Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1909-1915, 1912-06-21
saw the light of day.

saw theSlight of day. 1s
Hanna's affection for the railroads
took tangible form as revealed by his
record, in this first session of his. A
fellow servant act, or
liability law doing away
with the common law fellow servant"
defense as far as railroads were con-
cerned, and causing railroads to be-
come liable for damages in case of en-
ployes injured by reason Of the care
lessness of other employees, was .nt1o-
ducef as House Bill No. Is.
OF course such measure would $be
unpopular with the railroads and their
servants in the legislature. twas re
ferred to the committee on corpora
lions other than municipal, which rec
commended its reference to the com.
mite on railroads of which Hanna was
a member. This committee recon.
mended it's reference in turn to the
compilation committee" which was
depended upon to chloroform sundry
measures in that session and in that
committee the bill died. 'S..
House Bill No. 113 was q similar.
measure and this was referred directly
to the railroad committee, where it
was promptly consigned to the waste
basket. Later it became necessarys5e-
cause. of public sentiment, to- enact
such a measure and a makeshift fel-
low servant act was passed in 1899.
It originated in the house and Orms-
by McHarg there conducted q fight
against it and when he could not kill
it, emasculated it so as to make it
practically worthless. This killed Nc
Harg for reelection to the Legislature.
In the senate, Hanna voted aye on the
worthless bill. 4 II ).
!. In 1907, after the insurgents had
tanned the. gang to considerable ex-
tent, as shown by the records, Hanna
voted aye in favor of splendid "fel-
low servant act even more meritori-
Gus than the one Sof 1895 which he
voted against before it became 30 dan
gerous to disregard the interests Of the
people. .5. s52 .%. !"
But in the session Of 1895, his first
session, Hanna clearly showed the clio
ven hoof in dealing with. two measures
and served the railroads SO faithfully
and with such complete disregard for
the interests of the people of his state,
that he should be entitled to the INDY
ing gratitude of the roads. rs
The first of these measures was
House Bill No. 3d., imposing maxi
mum railroad passenger rate, which
the bill fixed at three cents mile.
Hanna apparently objected to his be-
loved railroads being limited in their
! extortions from the public. 5gs.s5 X
The bill was referred to the railroad
committee of which Hanna was mem.
Der and after this committee had kept
the bill for forty days, it reported rec
ommending indefinite .postponement.
= Indefinite postponement is the COW.
ards trick to kill bill. A roll call is
| not required to pass a melton for in.
definite postponement unless demand
ed according to rules, so that crook.
ed or inefficient Legislator does not
ARE to place himself on record and
leave trail behind. 5s S fss$ ,.s:
But, some one has to move to adopt
when committee reports recommend
ing indefinite postponement and in this
case Hanna moved the adoption Of the
report, thereby personally administer
ing the carbolie acid which killed the
| bill. 3ass% {.l;55 Y [:sS = i i u,
True, Hanna voted for two and one.
half cent rate law in 1907, but it was
IN furtherance Of a scheme to grant
Etherate law and kill an anti-pass law,
the gang being unable to so far pre-
vail against the insurgents as to kill
both of them. 81 55
The other measure that gave Hanna
pportunity to play the part Of valet
to the railroads was House Bill No. 43,
requiring railroads to install cattle
guards, safe crossings and signs OF
warning at railroad crossings. Ordin.
airy decency required the enforcement
Of these safeguards against loss Of life,
injury and loss to the farmers by acct.
dents to stock. rs.
HI This also was referred To the com.
mittee on railroads Of which Hanna