The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1931-01-22
STATE Law MAKERS.
READY TOFUNCTION
Standing Committees of Both
Branches Named-Lieut.
Gov. Arens HObbled
THE FIRST LEGISLATURE
Farmer-LabOr Minority Ready
for Battle-FavOritism
Charged

a member of the legislature.
st Paul, Jan 19-In the third
week of the forty-seventh legisla-
ture of Minnesota every wheel Is
turning at last, the hopper is full
of bills, and a 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
required for organization; the third
week sees the regular routine well
under way.
Committees were appointed last
week and a very few of them met,
but this week the full complement
of nearly ninety committees In
house and senate are holding
scheduled meetings, debating bills,
and in a few instances reporting
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
contrary, meets in the morning and
devotes the afternoon to committee
meetings. Most committees are
scheduled to meet but once a week,
at a day and hour certain. 1t Is
only in this way that orderly pro-
cedure can be secured for each
member of the legislature is
member of from six to eight COM
mittees, and he must know the
exact hour when his presence is
required in a certain committee
room. Even so 1t is difficult to
crowd ninety committees into a
six day week without conflicts and
overlapping. A very few commit
tees meet more often than once a
week; the judiciary committee Of
the house, for instance, meets every
day at one o'clock and the appro-
priations committee meets every
day at the close Of the house ses-
sion.
The First Legislature
While we are waiting for the
legislature to go into production,
let us take a look at the first leg
islature which sat in Minnesota. 1t
was most 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 reg
ular sessions and one special ses-
sion of the legislature were held
during the territorial days. The
first legislature Of the State of
Minnesota met on Dec. 2, 1857. It
was peculiar in that it had no real
right to existence. It met, sat for
several months, enacted numerous
laws, and even elected two United
States Senators, all before Mime
sofa was actually admitted to the
Union, for Minnesota did not form
ally become one Of the United
States until May II, 1858.
Probably the acts Of that first
legislature of Minnesota were not
valid under the law and constitu-
ton, but the people accepted them
and a Judge, Charles e. Flandrau,
upheld them. Judge F1andrau was
an appointive territorial judge and
had also been elected as state SUI
preme court judge, 50 he felt fully
clothed with authority and compe-
tent to adjudicate the situation. He
certainly was competent. Speaking
of his decision upholding the au-
thority Of that first uncertain leg
islature, Judge Flandrau mslny
years later said: with that COM
mon sense which should always
govern frontier judge, held it
was all right and perfectly consti-
tutional. What else could one do?
They had passed an immense book
full of laws and the job of declar-
ing them all unconstitutional at
once was a rather formidable I'M
dertaking for a boy So I did a
good deal as the jury did when it
acquitted man Of murder, but said
he must be careful not to do it
again."
That first legislature Of the state
sat for four months before Mime
sofa became state and for two
months after statehood was actual
ly accomplished. It consisted Of 81
senators and 80 representatives
who made laws for 10000 people.
This week the forty-seventh legis-
lature Of the state, with 81 senat
ors and 131 representatives, begins
legislating for 100000 people.
A. Political Parallel
The republican party has domi-
mated Minnesota thru most Of its
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 Minnesota's first
United States senators. H II. Sibley,
democrat, was Minnesota's first
state governor.
Today the forty-seventh legisla,
ture Of Minnesota Is in session with
a. combination Of republicans and
democrats called regulars" in con-
troll in both houses. but in the gov
ernor's chair sits Floyd Olson, the
first farmer-labor governor in. the
history of the state. Minnesota's
dominant party lost the governor
ship in that beginning seventy-three
years ago and it has lost the gov
ernorship now.
In this forty-seventh legislature
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