auditor has embodied his ideas in an amendment to the Knee- 

 land public domain bill. 



The state constitution at present places the swamp lands 

 and the internal improvement lands in the hands of the state 

 auditor while the school lands are not committeed to him by 

 the constitution but by statute. 



"To take away the school lands from the auditor and let 

 him handle the other lands," Mr. Iverson says, "would be bad 

 business. A state land department should be created first and 

 then the correlated state bureau be added to it, instead of first 

 uniting these bureaus and then take over the state land depart- 

 ment when constitutional authority is secured. 



Uniform laws governing fishing in the boundary water of 

 Minnesota and Wisconsin are likely to be passed by the legis- 

 islatures of the two states according to Senator Manley Fos- 

 seen of Minneapolis, chairman of the Minnesota legislative 

 committee which is investigating the question in connection 

 with a similar committee from Wisconsin. 



Already the two commissions have agreed to impose a grad- 

 uated license fee, based on the size of the net, the fees to be 

 the same in both states. Fishermen with lines and hooks are 

 not to be taxed. 



In addition to the fishing agreement the Wisconsin commit- 

 tee has practically agreed to change the date of the opening 

 of the bird-hunting season in that state from September 1 to 

 September 7, to conform with the Minnesota law. 



Among a number of amendments the Legislature has passed 

 to the forestry laws of 1911 is one tightening the rules gov- 

 erning the running of railway locomotives through the state 

 and the protection of the right of way of the railways. Both 

 these measures will tend to reduce the possibilities of fire as 

 a result of sparks from railway engines. 



Another amendment fixes the responsibility for the disposal 

 of slash and debris in road construction work on the con- 

 tractor and makes the officer letting the contract for the work 

 liable to a fine if the contract is not drawn according to law. 



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