Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1875 — INDIANA STATE LEGISLATURE. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA STATE LEGISLATURE.

Senate, Feb. 22. —The claim of Mr. Walker, contestant for the seat of Senator Ladue, for per diem and mileage was referred to the Committee onClaims.... The bill setting apart the interest of the wife in real estate when ordered to be sold under judicial proceedings was passed—2s to 14,...The bill providing for a State Board of Health was refused engrossment—l 7to 21.... The report of the Judiciary Committee favoring the passage of the bill fixing the salary of the Governor at §6,000 and the per diem of members at §6 was made the special order for the afternoon of the 25th... .Adjourned. House. —Bills were passed—regulating assignments; that property, instead of being sold on forced sale, may be duly advertised and sold to the highest bidder at private sale; authorizing the Trustees of incorporated towns to issue bonds to the amount of §IO,OOO for the purpose of completing public buildings; providing for the appointment of three appraisers and by-road supervisors, who shall appraise material taken for the purpose of building or repairing roads; defining the meaning of the terms “ auction” and “ auctioneers,” and fixing maximum amount which auctioneers may be charged for their licenses .„. A joint resolution was offered instructing Indiana members of Congress to vote against any appropriation for the Texas Pacific Railway. ... A bill was introduced for the appointment of three railroad commissioners... .A special committee was appointed to investigate charges of cruelty preferred against the Superintendent of the. Asylum for the Blind ....Adjourned. Senate, Feb. 23 —Committees were appointed to investigate the affairs of the Northern and Southern Prisons.... Bills were passed —for the erection of fish-ladders at all milldams; to reduce the price of Supreme Court reports to §3; to allow Trustees to select textbooks for schools; providing for the commencement of prosecutions for felony by information; providing that at least one-fourth of the purchase-money of school lands shall be paid in hand, and deferred payments to bearS percent, interest; legalizingas holidays 'Jan. 1, July 4, Feb. 25 and Thanksgiving Dav; the Local Option Temperance bill; providing for fencing lands subject to overflow with swinging gates across roads wherever crossed... .Adjourned.

House. —The Committee on Public Buildings reported in favor of building two insane asylums, ..The Committee on Rights and -Privileges—reported a—bill—require, jng..- railroads to fwiuretbeiL.i'ight of way within the next four years, onefourth in each year... .Bills were passed—providing for organizing camp-meeting associations; amending the civil code so as to require parties to raise their objection to errors in complaint in lower courts; authorizing surveyors to use witness-stones as limdimirks; providing that appeals may not be dismissed if appellant shall file a sufficient bond; adding the President, of Purdue University to the State Board of Education; prohibiting nepotism ou the part of State officers; reducing the salary of the Superintendent of the Kingstown Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home; reapportioning the State for legislative purposes; authorizing a temporary .loan to carry on the State Government for the next two years... .Adjourned. Senate, Feb. 24.—8i11s were passed—changing the age of girls to be admitted to the Woman’s Reformatory institute from.fifteen to sixteen; allowing Criminal Court Judges to issue writs of habeas corpus; allowing towns of 2,000 inhabitants to incorporate as cities;, prohibiting counties but allowing townships to vote aid to railroads; making it a misdemeanor to rent houses for immoral purposes; compelling deeds to be recorded within fifty-five days; compelling administrators to file their claims with County Clerks thirty days before they arc allowed; allowing, surplus funds to joint-st.-ck companies to be loaned toothers than .members of the companies; providing for the appointment of commissioners to locate the boundary lines between Indiana and Kentucky near Green River Island; abolishing the bank department of the Auditor’s office and turning over the money’ to the general fund.... A motion to suspend the rules and pass a till requiring the Auditor to pay quarterly into the Treasury fees received from foreign insurance companies was defeated... .A resolution was introduced for the appointment of a committee to inquire concerning the swamp lands of the State conveyed under the act of Congress of 1802... .Adjourned.

