The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-02-02
MAKING OF LAWS
Minnesota Legislature Getting
Ready to Transact Business
TRYING TO GET BUSY
Little DiSsensi0n or DisC0rd is Not
ed in the Marble Pile in
St. Paul
(st Paul Special to the Herald Feb. -

est Paul Special to the Herald Feb. ID
Like bunch of western brOnchos
that have never felt tug-strain or
bride restraint, when purchased by
the Minnesota liveryman, get gay,
frolic, kick up their heels and buck
spell before they are broken in, set
tie into the collar and get down to
hard work. SO the Minnesota Legisla-
ture must have their fling and do
little bucking before settling down
to the hard work of the session.
They have had their frolic, per-
formed their bucking stunt, and are
now beginning to get collar-wise and
are settling themselves to the task
that lies before them.
There is not much discussion or
discord among the members, nor is
there likely that there will be much
developed during this session.
There are several Investigations on
foot, and when the reports of the
committees come in there will be
some squabbling over them but in
the end everybody will be endorsed
and everybody will be satisfied or pre-
tend they are.
The university, normal schools and
all the public institutions of the state
are out asking for unusually large APP
~ bn
for over five millions, the state fair
over two and the others sums ranging
all the way down to few thousands.
None of them will get all they ask
for, but all of them will receive sutfi-
cient to enable them to do business
until the next legislature meets and
they are provided for again.
A number of state officials will ask
to have their salaries raised; some OF
these requests will be granted and
some will be turned down, and the
elevating and turning down will not,
in all probability, depend so much on
the merits of the proposition, as upon
the "pull' of the applicant. But this
has been the case in all legislatures
and will continue to be the case in
all future legislatures and so no one
need be surprised at this condition.
1t is not believed that any state in
stitution will ask for any less appro-
priation than it did two years ago,
nor is it likely that any state official
will make an application for reduc-
tlon in salary; that, indeed, would
create a legislative sensation, for
while salaries and appropriations are
often raised they are seldom reduced.
There is, perhaps. no good reason
why there should be much Of an in
crease in salaries or appropriations,
but there are many reasons why there
should be an equalization. There are
thousands of dollars of differences
the salaries of clerks doing practically
the same amount of work and bearing
the same amount of responsibility,
and some of the state officers receive
much less for their services than
Others who perform no more labor or
carry any greater amount of response
bility, while it is matter of common
knowledge, that in times past, state
institutions have not received appro-
priations in accordance with their
relative value to the state.
There are only about four PROPOSE
lions that the legislature will have any
trouble about getting together upon
and these are: County Option, The
Initiative, Referendum and Recall,
Woman Suffrage, and Re-apportion-
ment. These will probably be taken
up, passed, or defeated in the order
named. Politics will enter into the
discussion of these subjects as well
as merit, public hearings will probab-
ly be granted on all of them and it
is around these that the legislative
battles will rage and over which the
oratorical pyrotechnics will be ex-
ploded. 1t would be a good thing if
these questions could be brought up
at an early date and settled, for it is
going to be difficult to accomplish
much general legislation until they
are out of the way, as the public
mind and also the legislative mind is
centered on these questions.
The senate has settled the Emmel-
Ahmann contest by seating Senator
Amman. There is no question about
the business of their decision. There
never was any moral question about