The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-03-07

Through the house --onCay afterno Dor
THAT allows the county commissioners
or city council to call an election upon
petition of two-fifths of the taxpayers
of township, or city, or county to vote
on the proposition to issue bonds for
q bonus for steam or electric railroads
to pass through the county. or town
ship. or city The people in Mr.
| YoxalFs section of the country are
anxious to have this opportunity to en-
courage the building of steam and in
terurban roads and the man from
Rocks kept tab on the senate bill and
got it through the house. 1t only
needs the governors signature to be-
come a law.
Picked Up in Monday Night Session,
| The house worked most of Monday
night, stopping just before 1 O'Clock
| There were few breaks to the long
monotony of the night session. On
came when Davis of Bourbon. a Dem
| ocrat, moved to reconsider the motion
| made and carried earlier in the day to
refuse another conference with the
| senate on the utilities bill. This move
| to reconsider was the only shot fired
during the night campaign. Wettack
i of Montgomery introduced slight
variation in the program occasionally
with his motif ms to adjourn, and
finally Watson moved that the gentle
man from Montgomery be excused.
tention of clearing the calendar If t
had to stay until daylight, but when
news came across the rotunda that the
body in the east wing had adjourned
early the house members grew indif-
ferent about losing a. nights sleep to
clean a calendar of bills and then
watch them die in the senate. If the
senate had allowed the bills on its own
calendar to die rather than sit up and
work awhile it was reasonable to sup
pose that it would not strain q blood
vessel passing house bills of no general
Importance.
The first motion to adjourn came at
II o'clock and was beaten decisively.
At midnight another motion was made
to quit, this one by Wettack. He tried
again without success, and then finally
that old fighter. Brown of Kingmar,
got sleepy and moved to adjourn. The
yea and nay vote was close and di-
vision was called for, the motion
carried and Judge Buchanan called the
house adjourned. The Judge. by the
way, was as fresh as paint and fully
expected to clean the calendar.
While the house was drilling along
passing bills for the omnibus or killing
them a measure by Wilson of Marshall
was read amending the law in relation
to securing naturalization papers. No
one paid very much attention and the
Reeder Of Doniphan got up with las
book in his hands and declared that
the measure was designed not only to
repeal the state constitution, but the
federal statutes as Well Speaker
Buchanan replied instantly in a serious
tone and without the trace Of a smile:
ION a last night session the house can
repeal constitutions without difficulty
The house laughed at the judges dry
humor and then killed the BILL
Again. when the bill by Williams Of
Logan providing for the recovery OF
damages from a telegraph company
that fails to promptly deliver mes
sage came up for third reading, the
speaker showed flicker of humof.
The bill not only provided for damages
of two or three kinds. but "sentt-
mental damages The speaker. who
was then sitting on the floor OF the
house. arose and amended the bill by
striking out sentimental. There is no
such kind of damage declared the
speaker. The house was inclined 70
agree with the Cowley jurist.
Burke. of Saline, an old soldier, got
through a still stronger old, soldier
preference act than now appears on
the statute books.
A bill by stone. of Shawnee. provid-
health and safety of people who as
semble in public halls and public
houses of entertainment and theaters
and picture shows was an important
measure passed at the night session.
The picture show halls in Topeka have
no more ventilation than a hope In the
ground They are damned full of peo-
pie every night and the air is hot and
close and sitting inside; then people
go out doors and catch cold II they
Portable hour in a stuffy box trying to
enjoy the pictures on the screen. Most
of these picture shows are deserted
store buildings, long and narrow, and
no apparent effort is made at all to
yentilate them. The Stone bill pro-
vides for ventilation or locked doors
with the nothing doing" sign nailed
on the panels.
DR.. Goddard gave up his three
sanitariums and trained nurses and
accepted the senate bills instead. the
doctor runs sanitarium over at LeaV-
enworth and is a live one when II
comes to legislative matters. He has
taken an active part in the deliberations
of the 1911 session, in fact it approach
ed the verge of a storm several times
while the doctor was in the chair and
once when he was on the floor working
for bill.
During the closing hours of the Mon
day night session the house took occa-
sion to pay a nice compliment to Joe
Mercer of Chase county, who is also
the livestock and sanitary commission
er. Speaker Buchanan got up and call
ed attention to a bill protecting domes-
tic animals, that was far down the
calendar and stood a good chance to
die before it was reached The SPEAK
er declared tkat this was bill IN
which the livestock commissioner was
deeply interested and which he had de-
clared was a good bill. Mercer Is
chairman of the ways and means COM
rnittea and has had little time to spend
on the floor of the house and there
fore was unable to get his bill advanc-
ed on the calendar. The speaker asked
the house if it would give unanimous
consent to advance the bill and pass 1t
as a. special favor to Mercer. The
house did so with alacrity and not
dissenting vote. Brown, of Kingman
he fn