Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-03-12

Notwithstanding LETTER.
a.s All Bailsd Up. L

sx)<v Il eLATivE LETTER.
& &. All 5atlsd Up.
Fifty days OF the Legislative Ser
sion have passed. leaving only q pos
sibility Of forty more and many I'M
portant measures remain to be con-
sidered, and acted upon The League
members although new at the business
wanted to stay on the Job all of, the
time, but were outYoted and practi.
cally no work has been done on Sat-
urdays and very little as q rule on |
Mondays. Asa consequence the work |
in the House is all balled ,up. Over
two hundred bills are on irrGeneraol Or
ders" ready to be considered in the
Committee of the Whole. In this COM
mittee debate is unlimited and some |
times an entire session Isl taken upsI
in discussing O. matter OF little Inn
Lportance. nh It requires two-thirds
vote to take up irregular bill out of
Its regular tcourse or make tia special
order, so a. measure must have that
proportion of friends to stand any
show Of passing at the: latter end OF
the session unless It carries an ap-
ipropriati0n. - z;s| Es55' ,s.s j.Az:s = -
The suffraeet Victory.
The Suntragets who daily frequent
the Legislative Hall ii constantly in
creasfng numbers are apparently go
ing to get everything they ask for so
far, as. the House is concerned. A
memorial to Congress requesting the
submission Of the Susan b. Anthony
Amendment and state constitutional
amendment l. granting full suffrage
were passed early In the session. This
week bill went through, 103 to "a,
granting women the right to vote for
presidential electors Rep. Adams
sought to limit this right to women
who could speak and write the Eng
lish language, but his motion was de-
feated. Bills are pending to author
ize women to take part in the primary
and city elections and enlarge their
rights in other respects. It is expect,
ed that the Senate will attack these
measures on constitutional grounds.
The women have entrusted their cause
to Theo. Christianson and Charley
Warner, acknowledged House leaders.
The Senate killed the suffrage consti-
tional amendment, forty to twenty-one
and are considering the other bills on
that subject.
Welch's Bank Guaranty.
The bill introduced by Hon. A. C.
WEIGH, the League Floor leader as
| sessing tax on all bank deposits to
create sinking fund to repay all de-
positors In full who have money de-
posted in banks that may fail is meet
| ing with most determined opposition
from some national banks and big
trust companies Many smaller banks
and some broad minded bankers favor
| the measure, arguing that the tax will
be very small and often nothing at all,
while the results Gwould. be increased
confidence and large deposits. Some
| bitter enemies of the League are in
clined to oppose the measure on &C.
count of it's authorship as they do not
want the League to get any credit for
| good legislation '...
! Free Passes for Law Makers.
Rep. Nimocks of Minneapolis, he Of
the Red Flag notor1ety, has introduc-
ed bill that has been approved by
the House Committee on Railroads
requiring all railway companies to
furnish free transportation to legis-
lators. It is estimated that such a
law would indirectly raise the law
makers salary from one-fourth to one
half and the railroads would pay it.
Rep. Skaim, the vigilant League men,
Der from Becker strongly opposed the
! measure in the committee. It is hard
ly likely the bill will become law at
this session. Should it be reached
for consideration its opponents will
probably amend it to death by adding
ludicrous and foolish provisions, as
many members like to make sport
| of Nimocks when the opportunity
offers.
| More Bills.
| The number Of bills presented In the
House now approaches the 900 mark,
with nearly two thirds as many in the
Senate: It is simply impossible in a
| 80 day session for any body Of men to
properly handle and give dAe con-
sideration to such a vast number of
proposals to change existing statutes.
| OF course many of these bills are
duplicates, but sufficient number
propose changes of a more or less
! important nature in the laws. Some
members feel that to make a record
they must introduce numerous bills,
sometimes twenty and thirty, and
even more. Good legislative records
are more often made by helping to kill
vicious measures and aiding to pass a
few really meritorious laws.
Some Good Measures.
| The Tonnage Tax bill introduced
by Mr.. WEIGH by which some $1,000
900 in additional revenue will be de-
rived from a source we'll able to pay
it stands at the head of the list. The
next in Importance Is bill to tax
mine royalties or moneys derived
from leasing iron mines, a measure
fathered by the League members in
both the House and the Senate.
Should these two bills safely pass the
Governor they should unless appropri-
! atoms are increased cut the ordinary
taxes on the average about one-fourth.
The pext in rank is the Bill of Rights