Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1903 — WHAT THE SOLONSDID [ARTICLE]

WHAT THE SOLONSDID

WORK OF THE BIXTY-THIRD GENERAL ABSEMBLY. Borne Faults and Virtues of the Recent Legislative Session Session Noteworthy in Several Respects—Union Labor Has Fared Well. Indianapolis correspondence: The Sixty-third Indiana General Assembly adjourned sine die Monday. In many respects the session has been noteworthy. As a whole, the Assembly has been favorable to the demands of organized labor. Edgar A. Perkins, president of the Stjite Federation of Labor, says that the Organization is well satisfied with the legislation effected. Labor bodies are congratulating themselves on the defeat of the garnishee bill, the passage of the safety appliance law, the "human endurance” bill, which will prevent a railroad man from working more than sixteen hours consecutively, and some desired amendments to the child labor law. There were other things that organized labor fought for, but-did not get. Among these were the railroad commission hill, though as this bill was finally presented it was not of vital interest to laboring men, and the bill to provide two enginemen in all double-cab engines. The railroads did not get the railroad consolidation bill, but they succeeded in killing the track elevation bill, the railroad commission bill, the “deckless engine” bill, the “Attorney General's” bill, and several bills of smaller consequence. ** Many Interurban. Bills. That the interurban business is one of the big things of the day Shown by the number of bills concerning it that was passed. Among them was a hill allowing subsidies to be granted to interurban lines, compelling these roads to maintain water closets on passenger trains and providing new laws under which such roads may condemn land and sonsolidate. The thrice-defeated Sunday baseball project and the defeated Luhring bill represents two large victories for the church people of the State. To this list may be ndded the passage of the bill to prevent the sale of liquor within a mile of a soldiers’ home or army post. It was a fact, often commented on, that the House acted ns a check on the Senate. There was no better example of this than in the defeat of the Card bill, which would have given county officers all over the State increases in salary of from 10 to 50 per cent. The House killed this hill except ns to county recorders, who will get 30 per cent of their fee collections over their salaries. In the way of election reforms the Legislature passed one hill and defeated two. It passed the voting machine bill, though amended so ns to apply only to the four largest counties in the State. It defeated the primary election bill and he bill of Senator Roche to punish vote buyers as well as vote sellers. The House killed the bill to put candidates for Congress at the head of the State ticket.

There were many educational matters up for legislation. A free school book bill was defeated, as was a bill to establish a commission to buy school supplies. An effort to raise the school tax from 11 to 16 cents failed, though the tax for the three State educational institutions was increased 1 1-12 ceuts. A bill providing for the use of primers before the first reader was passed. Insurance companies got through a bill providing for annual statements ii.etead of semi-annual, and making the license fee of foreign companies $3 instead of $5; also a bill permitting mutual companies to come into the State under the same conditions that are imposed on home companies. The efforts of Miss Gallaher of Evansville to get through a bill permitting her county to divert a part of its school fund for the education of deaf children, was one of the striking features of the session. She was the “gainest” woman lobbyist the Legislature has ever seen, nnd she came within one vote of getting a bill through the Senate and to Hie Governor that at first was looked on with so little favor that it was unanimously teported for killing. Other features of the session were the “ripper” bill, by which it was sought to set aside the Indiana reformatory board of managers and the Governor’s veto of the bill to place a statue of Gen. George Rogers Clark in Statuary Ilall, Washington.