IN SENATE.
WEDNESDAY, February 13, 1861.The PRESIDENT announced the select committee, to which is referred the bills 28 and 72 for the re-organization of the militia of this State, viz.: Senators Craven, Ray, Wagner, Tarkington and Anthony.
The PRESIDENT laid before the Senate an invitation from the Superintendent of the Blind Asylum to an exhibition of the proficiency of pupils under his charge, on Friday the 15th instant, at 3 o'clock p.m., which was duly accepted.
page: 212[View Page 212]PETITIONS, MEMORIALS, ETC.
By Mr. CAMPBELL, which was referred to the Judiciary Committee, without reading.
By Mr. BEARSS: Asking for the passage of a joint resolution, directing our Congressmen to use their utmost efforts to secure the Constitution and the Union as it is. Referred to the Committee on Federal Relations.
By Mr. HULL: From a Mr. Kemnedp, which was referred to a select committee, viz.: Senators Hull, March and Cobb.
REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES.
By Mr SLACK: Judiciary-returning a petition and reporting a bill embracing its object [S. 166] to amend an act supplemental to an act regulating prosecutions in cases of bastardy, &c., approved May 26, 1852, so as to provide for the discharge of defendants in certain cases; which was passed the first reading.
By Mr. BEESON: Corporations-returning Senator O'Brien's bill 85see page 104 of the Brevier Reports-recommending passage.
These reports were concurred in.
NEW PROPOSITIONS.
The following bills were severally passed the first reading, without objection:
By Mr. TURNER: [167] To provide for the laying out and repairing of highways on the line between Indiana and adjoining States.
By Mr. DICKINSON: [168] To enable guardians of the minor heirs of deceased parents to execute conveyances in pursuance of contracts made.
By Mr. BEESON: [169] To amend section 6 of an act for the incorporation of manufacturing, mining, mechanical and building companies, approved May 20, 1852, by providing that any companies which may have been incorporated in this State for any of the purposes contemplated in said act with a fixed amount or limitation of capital, may increase the same by a vote of stock holders in the same manner as is provided for in the same section for the increase of capital stock.
[A message from the House announced the passage by that body of the bill [H. R. 86-see below.]
By Mr. NEWCOMB: [170] To amend sees. 123 and 124 of an act providing for the protection of trust and other funds of this State, &c., approved March 2, 1855.
By Mr. SLACK: [171] To repeal an act to provide for the return of the jury in the Common Pleas Court on the third day of the term, approved March 5, 1859.
[Mr. LINE presented a communication from Mr. Rugg, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, expressing surprise at seeing a notice of the communication from Mr. Fletcher, presented by Senator Miller day before yesterday, and declaring that "I placed him as fully in possession of the office and its effects (on the 11th instant,) as the same were ever in my possession. " Referred to the Judiciary Committee.
By Mr. WAGNER: [172] To provide f the binding of printed matter ordered by the State to be done in book form.
By Mr. LOMAX: [173] To provide for th election of delegates to a general convention of the States, should such a convention be called for by the Congress of the United States.
By Mr. FERGUSON: [174] Declaring that sales of land heretofore made by sheriffs under execution, without previous appraisement of rents and profits, shall not be considered void on account of such, failure, and to prevent such sales from being set aside in certain cases.
By Mr. SLACK: [175] To amend section 42 of an act to establish courts of common pleas, &c., approved May 14, 1853, so as to regulate the docketing and disposal of business thereof, and an act supplemental thereto approved March 5, 1859.
HOUSE MESSAGES CONSIDERED.
The bills H. R. 119, [page 121,] H. R. 1, [described on page 175 of the BREVIER LEGISLATIVE REPORTS,] and H. R. 86, to amendsecs.8 and 11 of the justices' act of June 9, 1852, were severally passed the first reading.
The House resolution authorizing an ex-change of State documents with the Governor of Wisconsin, was laid on the table for the present, under the apprehension of some mistake in the wording of the resolution.
The House resolution making the Standing Swamp Land Committees of the two Houses a Committee of Conference to determine the best plan to be adopted for a full inquiry into the alledged frauds concerning swamp lands, &c., was concurred in by consent.
THE STATE BORROWING MONEY.
