Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 February 1889 — LEGISLATIVE NOTES. [ARTICLE]

LEGISLATIVE NOTES.

” The Senate committee which is to investigate the Hospital for the Insane is composed of Hays and Shockney for the Republicans and Burke and Howard for the Democrats. The Democratic members of the Hnusshave determined in caucus to pass the bill abolishing the office of President of Benevolent Boards, and threp Trustees will be elected for each institution.

Petitions are circulating among the farmers of Clay county asking, lie Legislature to lay an embargo on the importation of dressed beef into the State*claiming that it is making the raising of beef cattle unprofitable.—lndinapolis News. The bill introduced by Senator Kennedy. authorizing the State officers to negotiate a loan of $3,905 000 with which to refund the present State deot at a lower rate of interest, was passed by the Senate, Thursday morning. It is believed the bill, if it becomes a law, will save the State about $117,n00 per year. Mr. Willard’s bill declaring twentyfive years a life sentence House, Thursday. It allows for good time, and, life convicts who have served seventeen years and nine monttyk will be paroled’for life, if this bill passes the Senate. There are two convicts now in the Prison South who will receive the benefit of this bill—O. T. Bailey, of Dearborn county, and James Aston. The former has been confined for eighteen years and Aston for twenty-three and one-half years, < There are three or four life convicts in the Prison North who will be let out by tnis bill, if enacted — Buell Webster, of Allen, who has been in the “pen” twenty-four years; George Stetler, of Madison, eighteen years, and Robert Robinson, twenty-nine years. Senator Johnson introduced a civil service bill this morning in the Senate. It provides for the appointment of three Civil - Service Commissioners by the Governors They shall be appointed from the three political parties which polled the largest number of votes at the last general election preceding their appointment. They shall elect a Chief Examiner,-who shall hold competitive examinations at stated intervals, and appointment to all appointive offices in the State public institutions shall be conditioned upon a successful passage of the proper examination. Different clauses of the bill give the preference in appointments to honorably discharged soldiers, make promotion dependent on merit, and fix a time of probation for the appdintee before his position is permanently given him, and prohibit political assessments. The Democratic Legislators caucused on the 21st to nominate officers for the various institutions, with the following result: State Geologist—S. S. Gorby. Custodian of State-house—Tim Griffin. Chief Engineer of State-house—M. H. Cain. State Statistician —Win. A. Peele. Supreme Court Commissioners—William E. Niblack, of Knox; Jeptha, D. Jennings; John R. Ooffroth, of Tippecanoe; Robert Lowry, of Allen; Mortimer Nye, of LaPorte. •' Trustees of Hospitals for Insane: Indianapolis—Thomas Markey, of Marion; Zick H. Hauser, of Bartholemew, J. L. < arson, of Shelby. Logansport—David Hat’gh, of Noble; L. F. Baker, of St. Joseph; Dennis Uhl, of Cass. Evans-ville-William Rahm, of Vanderburg; Thomas Wertz, of Dubois; P. H. Blue, of Sullivan. Richmond—W. H. Harkins, of Jay; Dr. M. C. Benham, of Wayne; George W. Koontz, of Directors of State Prison North—Levi Mock, of Wells; Janies D. French, of Tippecanoe; James Renfhan, of Marion; South—W. B. McDonald, of Gibson: Floyd Parks, of Clarke; R. E. Slater, of Dearborn. Trustees of Institution tor the Deaf and Dumb —D. W. Chambers, of Henry; Charles Haugh, of Marion; T. L. Brown, of .Lawrence. Jack Riley,*of Marion; Terry Cullen, of Marion; John B. Stoll, of St. Joseph. The Pleasant’s school book bill provides that the State Board of Education shall constitute a Board of Commissioners for selecting or procuring the compilation of a series; of text-books, none of which shall contain anything of a partisan or sectarian character, and all of them shall be at least equal in size and quality as to matter, material, style of binding and mechanical execution’ to the books,now in general use. The Commissioners shall advertise for sealed proposals from publishers of text-books ,to furnish them for a term of five years, stating specifically the price at which each book Will be furnished. Propasals shall also be received from authors who have manuscripts of books and from persons who are willing to undertake the compilation of books. All bids by publishers must be accompanied by a bond for $50,000. acceptable to the Governor, and it provides that no bid shall be considered unless accompanied by an affidavit that the bidder is m nowise; directly or indirectly, connected with any other bidding firm, and that fie is not a party to any compact, syndicate or scheme whereby the benefits of competition are denied to the people of the State.* If any competent author offers to give the State the use of his books, the commissioners are required to accept it. The Board ’ shall not contract lor books which will cost schooj patrons more%han the following prices: Spelling book, 10 cents; first Reader, 10 cents; second reader, 15; third reader,2s; fourth reader, 30, fifth reader, 40; intermediate arithmetic, 35; complete arithmetic, 45; elementary geography, 30; complete geography, 75; elementary English grammar, 25; complete English grammar, 40; physiology,3s; history of the United States, 50, and copy books, 5. It it required that it shall be made a part of the terms and conditions of every contract that the State shall not be liable to any contractor for any sum, bu,t the contractors shall receive their pay solely and exclusively from the sale of the books. After the contracts have been made the Governor shall issue a proclamation announcing the fact to the people, and within thirty days after its publication the trustees of every school corporation in the State shall certify to the superintendent of their respective counties the number of text-books that* will be required in their schools. The County Superintendent shall forthwith transmit the requisitions to the State Superintendent, who in turn will make a requisition upon the contractor for the books, which must be shipped directly to the County Superintendents. The books can be sold for cash only, and the trustees are held liable on their official bonds for the money. ;The trustees shall make settlements every three months. Special bonds for carrying out the provisions of the act are required from County Superintendents. / The only appropriation provided for in the act’issl.ooo, tp be used in paying the advertising ekpensee. It is estimated that the cost of new books Complete f or the whole State, finder the fixed scale of, prices, will not exceed s3oo,‘>oo but if new Ijqoks are not adopted it will be proportionately less. . > £ . ’