The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-04-24
LEGISLATIVE LETTER /;
BY r. w. HITCHCOCK
Publisher of the HiboIng Daily Tribune and
member Of the legislature.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

For more than week the hurry,
hurry, hurry days of the session have
gripped the Legislature Of 1881. Con-
fusion worse confounded seems to
reign supreme. With every day, morn
ing. noon and night, clogged with bills
set for special hearing, additional
special hearings are nstleSsly granted
one after another, until suddenly some
proposal arouSeS opposition and We
spend the whole afternoon debating
whether We shall debate it. Finally,
with scores of bills pressing for con-
sideration, having wasted twice as
many precious hours as would be
needed to decide the issue, We decide
that We will not consider the issue
Yet strange TO say, out Of the weller
of confusion and frantic hurry Of these
closing hours of the session, every day
sees something accomplished, some
thing done. We are so hopeleSsly
mixed up with the swift succession of
events each day, that We are almost
surprised to read in the morning paper
that some major issue OF the session
was settled yesterday. That's the way
Of the legislature. Its closing hours
apparently are hours Of hopeless con-
fusion, yet slowly out Of each days
work order emerges and accomplish
ment becomes fact.
A letter from one who forgot t.
sign his name informs US that he is
plumb disguised" with us. We dc
not resent the criticism. We have Sa.
in good many legislatures and We
have felt that way about every one OF
them. The lawmaking arm Of oul
government, like the other members of
the trinity, has wasteful and inefficient
ways, but somehow in the end it does
seem to get things done. The very
ones who sign themselves disguised
have been caught boasting that the
government of the U. S. A is the finest
in the world. In fact, it is mostly
these very same fellows who make the
eagle scream most screamingly on The
Fourth Of July.
Income Down, Expenses Up.
All the big appropriation bills of
this session have been framed and
they are mostly bad news for the tax
payer. The exact appropriations Of
the Forty-Seventh Legislature Of Min
nesota are still undetermined, for al
though all the appropriation bills have
& been drawn, they have not been drawn
alike by both houses. Conference
DmmitteeS, sitting far into the night,
gree upon the exact amounts, and
hsSe are often not determined until
he final night Of the session and
vice or thrice lately that final night
4 the session has seen the light of
ne following day before it has ended
Roughly speaking the present leg
Stature Will vote IL millions for the
upport of Ainnesota's eighteen state
Institutions for the coming two years,
o maintain the various state depart
mems of government 9 millions, for
6ucation q millions, and for miScel-
aneouS activities millions. Add to
heSe millions at least one more for
pecial appropriations pushed over for
pecial projects, and the total appro-
Iriations of the 1881 legislature will
xceed Is millions This is an in
rease over two years ago of more than
wo and one-half millions.
Unfortunately this does not repre-
ent the whole Of the added burden
lied on the back of the taxpayer At
ne same time that expenses have been
- DING up, receipts from indirect sources
revenue have been coming down
seceipts from railroads and other gross
arnings taxes have shown a falling of
his year Of about 81, 400, 900 and at the
anne time receipts from occupation
nd royalty taxes on iron ore have de-
reased a full s1,OOO,ooo or more. Here
- a shrinkage In the state revenue
md of practically S2,500,000.
Nor is that all Of the bad news The
gislature has issued, or is threaten
lg TO issue, certificates of indebted
ess for the following projects: Moor
cad Teachers College S765 900; land
)r new national guard camp at Little
. alls $500 900; Spanish American war