The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-01-30
LEGISLATIVE LETTER
BY r. w. HITCHCOCK
Publisher of the Hibbing Daily Tribune and
member Of the legislature

seventh legislature of Minnesota every
wheel is turning at last, the hopper is
full of bills, and couple or three
brand new laws, even, have been
signed, sealed, and deposited in the
office of the secretary of state" That's
the way it always is; two weeks are re-
quired for organization; the third week
sees the regular routine well under
way.
Committees were appointed last week
and very few of them met, but this
week the full complement of nearly
ninety committees in house and senate
are holding scheduled meetings, de-
batting bills, and in few instances re-
porting them back to the main body
for passage or for indefinite post
ponement" House committees meet in
the morning, from nine to one, with
sessions of the house at two each
afternoon. The senate, on the con-
trary, meets in the morning and devotes
the afternoon to committee meetings.
Most committees are scheduled to meet
but once week, at day and hour
certain. It is only in this way that or
derby procedure can be secured, for
each member of the legislature is a
member of from six to eight commit
tees, and he must know the exact hour
when his presence is required in GER
tain committee room. Even so 1t is
difficult to crowd ninety committees in
to six day week without conflicts and
overlapping. A very few committees
meet more often than once a week;
the judiciary committee of the house,
for instance, NETS every day at one
o'clock and the appropriations COM
mittee meets every day at the close
of the house session
The First Legislature.
While we are waiting for the legis-
lature to go into production, let us
take look at the first legislature
which sat in Minnesota It was an
unusual legislature, for it sat in the
midst of fears and alarms and anxious
uncertainty.
The first territorial legislature of
Minnesota met in 1849. Eight regular
sessions and one special session of the
legislature were held during the ter
ritorial days. The first legislature OF
the State of Minnesota met on Dec.
2, 1857. 1t was peculiar in that it had
no real legal right to existence. It
met, sat for several months, enacted
numerous laws, and even elected two
United States senator's, all before
Minnesota was actually admitted to the
Union, for Minnesota did not formally
become one of the United States until
May II, 1858.
Probably the acts of that first legis-
lature of Minnesota were not valid
under the law and constitution, but
the people accepted them and a judge
Charles E. Flandrau, upheld them.
Judge Flandrau was an appointive ter
ritorial judge and had also been cleo
ted as state supreme court judge, SO
he felt fully clothed with authority and
competent to adjudicate the situation
He certainly was competent. Speak
ing of his decision upholding the auth
ority of that first uncertain legislature
Judge Flandrau many years later said
With that common sense which
should always govern a frontier judge
held it was all right and perfectly
constitutional. What else could one
do? They had passed an immense
book full of laws and the job of de-
claring them all constitutional at once
was a rather formidable undertaking
for boy. So I did good deal as
the jury did when it acquitted man
of murder, but said he must be care
full not to do it again"
That first legislature of the state sal
for four months before Minnesota be-
came state and for two months after
statehood was actually accomplished
1t consisted of 81 senators and 80 rep
resentatives who made laws for 10000
people. This week the forty-Seventh
legislature of the state, with 81 sena-
! tors and 131 representatives, begins
legislating for 100000 people.
A Political Parallel.
The republican party has dominated
Minnesota thru most of it's history, but
in that first legislature of Minnesota
the democrats had a majority of ten
and they elected two democrats, Henry
M. Rice and James Shields, as Mime
sofas first United States senators
H. H. Sibley, democrat, was Mime
sofas first state governor.
Today the forty-seventh legislature
of Minnesota is in session with COM
bination of republicans and demo-
Gratis called regulars" in control in
both houses, but in the governors
chair sits Floyd Olson, the first far
mer-labor governor in the history OF
the state. Minnesota's dominant party
lost the governorship in that begin
ming seventy three years ago and it
has lost the governorship now.
In this forty-seventh legislature the
farmer-labor party is somewhat
stronger in the senate than ever be-
fore and slightly weaker in the house.
But in the southwest corner of the
capitol is Floyd Olson, first farmer
labor Governor of Minnesota, and that
fact fills the farmer-labor minority
in the legislature full of fire and fury.
Nepotism.
Immediately after the Ides of last
November and that stunning majority
by which Floyd Olson became COVER
nor-elect, the farmer-labor leaders be-
gan filling the air with cries Of battle.
They fairly lusted for the fray. Their
newly elected governor was not yet in
office, yet they prepared at once to re-
elect him. They began to lay founda-