The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1915-06-25
WINDING UP ON
WATERWAY BILL
Assembly Passes ACkIey Meas
uTe With Amendment.
TO SENATE FOR CONCURRENCE

Measures Have Been ACTED upon
in the Lower House and Are Now
Pending in the Upper House Where
Vote Will Be Close.
Madison, Wis, (SpeciaD The legis-
lature is emerging from an eventful
campaign over the waterpOwer bill
introduced early in session by AS
semblyman Edward Ackley and re-
drafted by members of the senate.
After weeks of consideration the
measure was passed in the upper
and messaged TO the assembly AS
semblyman Edward Nordman, Lang
Jade county, introduced an amendment
which was made a part of the bill
after many hours of sharp debate,
whereby any corporation investing
money for the Development of water
powers shall not receive the property
benefit of unearned increment. The
amendment provides that after a
period of thirty years if the public
terpower, that the price to be paid
shall be the original price paid by
the waterpOwer concern for the site.
Passed by House; Returned to Senate.
Administration men who have been
working for the passage of bill
which, in their judgment, would en-
courage waterpOwer development, OBJ
jected to this amendment, but were
forced to submit to defeat Then on
tine question of concurrence of the
measure, some of the members who
made the fight for the NOrdman pro-
pOsal voted to kill the bill, which gave
rise to the feeling in legislative circles
that the amendment was offered with
the idea of killing the bill in order to
save the present Husting law. Water
power men, however, preferred the
amended measure to the existing law,
and the bill was given the final ap-
prevail of the assembly, and returned
to the senate where the waterpOWer
fight will be resumed on an elaborate
scale.
Big Bills Pending in Senate.
In legislative matters of major i'm
portance, the assembly is several laps
ahead of the senate. Practically all
is especially interested have been act
ed upon in the house and are now
pending in the senate, where rival fac
tons are expected to fight bitterly dur
ing the closing days of the session.
About 100000 has been taken out
of the budget demand made by the
normal schools, it is proposed to re-
duce by not less than 100000 the
amount to be appropriated for public
highways, and big savings, it is claim
ed, will result from the administration
consolidation plan. 1t has not been
determined how much will be shaved
from the appropriations for the state
university. 1t is safe to say, however,
that the total amount as compared to
the amount appropriated two years
ago will show a very substantial re.
duction.
Public interest now centers in TIE
course of the senate, where it is adj
mitted that the administration faces
serious situation. All of the big con-
solidatiOn measures are pending in
the upper house, where the vote is
certain to be close. If the governor
fails to carry out his full legislative
program it will be because the admin.
istratiOn will strike snag in the sen
ate.
Want Present Road Law.
The hearing on the bills affecting
the state highways system before the
joint finance committee proved to be
tie first large hearing on that subject
Of the session. Representatives of
commercial clubs, organizations inter
ested in good roads, county boards
and many others appeared before the
committee, practically all asking for
the retention of the present system
of state supervision. All asked for no
material reduction of the amount now
available annually for state aid.
Elmer S. Hall, representing the
Green Bay Commercial Club said:
eve ask for the retention of the pres
ent law substantially in it's present
form. The people in our section of
the state want good roads, and we
think we are getting them. The de-
crease in the appropriation for the
highway commission means that the
counties will have to provide engin-
GERS to handle all the engineering
work. I feel safe in saying that there
are very few engineers in the northern
part OF the state particularly, who can
handle the work as we'll as the divi-
sion engineers, or do so as ecomical-
1y."
r. B. Vickerv of the Brown county,