Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1911-01-26

speaker for signing, after which there
was a prompt adjournment and dis
appearance.
The different orders of railway
employees are getting their representa-
tives on the ground, and while they are
watching legislation generally, the only
thing which they have to offer at the
present time is an employers liability
act, which will be in conformity with
the national act on that subject, and
they hope to secure some such enact
ment here this year.
Otto l.. Kaas, of Marshall county,
believes that the adoption of the Aus
tralian assessmentsslaws would remedy
the evil of low assessment. He would
have every man assess his own property
and this assessment would stand correct
with the county auditor. However, any
man, so desiring, could step in at any
time within ninety days and purchase
the property at the valuation placed on
it by the owner.
So far the bill to protect antelope,
with an emergency clause attached, is
the principal bill which has been acted
upon by both houses, and this was
pushed out of its regular order TO cover
the gap in existing laws which allows
the ''sportsmen" of the state to go out
and knock the tame animals in the head
with a club just because the protection
of the law has been removed from
them.
The most important railroad measure
rel introduced was the maximum freight
rate bill presented by Bartine. Mr..
Bartine made a big fight on the rail-
roads two years when he was a house
member, and presented a similar bill
last session which failed of passage.
This year he is the chairman of the rail-
road committee and the bill was refer
red to his committee, all of which would
lead one to believe that Mr.. Bartine
will give his bill favorable consideration.
AS is usual for the first half of a ses-
sion the Legislature did not turn out
much in the shape of finished grist,
and really did not expect to get much
done in that way until they got back
from home, when they expect to settle
down to FIVE weeks grind, and clear up
the work they have already started,
and that which they will bring hack
with them after they have been home
for a few days learning the ideas of
their constituents as to what in their
estimation should be enacted into laws.
Mr.. Scott, of Minnehaha, has intro
duced a bill in the house which pro-
vides 4 penalty for selling or offering
for sale as seed corr any seed that
does not show eighty-fve per cent
organization test. 1t ought to become
a law. In recent years some unprin-
cipled merchants were engaged in buying
up entire crops Of corn, hundreds and
thousands Of bushels direct from the
crib at forty or fifty cents a bushel and
placing it upon the market wholesale
at two or three dollars per bushel.
Farmers plant IL to find it lacks vitality
and al the best loses a large amount of
labor and perhaps his whole crop.
The legislature Of South Dakota
should take cognizance of the question:
why the express companies?" These
public service ~corporations with big
bundles of paper assets and buckets of
watered stock, are pinching the people
of this state more and more. Rates,
Notwithstanding their present exhorbi-
tolls, are being pushed up notch by
notch. When it comes to paying taxes
they are nowhere to be found, and have
nothing to assess, No wonder they are
able to declare marvellous dividends. A
little Legislation along the right lines in
this state would relieve the situation
and save the people much money.
The ''lobby book" grew a longer list
of I'M Monday than it had accumu-
lated up to this date for the season.
The new members of the order who
who registered with the state secretary
were R. B. Oliver as a representative
of the Brotherhood of Railway Train
men; w. E. Scoggan, of Lead, repre-
senting the Black Hills Trades Assem-
bly,; E. R. Diedrich, representing the
Manufacturers and Dealers association,