was led by
! Senator G. H. Sullivan of Saltwater
and Senator HIoonan of Waseca led
the fight for it, Finally, about l 80
in the morning. motion was made
to adjourn. Recording Secretary ST.
| monitor announced the vote 80 for ad
journment and 80 against. Lieutenant
Governor Gordon announced the vote
as having carried and adjourned the
senate. The senators Immediately
started for their homes. A little later
it was discovered that Secretary 81
monitor, wearied by long hours OF
work at the desk, had read the vote
wrongly and the motion to adjourn
had really been lost by vote of );
to 30. In view of the fact that the
senate had been declared adjourned
there was nothing to do but let the
matter stand.
4 i. i. !.
i The entire session OF the legislature
failed to- produce any one man who
stands out above other men There
were no leaders in either body. Both
Speaker Dunn and Lieutenant Gov
ernorl Gordon might have developed