The looking glass. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1894-????, December 25, 1897, Image 3

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STOPPING THE CLOCK TO APPROVE BILLS. Interesting Question as to Le gality of Late Legislation. Will Laws Made After the Real Hour for Adjournment Stand Fire if Questioned in the Courts ? Lots of Measures Really Illegal for Other Reasons. The convict lease bill, as ultimately amended, was passed at the last night ses sion of the General Assembly at about five minutes of 2 A. M. The law specifies distinctly that the leg islature shall remain in session fifty days and no more. There are provisions, of course, for calling an extra meeting, but aside from that the life, of the body expires at twelve o’clock exactly on the night of the fiftieth day. It is almost invariably the case that the most important measures of the season hang fire until the last moment. Gener ally bills of importance mean antagonism, and antagonism means delay; so as a rule the concluding hours of the session are occupied in deciding the fate of a lot of legislation of general interest. The time left before midnight is always too short, so for years it has been the custom to push back or stop the clock before mid night and thus gain two or three hours. Thus many of the best known laws on the statute books were passed after the hour of adjournment. This year the convict bill was the most important measure of the session. It wagged along, loaded with amendments, until the last day, and when the clock neared twelve at night it was still under discussion. As usual some member there upon stopped the pendulum and talk flowed on for nearly two hours. At fifteen minutes of two the presiding officer de clared that he would announce the General Assembly adjourned by limit at two o’clock and, thus spurred, the statesmen present passed the bill in exactly ten min utes. The question now arises: Was the action legal? It is very plausibly argued that if the legislature has a right to con tinue in session two hours over the time fixed by law it would have an equal right to continue for two days or two years. At first blush this argument seems invin cible, but the best lawyers say no. This question came up before the United States Supreme Court some years ago,and it was decided that the record should be the sole admissible evidence of the proceedings of either the House or Senate. Os course, the record shows that the legislature adjourned at midnight and there is no going behind it. The point of illegality seems to have suggested itself to a number of people in the city and there is a widespread impression that if pressed it would upset the bill. This, as stated, is a mistake. Another interesting point touching the legality of legislative enactments is that which applies to local bills. The law re quires that before a local bill of any kind can become a law it must first be adver tised, in the locality it affects, at least thirty days prior to its first reading. This law is seldom, if ever, complied with, and every bill which has been BE OF GOOD CHEER AND ORDER ROSE’S “PURITY.” SI.OO FULL QUART BOTTLE. R. M. ROSE COMPANY, 12 MARIETTA ST. passed without the necessary advertise ment can be attacked and repealed. Few attempts have been made to attack the legality of bills passed under such circum stances, but in each case where it has been done the courts have sustained the complainants. Still another requirement of the law regarding the passage of bills is often disregarded. A majority of the votes of both House and Senate is required before a bill can be passed. In a great many instances, votes have been taken when barely a quorum was present, but the record is always made to show that the bill received the requisite majority. It would be interesting to know just exactly how many of our laws have been passed under such circumstances. As long as the record can be altered so as to read any way that is desired there is no telling what mav have happened. Candies and Dolls. We have both, dolls filled with candy and candy just so. All kinds of pure candy. Candy gotten up specially to please the children, candy for the big children, in fact candy for everybody, the purest, freshest, best and cheapest in town. Garrow’s, 100 Whitehall street. Given Away Free. M. Greer & Co., the jewelers, at 93 Peachtree street, will give away free,with every purchase made of them between now and January Ist, one bronze St. Jo seph statuette charm. Promotion Well Deserved. “Fred”J. Robinson’s host of friends will be delighted to hear that he has been pro moted to the position of Traveling Pas senger Agent of the Central R. R. of Ga., for Chicago and the Northwest, with headquarters at 205 Clark street, Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Robinson is one of the most popular railroad men in Georgia, both among his fellow workers and the public generally, and it is rumored that some of his friends contemplate a pleasant surprise for him before he departs on the 30th inst. He is a hard and conscientious worker, with plenty of ambition which will insure rapid rise in his chosen profession. Mr. James Freeman, formerly Central R. R. ticket agent at Tybee depot, in Sa vannah, will succeed Mr. Robinson in At lanta. He is reported as being a clever, bright and active young man and we wish him success. This Name-Plate on a Vehicle Guarantees _ .First M AKER -A TLA MTA .GA ’PHONE 1521. 120-122-184 AUBURN AVE. OllAll * s f res h’ fat, tender, juicy jt/umi an( j toothsome received daily and served deliciously, as are also all other seasonable at Durand’s, in the depot, where the best cook and waiters in Atlanta are to be found. Tyner’s Dyspepsia Remedy corrects in digestion in five minutes. Try it. [ PtlflAv’c Studio; new location, DUllilUJ d Wh itehall Street. Th pntrp parties will find the Kimball 1 iivCi.il v Q a f e serv j ce an d food the best in Atlanta. D. W. Yarbrough, Agt.; sanitary engi neer and plumber. 