The bill [H. R. 104] to provide for a deficiency in the State Treasury by a loan of $75,000 from the Sinking Fundsee pages 111, 117, 164 and 176 of the BREVIER LEGISLATIVE REPORTS-being the special order for this hour (10 o'clock)-
Mr. LANDERS. It is bad policy for the for the State of Indiana to resort to borrowing money when she has plenty laying out where it is not making one cent of profit. I have recently received a letter from the treasurer in any county, stating that he has money ready and is willing to fork it over upon the call of the Treasurer of State. I have heard similar responses from members here, and I am certain if we were to call upon the county treasurers, we would have plenty of funds. Until that is done I am not willing to vote for this bill.
Mr. WAGNER. The House only has the constitutional right to originate money bills, and we have the right to reject or pass what they see fit to give us. I apprehend there is no objection to the bill, but that it borrows from a fund some gentlemen don't want to borrow from. This is but for a temporary matter. The probability is that in a week a page: 213[View Page 213] requisition will be made by the Agent of State ia New York for $20,000 to pay interest with; and if that is not paid your bonds will then be protested, yet gentlemen object to the passage of this bill! It is a mere matter of policy.
Mr. COBB. I was not aware this bill had arrived at the point I find it this morning. I have been absent from the Senate several days; I have but Just come in. I am opposed to borrowing money from this fund or any of the trust funds. We have seen difficulty in borrowing money already from this particular fund. We have seen over a million of dollars borrowed from that fund from time to time, not one dollar of which has ever been repaid; and I predict here, and it, takes no far-seeing eye to make the prediction, that if this $75,000 is borrowed of the Sinking Fund, the State of Indiana will never pay it back. During the last three sessions I have made more speeches in defense of this fund than I have made upon any other question before the Senate. There always is some disposition every session of the Legislature to take from that fund. If the bank will lend upon the same terms, why not borrow from the bank, and let this fund, under the act of 1859, be applied directly to the purposes of education. The treasurer of my county, who I spoke to day before yesterday, has money in his treasury which he is ready to give up on requisition. Convince me that it is necessary to borrow money, and I am ready to do it; but I never will consent to borrow from the Sinking Fund.
Mr. HULL. When the question was up before the Senate last week, I voted for the resolution requiring county treasurers to forward the State moneys in their possession. Since that time I received a communication from the treasurer of my county, and he has but about $1,000 in his hands. I believe it necessary to borrow the money, and I shall vote for the bill as reported, waving all former objections.
Mr. MURRAY. I stand here as opposed to borrowing from the school fund of the State. Gentlemen say we must have money. Admit that; there are other sources from which we can get the money just as cheap and readily .is to lay our hands upon this trust, put in our hands for the children of the State. Gentlemen say this money will be paid back. Pay back what you have already robbed of that fund. The State of Indiana has never paid back what it has borrowed of that fund, and it never may be paid; your promises have never been redeemed. This is an attempted outrage upon this fund. My county treasurer has $10,000 which he intends to remit this week.
Mr. NEWCOMB. We are assured by the committees of the two Houses that this money js needed; and I propose to vote for some way in which it shall be obtained. I would prefer to borrow from the State Bank ; but there is one consideration we should bear in mind. We have got but three weeks of time to do the business of the Legislature in; and it would take one-half of that time to get a new bill through the House and Senate. From the language used by Senators one would suppose that the fund was to be distributed for school purposes. That is not the case; it is simply to be loaned out, and the interest on the loans is all that would be used. Now the State would pay the interest, and the result would be a benefit to the school fund. I take it the interest will be taxed in advance, and thus, it seems to be, it is placing the interest, into the hands of the custodians at an earlier" day than it otherwise could go.
Mr. TARKINGTON. I am anxious the the treasury should be replenished. In the first place I was opposed to borrowing the money at all, believing there could be obtained enough from the county treasurers of the State. But I have been informed that I was mistaken, consequently I am willing to pass a bill to borrow, but unwilling to take it from the Sinking Fund. We passed a bill two years ago that this fund should be loaned out to the several counties, and it does strike me this bill would do injustice to the people. I understand the money can be obtained from the bank, and I can see no objection to borrowing from an institution that is willing to lend it to us, and letting this fund go as provided in the law of last session. We may go on borrowing this fund until we absorb it all, and the act of 1859 may be virtually destroyed. I move to recommit with instructions that, the bill be so amended as to borrow the amount contemplated in the bill from the Bank of the State, and report by bill to-morrow morning.
