Senate bill No. 3 (file No. 174), entitled A bill to provide for the locating, establishing and maintaining of a State Normal School in the western part of the State, and to make appropriations for the same; Was read a third time and passed, a majority of all the Senators elect voting therefor, by yeas and nays, as follows: Mr. Kelly moved that the bill be given immediate effect. The motion prevailed, two-thirds of all the Senators elect voting therefor. House bill No. 26 (Senate file No. 177), entitled A bill to provide for the assessment of the property of railroad companies, union station and depot companies, telegraph companies, telephone companies, express companies, sleeping car companies, car loaning companies, stock car companies, refrigerator car companies, fast freight line companies, and all other companies not above specified owning and operating cars of any character or description within the State of Michigan; and for the levy thereon by a State board of assess ors of taxes, and for the collection thereof; and to repeal all Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent herewith; Was read a third time and, pending the taking of the vote on the passage thereof, Mr. Moore moved that there be a call of the Senate. PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE CALL. The roll of the Senate was called by the Secretary, and the following Senators were reported absent without leave: Messrs. Bangham, Westover--2. Mr. Murfin moved that the Sergeant-at-Arms be despatched after the absentees. The motion prevailed. Mr. Nichols moved that the Senate proceed with the regular order of business under the call. The motion did not prevail. The Sergeant-at-Arms announced Mr. Bangham at the bar of the Senate. Mr. Kelly moved that Senator Bangham be admitted within the bar, and allowed to take his seat. The motion prevailed. Mr. Loomis moved that all further proceedings under the call be dispensed with. The motion prevailed. The question being on the passage of House bill No. 26, Mr. Moore demanded the previous question. The demand was seconded. The question being "Shall the main question now be put?” The same was ordered. The question being on the passage of the bill, The bill was then passed, a majority of all the Senators elect voting therefor, by yeas and nays, as follows: The question being on agreeing to the title, Mr. Holmes moved to amend the title so as to read as follows: A bill to provide for the assessment and levy of taxes upon the property of railroad companies and union station and depot companies, and to repeal all Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent herewith. The motion prevailed, and the title was so amended. The title, as amended, was then agreed to. By unanimous consent, Mr. Charles Smith offered the following resolution: Resolved, That the members of the House are hereby invited to be present Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock to listen to the reading of a paper by Mrs. Pound of this city. The resolution was adopted. The President laid before the Senate the following communication: To the President of the Senate: Lansing, April 23, 1901. Sir-Your communication with resolution adopted by the Senate last evening is received. Expressing appreciation of and thanks for the honor conferred upon me, I would say it gives me pleasure to accept the invitation to deliver in the Senate chamber on Wednesday evening next, at 8 o'clock, an essay lately read before the U and I club of this city. Respectfully yours, Mr. Moore moved that the Senate adjourn. LULU ANNIS POUND. The motion prevailed, the time being 8:45 o'clock p. m., and the President declared the Senate adjourned until tomorrow at 2 o'clock p. m. Lansing, April 24, 1901. 2 o'clock p. m. The Senate met pursuant to adjournment and was called to order by the President. Religious exercises were conducted by Rev. W. M. Puffer, of Lansing. The roll of the Senate was called by the Secretary. The following Senators were present: Messrs. Atwood, Baird, Doherty, Earle, Farr, Fuller, Goodell, Helme, High, Holmes, Humphrey, Kelly, Lockerby, Loomis, McMullen, Moore, Murfin, Nichols, Nims, Palmer, Pierson, Robson, Schumaker, Charles Smith, Sovereign, Weekes, Westover-27. The following Senators were absent with leave: Messrs. Loeser, Sleeper-2. The following Senators were absent without leave: Messrs. Bangham, Cannon, Gad Smith—3. Mr. Nims asked and obtained leave of absence for Senator Cannon from today's session, on account of sickness. Mr. Kelly asked and obtained leave of absence for Senator Gad Smith from the remaining sessions of this week. Mr. Sovereign moved that leave of absence be granted to Mr. Bangham from today's session. The motion prevailed. COMMUNICATIONS FROM STATE OFFICERS. The following communication from the Auditor General was received, read, and ordered spread on the Journal: To the President of the