598 



MK IIKJAN. 



La nft Ing. The fiftieth anniversary of the locat- 

 ing of the - using was celebrated 

 March 16, and at the same tun.- the admission of 

 Michigan to the Union. which took place Jan. 26, 

 LWT, 



TrisJs*8tato<Mton.-Sevra] former - 

 fflc*r>-\ ..III..I.F. Ilaml 



and other* were charged with making false re- 

 lie flection of April. 1898, reporting thnt 

 tonal MModaeoi to raise the salaries of 

 State officers was carried when it was r.-al 

 feated. Two of the cases have hern tn.-.l. and t In- 

 jury disagreed each time, The cases were all <<//' 

 pre*Nf in January at I he request of the proeecut in u 

 *ho said that he believed no oonTiotioii 



-nice he was informed and bel 

 that nil tin- Iv.-puhlieans on the jury were for con- 

 viction, while the Democrats and Populists w. r 

 acquittal. 



,1-1 licri-i ployees on the 



Grand iUpids Democrat," in an editorial ami n- 

 portorial capacity, and K. S. Toots, the mailing 



. brought suit against the receiver of th< 

 cern for back salaries. In the lower court they 

 won their case, but the Snpren. 1 t h. 



judgment. The opinion says: "The labor per- 

 1 by tin- jctition. T-. with one exception, was 

 intellectual rather than manual. It was the work 

 of professional men rather than the work of labor- 

 ers (giving the word its ordinary acceptation), and 

 is not such work as is intended to )>< oorered bv 

 the statute. The exception mentioned is the won 

 performed by Mr. Toots. His labor was manual. 

 and is clearly within the terms of the sta' 



A decision against the Michigan Land and Lum- 

 ber Company settles a larpe number of similar 

 cases. It involved the question whether the United 

 States land patent-. \<n when based upon errone- 

 ous survey records, had precedence over other 

 grants made under corrected surveys and subse- 

 quent legislation. The United States Supreme 

 Court decided that the Federal Government has 

 full power to prescribe rules and regulations gov- 

 erning the sale and disposal of public lands, and 

 that the State has no power to interpose new rules 

 orobstruc! . n disposition. 



In the suit in which it was sought to have the 

 Michigan assets of the Granite State Association | >a i< I 

 to its Michigan creditors, the United States circuit 

 held that the law giving State investors a 

 first lien on the Michigan assets of foreign building 

 and loan associations is unconstitutional, because 

 its object is not set forth in its title. 



I.e-'i-luthe Session. -Iii. thirty-ninth less ion 

 lasted from Jan. 6 to May 28. The Lieutenant 

 Governor presided over the Senate, with Senator 



; ' : ' : ' ' SW ' ',. \V. I). liordon wax 



re-elected Speaker of the House and <. !i. Fuller 

 was Speaker pro tern. 



The message of the retiring Governor recom- 

 mended some radical changes, especially in the tax 

 laws. He recommended also amendment of the 

 franchise law so as to reach foreign corporation- 

 more effectually, and annual examinations of build- 

 ing and loan associations. 



Gov. Pingrw** message recommended that the 

 caucus laws be so amended as to aboli-h party con- 

 >ns, which he regards as the ereat agent of 

 political corruption. He favored changes in tax 

 laws for the purpose of making corporations bear 

 proper share of the burden. Other recom- 

 I ak ing railroad passenger fares 

 two cents a mile ; rpforring important acts to popu- 

 lar vote; control of trusts: increase of liability of 

 stockholders; repeal of the mortgage-tax law; 

 change in the tax-title law; amendments to the 

 laws permitting the granting of franchises to pub- 



us; use of State products in - 

 institutions: inheritance ami income taxes; stricter 

 d a penalty for corpora- 

 ;i:due influence on elections. 



In all 1,840 bills and joint resolutions were intro- 

 duced, of which 904 passed. Kailroad measures 

 took up a very large proportion of the time of the 

 session. A committee was appointed to n 

 gate the railroads in the matter of freight rates. 

 Their report did not show that any vei \ serious 

 cases of oven-harp- and discrimination had been 

 . -labh-h. -d : I'Mt several recommendations were 

 made. The Governor seal a special message urging 

 higher taxation of railroads. 



Of the railroad hills that passed, the important 

 one v <:. rrirnan I. ill. which was introduced 



early in February, but was not passed until near the 



close of the session. It provides for an increase in 

 the specific tax of less than $200,000. 



was receiving from thai -onn-e about $824,000. It 

 provide- that the roads shall pay to the Auditor a 

 -pecilic tax upon their business.' computed on the 

 gross income as by former laws, and ^rnduated in 

 like manner: hut the percentages of tax are raised. 

 Other bills that passed affecting railroads were: 

 Providing that railroads in the State shall issue 

 1,000-mile interchangeable books; compelling the 

 placing of alarm bells at crossings; providing for 

 the carrying of bicycles as baggage. An attempt 

 luce all passenger fare- in the lower peninsula 

 to two rents a mile and in the upper penin-ula to 

 t hree cent- was defeated. 



An act of great interest to farmer- pn.\ ides for a 

 bounty on beet sugar, stipulating that should the 

 National Government at any time pay a bounty 

 this Michigan bounty shall cease. The act n 

 an appropriation of $10,000, an d provides t) 

 this is not enough to pay the one-cent-a-pound 

 bounty, enough more shall be taken from the gen- 

 eral fund to pav in 1897 and 1898. 



Another bill Wnefiting farmers was the so-called 

 anti-oleomargarine bill, to prevent deception in the 

 manufacture or sale of imitation butter. 



The game laws were amended in many particu- 

 lars, as were also the insurance and school lav. 

 was provided that the national flag must be dis- 

 played on school buildings, and the truancy law 

 was amended. A law that will p> into operation 

 Jan. 1, 1899, nrovidesfor uniformity in school 

 books throughout the State. 



Some changes were made in the divorce law. One 

 act defined what testimony of husband and wife 

 shall be admissible in divorce suits. Another pro- 

 vided for the collection and publication of stat 

 of divorces. 



The franchise fees for corporations were in- 

 creased. 



There were many bills amending the election 

 laws, the general purpose of which was to pp 

 fraud. 



Amonir the joint resolution- tho .,] in- 



terest were : Restoring Fort Mackinac to the Un i t ed 

 States, and making the apple blossom the 



flower. 



The appropriations aggregated about $50' 

 less than those of the preceding Legislature 

 1897 the sum of $1.373,326.21 was appropriated, 

 and for 1898 $1,178.1 



An act to regulate and license the bunn 

 hawkers and peddlers was decided to be unconst it u- 

 tional by the Supreme Court in December. 



< n her enactments were : 



ending the corporate life of life insurance 

 companies. 



ting hotel keepers. 



Defining the duties and liabilities of hotel k 

 ers. 