House. —The consideration of the question of building a new State-House was indefinitely postponed—67 to 27,... Bills were passed—reducing the pay of County Superintendents from four to three dollars per day; authorizing the adoption of children who are inmates of the Girls’ Reform School; prohibiting the sale of deadly weapons and ammunition to minors... .Adjourned. Senate, Feb. 25. —The Public Warehouse bill was amended so as to apply only to those who choose to operate under its provisions... .The remainder of the session was occupied in considering the General Fee and Salary bill, no definite conclusion being reached,.. .Adjourned. House.—After a long discussion the bill providing for two Insane Asylums was, indefinitely, postponed. The vote was subsequently reconsidered and the bill recommitted with instructions to report a bill to locate the asylum on the grounds now (jwned by the State at Indianapolis, to cost not exceeding §350,000 —48 to 46.... The Senate Local Option Liquor bill was rejected, the House adhering to its own bi 11.... The General Appropriation bill was reported and made the special order for March 2.... Adjourned. Senate, Feb. 26.—A letrgthy report was submitted from the Special Committee on the Wabash & Erie Canal, covering a resolution providing that the special committee of the Senate and the standing committee of the House meet during the recess of the Legislature to consult with the Governor. Several amendments were offered, and finally the resolution and amendments were tabled—3l to 9 ....The Joint Committee on Public Buildings recommendedd.be passage of the bill in relation to the new State-House... .The committee to revise the swamp-land history of the State, etc., was announced by the President , .-v» Bills were passed—relating to fees; providing that all fees received from insurance companies shall be paid into the State Treasury... .The Senate bill in regard to salaries was taken up and, pending discussion, the Senate adjourned.

House. —Bills were passed —forbidding Trustees of ahy State.institution to contract debts on account of the .State apportioning the school fund, and prescribing .the duties of State and County School Superintendents; providing.for the disposition of a wife’s interest in the proceeds of the sale of real estate in partition proceedings, when the land is derived from a former, deceased husband; authorizing the State Superintendent of Public Instruction,' assisted by the State Board of Education, to purchase libraries for certain township's; authorizing commissioners to appraise as well as t-xamine .lands which cannot be divided and sold without material loss; providi.ng’t'hat all corporationsand employers shall pay their employes monthly, and on failure to do .-o may be sued and-gpecution levied within ten days without benefit of stay or other delays'; creating a new judicial circuit by making one each of Tippedanoe and Cass ’Counties, and one out of the « counties of White, Carroll, and Pulaski; providing that one Insane Asylum be erected at a cost •. not .to | exceed $350,000 on the Insane Asylum grounds now owned by the State in this citv; allowing Sheriffs to advertise sales of land on execution in any newspaper of general circulation in the county; making a person accepting a bribe for his vote equally guilty with those who offer It; protiding for the appointment

by city Councils of gas commissioners, who shall act as middlemen between the people and oppressive gas companies.. ..The bill compelling railroads to fence their rights of way during tlje next four years—one-fourth each year—was defeated —36 to 55,.. .The tax levy for 1875 and 1876 was reported from the Committee ou Ways’’ and Means .... Adjourned ", Senate, Feb. 27.—The Senate did little of interest save to appoint a committee to investigate the causes which led to the disappearance of certain important bills, supposed to have been stolen. House. —The following bills were passed—providing that real estate given to a son-in-law shall, upon his death, revert to the children or family of the deceased wife who brought him such property, even though he may have remarried and had issue by such second or third marriage; requiring County Treasurers to make semi-annual statements to County Commissioners, which shall, be spread upon the records, and to make actual exhibit of funds on hand; exempting benefits of widows and children, derived from Masonic, Odd Fellows, or other benevolent associations and benevolent mutual insurance associations, from execution ; providing that County Commissioners shall appoint a committee of four persons, two men and two women, who shall make, quarterly visits to the County Poor-house, and examine into the condition and treatment of the inmates, and report thereon to the County Auditor, who shall cause the same to be published .... Adjourned.