MONTANA. 



539 



tcith, and Roberta (RepnbHeanj), 



tiiul .M----r-. l>ny and Dii'-sault ( |)CIII<M rats) as 



members fur tin- contested M-nts. 'I'll.- report 



Waa adopted without dissent, and tin- oaths nf 

 i. Ilicc were administered. There \\ns some dilli- 



cult v iii filling the hlnnk loft for the name of the 

 Speaker i>rn trni., lint lliat of U. (J. II umber was 

 finally selected : tin- ballot was cast, and the < M\ - 

 ernor and Semite weiv notified that the House 



iily to pro d to business. 



In t!u- Senate the question of fines imposed on 

 tin- Senators who left the State in February, 

 Me "Animal Cyclopedia" for 1890), was 

 brought up, and the resolution then passed was 

 reported hack with instructions that tne fines bo 

 remitted. The report in accordance with these 

 instructions \\as adopted by a vote of 8 to 1, 5 

 being excused from voting. 



But thirty-three days remained before the ex- 

 piration of the session by constitutional limita- 

 tion, and into these had to be crowded the work 

 that would have occupied the ninety days pre- 

 scribed for the first Legislature and the sixty of 

 the second. Appropriations were made for "sal- 

 aries for the two years, for the support of State 

 institutions and other debts, and for other pur- 

 poses, somewhat in excess, it appears, of the 

 present resources of the State. Some time was 

 wasted in fruitless attempts to organize new 

 counties, and more on the selection of sites for 

 State institutions. A bill was passed dividing 

 the newly ceded portion of the Crow reserve be- 

 tween Yellowstone and Park Counties. The 

 Committee on Public Lands reported favorably 

 on a petition to Congress to open Fort Shaw 

 military reservation to homestead settlement. 



A bill to extend the term of corporations from 

 20 to 50 years was vetoed by the Governor, 

 passed over the veto by the Senate, and lost in 

 the House by a vote of 20 to 29. An act to pro- 

 vide for the organization of an irrigation board 

 and the sale of bonds therefor was defeated by 

 a vote of 25 to 24. A bill was passed conferring 

 additional powers on clerks of district courts. 

 This is designed to expedite business in districts 

 where only four terms of court are held each 

 year. Under present laws no steps can be taken 

 to probate a will till the district court convenes, 

 but this act enables the clerk to transact all 

 preliminary business, subject to review by the 

 court. 



A bill making it a misdemeanor for a miner 

 or a mine owner to make a contract for more 

 than eight hours' work in a day was defeated. 

 It was supported by nearly 4,000 miners. 



A bill to create a railroad commission provid- 

 ing for three commissioners at a salary of $3.000 

 a year each, and an assistant at a salary of $1,500, 

 was lost. Acts concerning the assessment and 

 collection of taxes, and to provide for the selec- 

 ti< Hi. appraisal, and sale or lease of State lands 

 were passed. An appropriation of $75,000 was 

 made for the expenses of the State's exhibit at 

 the World's Pair. The number of commission- 

 ers to the fair was raised to sixteen, one for 

 each county. 



The following are among other bills passed : 



I'n 'scribing the method by which railroad com- 

 panies shall exercise the rijrlit of eminent domain. 



Allowing married women to transact business in 

 their own names as solo traders. 



Regulating the mining of coal, and for the protec- 

 tion nf ma! miner*. 



A mi -nding tin- luw in regard to acquisition of right* 

 nf way by railroads, and pre*cribmg the mode of 

 MOOMON in rights of way for cmmls, ditches, and 

 Humes. 



For the protection of discharged employes, and to 

 prevent blacklisting. 



For the prosecution of criminal coxes on informa- 

 tion. 



Requiring railroad companies to pay for damages 

 to stock. 



Allowing the raining of the waters of Jefferson 

 river for irrigating and other purposes. 



For submitting the question of a constitutional 

 amendment tixing the terms of county commission- 

 ers. 



Repealing the gag law. 



To provide for the election of presidential electors, 

 and ot a Representative in Congress. 



Attaching certain portions of Northern Pacific and 

 Cooke City railways to Yellowstone County for taxa- 

 tion and judicial purposes. 



For a now charter for the city of Helena. 



For the filling of vacancies in the Legislative As- 

 sembly. 



For the submission of the question of the perma- 

 nent location of the State capital. 



To provide for the holding of regular terms of the 

 Supreme Court. 



To enable universities and colleges under the 

 patronage of religious bodies to reorganize and 

 change their names, amended. 



To provide for the selection, location, appraisal, 

 sale, and leasing of State lands, amended. 



To amend an act relating to bounties on stock- 

 destroying animals, amended. 



To encourage the production of sugar beets and 

 the manufacture of sugar therefrom, amended. 



To fix Sept. 1 as a legal holiday, to be known as 

 Labor Day. 



Allowing cities and towns to incur certain indebt- 

 edness. 



Providing for the election of State and county of- 

 ficers, and for canvassing the votes. 



Concerning obscene literature. 



Requiring transient merchants to take out licenses. 



A bill was also passed providing for the ap- 

 pointment of a commissioner to look after the 

 mineral-land interests of Montana, the office to 

 expire in February, 1893. The commissioner is 

 to have $3,000 salary, and $3,000 for expenses. 

 Hon. Martin Maginnis was appointed to the of- 

 fice by the Governor. 



Two members of the Legislature died during 

 the year. Hon. Aaron C. Wetter, a member of 

 the constitutional convention and of the first 

 and second Legislatures, from Beaverhead 

 County, died during the session. Feb. 5. Hon. 

 W. J. Penrose, editor of the Butte "Mining 

 Journal " and member of the House, was assas- 

 sinated in the street in Butte on June 10. 



Railroads. The number of miles of railroad 

 completed was 2,116^; in course of construction, 

 200. A bill passed Congress in March granting 

 to the Missoula and Northern Railroad Com- 

 pany a right of way through the Flathend In- 

 dian reservation. A branch line of the Great 

 Northern to the Neihart camp in the Belt 

 mountains was completed in November. Tho 

 contract requires the extension of this lino nine 

 miles south to the large timber fields, which it 

 is necessary to tap in order to secure material 

 for the extensive prosecution of mining in that 

 section. This brings the road within thirty-five 

 miles of the Castle mines. 