24S.Pryor. ’Phone4ss- The [©King HOW PROMINENT MEN TAKE TO INTERVIEWS. Some of the Accumulated Wis dom of a Veteran Reporter. He Gives a Racy Resume of the Per sonal Idiosyncrasies of Some of Our Leading Citizens—Who is Easy to Approach and Who Isn’t— Men Who Talk but Are Careful Not to Say Anything. The newspaper reporter of a city soon learns to “size up” all individuals of any prominence with reference to what might be called their “interviewability.” How they may be reached, their personal idio syncrasies, their susceptibility to flattery and their various affiliations and connec tions all constitute information of the highest value, and give the man of expe rience enormous advantage over the nov ice in a newspaper shop. For instance, a reporter gets orders to interview Col. Blank on the dispensary bill. If he is posted he knows that the only time to catch the colonel at leisure is at 4:15 P. M., sharp, also that he loathes tobacco smoke, also that he is a rampant prohibitionist, and last, but not least, that he has political aspirations in a certain definite direction. Result: The reporter gets the interview. If he doesn’t know these things its ten to one he gets the marble heart. It may interest the readers of the LOOKING Glass to know how the av erage local reporter has taken the meas ure of some of our Atlanta notables. Judge Nat Hammond is the bete noire of the press gang of this city, and they all dread an assignment to interview him. He never talks to a reporter and his way of looking over his glasses and saying, “Well, sir, what do y’ want?” is enough to chill the cheek of the most impudent youngster that ever went after a story. Captain Jim English is easy to talk to but mighty hard to get anything out of. He invites the reporter to come in side, in a kind, fatherly fashion, points to a seat beside his desk, patiently lays down anything he may be doing, and then, put ting his hands on his knees, wheels slow ly around in his chair and faces the visi tor, as much as to say: “Here 1 am, my dear boy, blaze away.” If the reporter is new in the “perfesh,” he promptly con gratulates himself on striking an easy thing. There is where he gets fooled. The captain will talk, blandly, suavely, and copiously, but he won’t say anything. The old-timers have all learned not to try to pump him. He’s too smooth. Glenn & Rountree, the lawyers, are both good men to interview, and as they are in all the big cases their office is a valuable news source. Col. Glenn can be depended upon for a breezy talk at any time on any subject, and his partner, Mr. Rountree, is liked by the boys on account of his courtesy and the clear and business like way in which he states facts. Mayor Charley Collier stays at the city hall office all the time nowadays. He will generally see a reporter, but his pa tience is somewhat short and the man who gets a talk out of him will do well to be brief and to the point. On matters of importance he can rarely be persuaded to make a verbal statement, but prefers to write what he has to say. Forest Adair, chairman of the >ard of commissioners, has learned to foxy, and when he consents to be intt 'ewed on anything he insist on writing! lown and gets a promise that it goes just as he writes it. Otherwise, nit. He has the reputation in the craft of having a better appreciation of what constitutes “a good story” than any other public man in At lanta. Os the two Inmans, Sam and Hugh, 1 would much rather tackle Hugh, although his brother is a thousand times pleas anter. Hugh is as genial as a polar bear, but he trZZZ get mad now and then and give up a first-rate talk. Sam is very nice to talk to, but he never says any thing of sensational interest. The Hon. “Bill” Venable will usually see a reporter, but he expects him to be brief. He is a very busy, nervous man and a bore soon gets him rattled. He is one of the few public men in Atlanta who will talk right out on topics of the day, and if one can catch him while the iron is hot, he is always good for a story. The reporter who has tackled Captain English would place Park Woodward in the same category. He is extremely cau tious, and always invites you to have a drink or a cigar, but he won’t talk—that is, he talks, but not on the subject you are asking him about. You leave with the impression that he has told you a good deal, but when the interview is turned into copy it doesn’t “pan out.” Andy Stewart is the friend of every newspaper man in Atlanta. They all like him, and he is an excellent news source. There is one subject, however, on which he will not talk, and that is politics. He is everybody’s friend and everyone is his friend, and he would not antagonize anyone under any considera tion. All in all, Andy Stewart is a friend the reporters could ill afford to lose. Julius Brown is not hard to approach, and, if the subject is one he is interested in, will give out a red-hot interview. As a general thing, doctors take to the woods as soon as a news-gatherer comes within hailing distance. They are dread fully afraid of being misquoted, and nearly always insist on writing the interview themselves. Dr. Harry Huzza is an exception to the general rule, and doesn’t mind saying what he thinks, regardless of the ethics of the profession. He is one of the few approachable physicians in Atlanta, and always talks straight out from the shoul der. IM £<>“£4, IVMX. Pearls I Pearls I I There is nothing more appropriate to buy for yourself and your friends than nice pearls. M. Greer & Co. are the recognized leaders in this line, and have the largest stock in the South at 93 Peachtree, where they will be pleased to have you inspect it, and their extensive assortment of diamonds, watches, clocks, silver and gold novelties, cut glass and bric-a-brac. A Cyclopedia For a present. What could be more val uable or appropriate? The Columbian leads them all. Special inducements made until January Ist, ’9B. The Colum bian Book Co., 81 and 83 Whitehall St. Bowden Waterc ""’ Brlgh, ’ s