The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1911-04-21
Minnesota Legislature
Proceedings at the Minnesota State Capitol for the
Past NJoak
Past Week.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
few cuts in salaries were made on the
state department bill.
w. T. Stone of Park Rapids, posing
as the watchdog of the state treas
ury, offered nearly 20 amendments,
striking out sections where salary in
creases were allowed for state officials
He succeeded in only two instances.
The house refused $3.50 increase for
the deputy state auditor and an in
crease of $1,000 for the actuary in the
state insurance department.
DR.. Stone offered several amend
ments which would have practically
cut off the appropriation for the state
board of health. In each case the
amendment was defeated.
Andrew Anderson of Saltwater sue
ceeded in amending. the section gov
erning the $325,00O appropriation for
the state university. The bill provided
for an annual appropriation Of this
amount. The Anderson amendment
provided for the appropriation only for
the next two years. w. F. Kunze, w.
D. Washburn and L. C. Spooner IA
vored the standing appropriation on
the ground that the board of regents in
planning the future of the state uni
versity should know the amount of
money that it will receive from year
to year. Country members declared
that it would be just as we'll to allow
the legislature to make the appropria-
ton every two years. The amendment
was passed by vote of 81 to 80.
Senator Hanson's malt bill prohibit
ing the sale of malt liquor except in
saloons passed the house by vote of
SO to 13 and now awaits the COVER
nor's signature to complete it's en-
actment into law.
R. C. Dunn's bill prohibiting the IL
censing of saloons outside of an in
corporated city. village or hamlet.
passed by vote of 67 to A.
The house passed the Lende bill
giving a right of action for damages
to people injured as the result of the
unlawful sale of liquor, and the Hoff.
man bill placing license of $3.50 a
year on district and county agents of
breweries.
After spirited debate the bill call
ing for an equal tax rate in every part
of the state was passed by a vote of
38 to II. AS finally amended the bill
called for the basis of taxation to be
33 1-3 per cent on the actual valua-
ton. Senator Wallace, of Minneapo.
lis, was the author of the bill.
st. Paul, April 13.-Swept aboard the
eastman bandwagon by the recent
Sanborn decision, which declared the
reduction Of Minnesota railway rates
unconstitutional and confiscatory, the
lower branch of the legislature passed
the Crane distance tariff bill by a close
vote of 62 to Sc. The bill is now UP
to the senate, where Senator eastman
its champion of many years standing
will attempt to press it to final vote.
The bill which lost in the senate sew.
eral weeks ago is now claimed by its
advocates to have the support of ma
jority of the senators and is admitted
by its opponents to have more than an
even chance of becoming a law.
The bill which as introduced was an
exact copy of the eastman measure
was amended extensively by it's auth
or. Amendments were adopted ex
cepting passenger rates from it's eff
feet and making it become effective
on Jan. 1, 1912. It was also changed
so as to discriminate between the large
and the small railroad companies. II
allows the railroad and warehouse
mum rates which may be charged by
the companies and provides that the
railways should be divided into three
classes, the companies netting the
smaller amount Of gross earnings be.
ing allowed higher maximum rate
than the larger companies.
With these exceptions, the bill is an
exact copy of the Iowa distance tarifl
law. It simply means that there shall
be no variance in railway rates in any
part of the state. Railroads car
charge no more for carrying like
quality and like quantity of product
for distance of one mile or one part
of its line than another. In other
words, if the company charges five
cents to carry one ton of hay one mile
out Of Winona, it must charge the
same rate out of Duluth or out of any
other town in the state.
The speaker in a strong appeal for
southern Minnesota declared that II
was pretty nearly time that some.
thing was done to eliminate the un-
just discrimination which exists in
favor of the cities in railway rates.
He pointed out that rates in which
the large cities are interested are
much lower than those given the
country districts and that as result
the cities have shown an abnormal
gain in population to the detriment of
the country districts.
Mr.. Dunn cited several rates which
exist in the country districts of the
state and compared them with the
rates in Iowa, where distance tariff
bill exists, to show the unfairness of
the present schedule
Speaker Dunn in his speech sounded