Lansing
IjANsino, Marcü va, 1879. The past week has been one o unusual industry on the part of the Legislature, and the result is a mvicl longer list of new bilis presented for the Gubernatorial approval than dur ing any previous week. Still I do no flnd the materials for an interesting letter very plentiful. All the impor tant measures have been already out lined, and to pass in review the long list of local bilis and bilis amendatory of laws in unimportant details woulc be labor thrown away. The govern ment of a State with all its courts and departments is a stupeiidous and com plicated machine that needs constan attention to keep it running smoothly now a little oiling here, then the tight ening of a screw there, and by and by a change in the gearing to adapt it to the change in the work expected of it But the owners of the machine, the people, are not especially interested in these details, provided only the ma chine keeps moving and does its work satisfactorily. PROHIBITION. Nothing decisive has yet been done in the way of passing the proposec prohibitory liquor law, the provisions of which were given in these letters three weeks ago, and the speedy p;is sage of which was so confidently predicted by Dr. Keynolds and others. A pretty careful canvass of the House is said to give the folio wing result: ïor the tax law 47 For the prohibition law 0 Undeoded Not ascertained , 4 In the Senate the prospect for the passage of the Maine law is still less favorable. As a "straw," I may add that in the House Wednesday morning there were six petitions for the passage of the prohibitory bill, and 32 remonstrances against it. Among the latter was the remonstrance from ex-Governor Bagley and ex-Mayor Lewis, with an additional remonstrance attached, signed by D. Bethune Duffleld, president of the Detroit Red Kibbon Club. There was also a remonstrance signed by Mayor Langdon and a large number of business firms in Detroit. The three remonstrances mentioned were ordered printed ín the journal. MILITARY MATTERS. The House has been tinkering the military laws partly in pursuancej of Gov. Croswell's suggestions in his message and partly on its own responsibility. One bilí provides that when, by reason of any sudden emergency, it is necessary for the commander-in-chief to cali out themilitia to suppress riots, money may be drawn upon the estimates of the Quartermaster-General, properly approved, without waiting for the auditing of vouchers on previous estimates. During the riot of 1877 the Quartemaster-General was compelled to advance quite a large sum of bis private funds in order to pay necessary expenses. Another bilí provides thai the expenses of insane indigent soldiers cared for at the Insane Asylum sliould ae paid out of the general f und. Here;ofore such expenses were borne by the military fund. The reasons, as given, are that the soldiers of the late war are in no sense a part of the State militia and there is no reason why the military fund should be depleted to 3ay for their maintenance. A third jill increases the military force of the State from 24 to 30 companies, and a 'ourth bill inakes the members of the Vlilitary Board ex-officio members of ;he military staff of the Commander-in3hief, with the rank of Colonel. All these bilis have passed the House. It also passed a bill appropriating $25,000 to reimburse the military fund for exsenses of the militia incurred at the ;ime of the railroad strike in 1877, and this has already passed the Senate. The others are yet pending in that body. RAILROAD BILLS. There has been an unusual amount of discussion before the railroad eommittees by interested parties, but lit,1e actually done in either House. The )ill to extend the time for completing ;he Menominee River Railroad passed ,he House Wednesday afternoon, receiving 71 votes, or four more than were necessary. The bill for granting aid to the Alpena and Southwestern Railroad did not fare so well, receiving only 42 votes, or 25 less than the numer necessary to pass it. The chances for passing the bill to aid the narrow ;auge railroad through the Huron pennsula were so slim that the bill was aid on the table, without putting it to ,he test of a vote. There is a Senate bill pending which adds four new sections to article two of the general railroad law. and three to artiele four. The flrst added section, numbered 41, irovides against discriminations made jy one railroad against any connectng or intersecting lines. Section 42 requires that railroads shall promptly 'orward merchandise consigned or directed to be sent over any connecting road and forbids taking freight which s ordered or expressly directed to be received or forwarded by a different route. THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION. The Senate has been wrestling witii ;wo bilis relative to the f urnishing of a State parsonage for the Governor. One bill calis for a building not to exeeed in cost $50,000, and appropriates f5,000 annually to be used by the Governor in paying the necessary curient expenses in maintaining the mansion. The other bill authorized the sale of ;he block ot ground in Lansing upon which the oíd capítol stands, and the application of the funds to the buildng of a suitable residence for the Governor upon some plot of ground belongng to the State in the city. It limits ;he amount to be expended for buildng, furnishing complete from cellar to attic, fencing and ornamenting the jrounds, not to exceed $25,000. Both )ills have referred to a special committee consisting of Senators Conant, 'atterson and Shoemaker. VARIOUS ITEMS. President Angelí of the University yrequest addressed the members of ,he Legislature Tuesday eyening on he relations of the University to the State. The address was an hour and a ïalf long and covered the ground quite fully. Prof. Watson of the University also y request addressed the Judiciary Oommittee on the subject of interest and the attempts to regúlate ratea of nterest by legislation. He deprecated such attempts as impolitic. Don Henderson, the compiler of the klanual, gave out the last of the copy 'or that compilation Thursday. The klanual will be one of the largest and most complete of any ever issued by Any State in the Union, and will be made up almost entirely of original matter, obtained with great labor at considerable expense. Both Houses have adjourned till Monday evening. Make a bridge from the eradle to manhood as long as you can. Let your children be children as long as they will. Let them be children, not little upes of men and women.
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Old News
Michigan Argus