OCR Text |
Show WITH THE LAWMAKERS WEEKLY REVIEW OF LEGISLATURE AND LEGISLATORS AND SOME COMMENT What n delightful sense of proportion pro-portion our legislature seems to possess! Not long ago a fish and game bill, revising a part of the present code, was sent in by those most j vitally affected by fish and game 3ogislation. Hunters, members of duck clubs and game -wardens got together and agreed upon amendments amend-ments tp the present law. Their bill went into committee and all who were interested were invited to nt-tend nt-tend meetings and air their views. i The meetings stretchod over several nights and volumes of oratory were put over. No other one subject engaged en-gaged quite as much attention as tho fish and game laws. Following is a dipping from the Tribune on the fish and game bill: Some of the bills that wore expected ex-pected to jrive a doul of trouble have been safely and expeditiously expeditious-ly disposed of. Notable among this number was the fish and same bill. Every legislature from the beginning has wrestled days and weeks with the fish and game bill. This year the house and senate committees put In long nights In considering the bill and when it came Into the house last week It had been numerously num-erously and voluminously amended, amend-ed, but It stood the test and was passed within two hours. How sharply in contrast is this state of affairs to the decisions of the senate committee that discussion of the employers' liability bill be limited. lim-ited. Chairman TV. Mont Ferry announced an-nounced that last Monday night would be set aside for the discussion of the employers' liability act. The .erald-Repuhdii:h. describes It thus: When the public hearing is held before the joint legislative committee In the senate chamber Monday night to consider employers' em-ployers' liability and working-men's working-men's compensation legislation, the three Interests involved will present their arguments. But Chairman W. Mont. Ferry and I other members of the committee have decided upon a program for this to do away with the usual repetitions and useloss talk that frequently drowns the pith of theso hearings. The human race is thoughtless of self at mes. Here we find a legislature legis-lature spending groat quantities of time protecting the lives of fish and game, thereby making the sport good for the hunter, and doclding that tho insignificant pastime of p.otecting lvuman life, or properly compensating human beings for energy expended, Is too trivial a matter to engage more than passing attention. This is the lawmaking body of the old school which legislates most effectually to encourage the propagation of finer domestic animals, but spurns an opportunity op-portunity to legislate in tho Interest .of tho human raoo. I Tho Hansen bill providing prison ontonces for all persons convicted t speaking in derogatory terms of a nk was up before the house. If ffifffr tote, - Viir r&tati this idea were written into law, a man would be branded a felon for giving circulation to a rumor that Soandso's bank was about to go kerflummix. Sam Page, the Piute punster, suggested suggest-ed that any one who speaks" ill of another an-other be Included in. the terms of the bill and this magnified the ridiculous side- of Hansom's idea to such proportions propor-tions that the house killed the measure. meas-ure. The minimum wage law for women which was prepared some time ago by Dr. Jane Skolfield in the house has undergone a radical revision. A committee of manufacturers, merchants mer-chants and laundry proprietors has , agreed upon a scale of wages to bo paid women. This is submitted as a substitute for the Skolfield bill. It divides women Into throe classes: Experienced, apprentices and minors. Experienced women cannot be paid less than $7.50 per week, apprentices mot loss than $G a week and minors girls between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years not less than $4. BO. It is argued that most girls in the minor class live at home and can survive upon this stipend. To pass the apprenticeship stage, n girl must have served a year at her occupation. occupa-tion. The supervision of tho law is to be placed under the commissioner of labor and statistics. T. E. Browning, sergeant at arms of the lower house, disclaims authorship author-ship of the clumsy letter which reached the theatres a fortnight ago" demanding tickets for all officers of the house. The Weekly printed the letter for Its foce value and did not attempt to fasten upon Mr. Browning Brown-ing tho responsibility for it. Browning Brown-ing used to b chief of police in Og-den Og-den and .or to that time, in his earlier and more active days, he was a printer. Somehow, ho trained his sleuth-like eye and his typographical sonso upon the chase of the culprit. He says ho has wrung from N. L.. Sheffield, a third or fourth assistant doorkeeper of the house, a confession. confes-sion. Sheffield, according to Browning, Brown-ing, wrote the letter demanding pasteboards paste-boards of tho theatres, and then confessed con-fessed when his croatlon had been given proper publicity. Wo don't protend to say that Browning did or didn't write tho letter. He says Sheffield Shef-field did it. Sheffield is an old-time politician. He hails from Wayne oounty whore he has hold such positions as chairman chair-man of the Republican oounty committee com-mittee and stato committeeman for his county. Ho has boon regarded as a power In the community, but it Is doubtless just such tricks as the attempt at-tempt to -graft theatre tickets that landed other and bettor men in his place. The best ho seems able to get out of his political pull nowadays Is an assistant watcher of the cloakroom door. The advocates of the commission form of government are getting busy to stem the tide of criticism against the present system as exemplified by the Salt Lake experiment. Representative Repre-sentative Barnes of Salt Lrfiko and Senator Craig of Weber had presented bills on this matter, and only this week the ideas incorporated in both measures, supported by some newer wrinkles, were Included in a bill offered of-fered by the house committee 1,on municipal corporations. Tho proposed pro-posed law restores veto po'er to the mayor, makes representation on tho board of commissioners by municipal muni-cipal subdivision instead of at large, nnd makes the mayor elected at large. Commissioners whose terms expire with the current: year are not affected, but those who were elected for four years would be legislated out of office. of-fice. The city attorney, treasurer nnd auditor are to bo elected, instead of appointed. The people are given the privilege of passing upon franchise ordinances and there are many other features which have neon tried elsewhere un- dor tho commission form. While all H of this discussion is taking place In H the house, tho city officials are busy H publishing their annual reports -which M are calculated to do sufficient preas agenting to give the system a boost. H At Pocatollo, Tuesday, tho commie- sion form of government was defeat- ed by a decisive vote after a short ex- H periment. La Tasador classy goods; a Dine. H Havana cigar with an alluring" flavor. " M |