Mr. WAGNER, This bill has been before the Senate long enough for each Senator to have made up his mind whether to vote for it or not. I prefer to have a fair vote upon this simple proposition. This is but waiving the matter, and if the Senate is absolutely going to refuse to make the loan and thus stop the wheels of government, we want to know it. For that reason I move to lay the motion to re-commit on the table.
The motion was agreed to by yeas 27, nays 14.
Mr. STEELE. I hope we will now come to a direct vote. I cannot see, for the life of me, why Senators cannot vote for this bill as it is. If I thought for a moment there would be a waste of this fund, which I consider the most sacred in the State, by the passage of this bill, I should not vote for it. A Senator says the interest will amount to $5,000. Now I cannot see why we had not better pay that interest to the State of Indiana than to a bank in'' which we have no interest at all.
Mr. MARCH. Had I been called upon to make provision for the borrowing of this money, I should not have gone to the school page: 214[View Page 214]fund to supply the deficiency. I think we committed a mistake in not passing promptly a resolution calling upon county treasurers for the State revenues. But as this provision has the sanction of committees of the two Houses, and it is a late stage of the session, I shall vote for this bill; but hope it will not be taken as a precedent.
Mr. ANTHONY. I presume every member on this floor has his mind made up, and believing further discussion entirely useless, I now demand the previous question.
The call was not seconded.
Mr. TARKINGTON. We have failed to pay what the law of 1859 promises, and I pledge Senators what I know that if you borrow this money from the Sinking Fund, it will not be repaid for some time to come.
The bill failed to pass by yeas 22, nays 18-as follows:
YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Bearss, Beeson, Berry, Blair, Campbell, Conner, Cravens of Jefferson, Culver, Dickinson, Grubb, Hamilton, Hull, March, Mellett, Newcomb, Robinson, Steele, Stone, Turner, Wagner, and White-22.
NAYS-Messrs. Carnahan, Cobb, Conley, Ferguson, Johnson, Landers, Line, Lomax, Murray, O'Brien, Odell, Shoemaker, Shoulders, Slack, Tarkington, Teegarden, Williams, and Wilson-18.
WHITLEY COUNTY COURTS.
On motion by Mr. SLACK the bill [H. R, 152] changing the time of holding the common pleas court in Whitley county, was read the third time and finally passed by yeas 37, nays 0.
A HOMESTEAD BILL FOR ACTUAL SETTLERS.
A message from the House announced concurrence in the Senate amendment see page 104 of these Reports-to the joint resolution H. R. 8-see page 37.
WORK FOR COMMITTEES.
About fifty Senate bills were read the second time and severally disposed of as follows:
Messrs. Wolfe's 102, Miller's 103, 155, Teegarden's 106, 154, Ferguson's 109, 123, Murray's 110, O'Brien's 113, Claypool's 110,150, Mellett's 124, 131, 132, Lorn ax's 126, March's 138, 157, Anthony's 146, and Ray's 156; were referred to tho Judiciary Committee.
Messrs. Murray's 105, and Carnahan's 122 were referred to the Committee on Roads and Highways.
Messrs. Hamilton's 107, Cobb's 119. Tarkington's 125, Robinson's 127. Committee on Roads' 129, and Miller's 137, were ordered engrossed for third reading.
Mr. Culver's 108 was referred to the Committee on County and Township Business.
Messrs. March's 111, Miller's 142, and Tarkington's 160, were referred to the Committee on Education.
Messrs. Conley's 112, Lander's 135, Lomax's 140, Newcomb's 144, and Grubb's 158, were referred to the Committee on Corporations.
Messrs. Newcomb's 136 and Dickinson's 151, 152, were referred to the Committee on the Organization of Courts.
Mr. Shoulders' 139 was referred to the Committee on Temperance.
Mr. Conner's 143 was referred to the Committee on Banks.
Mr. Murray's 147 was referred to the Select Committee on Military Affairs.
A Select Committee's 148 to the Committee on Federal Relations.
Mr. Line's 149 was referred to the Senator Line, Conner and Beeson.
The Committee on the Organization of Courts' 157 was referred to Senators Anthony Claypool, Miller, Ray and Cobb.
And then the Senate adjourned.