Senate: Department of AUDITOR GENERAL, Sir In response to a resolution adopted by the Senate April 10, calling upon me for information relative to the sale of lands for taxes, the amount of such taxes remaining delinquent and unsold upon the records of this department and the number of acres of tax lands made subject to homestead entry by the provisions of Act 206 of the Public Acts of 1893, and Acts of 1897 and 1899 amending the homestead provisions of the General Tax Law, I have the honor to inform you that the total amount of taxes of 1897 advertised for sale in May, 1900, was $1,629,529.39; the amount of such taxes paid at the office of the county treasurers before sale was $288,233.12; the amount included in the advertised lists and withheld from sale was $127,838.98 and the amount received at the county treasurers' sale was $136,634.17, leaving as the amount bid to the State at the date of sale $1,076,823.12. Descriptions from the tax record of 1900 remaining unpaid at the time of making the State tax land books for 1901 are included with all years for which such lands are held and the totals carried into the sales books in aggregate items for all the years. To determine, therefore, the amount of delinquent taxes remaining unpaid at this date upon descriptions advertised for sale in May, 1900, will require an analysis of the State tax land lists in the eighty-three counties of the State and much longer time than the Legislature will probably be in session. It will be seen from the above statement that of the amount advertised for sale there was paid before sale, withheld and sold an aggregate of $552,706.27. The greater part of the amount withheld from sale was for taxes paid at this department after proceedings had been commenced to enforce their collection and payments made at the county treasurers' offices before sale must fairly be presumed to have been so paid as a result of the advertised judicial proceedings to be taken against the delinquent lands. So also the collection of a large amount of taxes of former and of subsequent years comes directly as the result of such sale, and the sale and redemption of State bids will reduce the total amount bid to the State by thousands of dollars before the period of redemption expires. The amount of money received for penalties at the May sale was $25,200.13 to the State and $46.235.51 to the counties and townships, and during the year ending June 30, 1900, the sum of $143,104.86 was paid into the State Treasury from penalties collected upon the delinquent lists, while $660,144.16 was collected in penalties and paid into the county treasuries during the same period. The entire expense of collection, which practically includes all the expenses of this department and the $66,452.99 referred to in the preamble of your resolution, was $189,$98.98, showing an excess of penalties collected and distributed throughout the various counties of the State of $613,350.04 over the amount expended by the State in all its transactions for the enforced collection and payment of the taxes, interest and charges, during this fiscal period. It need not be assumed that a result so favorable to the State will be persistently maintained as the return of $137,602.58 to State and county treasuries, through the collection of delinquent taxes, in excess of all expenditures incurred thereby, including such expenses of the Auditor General's department as are chargeable to the tax collecting affairs of our State, the payment in full for all delinquent tax list publications, and inclusive further of an excess equal to the total of uncollected State and local taxes for that year. But it can be safely assumed that all expenditures created by reason of delinquent taxesthe delinquent tax advertising, the Auditor General's department, and including such portions of State and local taxes as may have been unpaid, will be met in full each year by the cost and penalty provisions of our present tax law. Answering the last subdivision of your inquiry, as to the deeding of land by the Auditor General, I find upon examination of the records of this department that 466,635.71 acres have been deeded under the provisions of Act 206, Laws of 1893, as amended by Act 107, Laws of 1899; deeds to 39,418.08 acres of which have been canceled, leaving 427,217.63 acres deeded to the State and subject to the homestead provisions of the Acts above referred to. Included in this area are 14,202.25 acres deeded under the amendment of 1899. Under the authority of sections one hundred thirty-eight and thirty-nine of the General Tax Law, as incorporated by Act 169 of the Laws of 1899, very many descriptions of land have been included in the petition for this year's sale for the purpose of obtaining a valid decree against the lands. It is a well known fact that a valid deed cannot be given to thousands of acres of land that have been bid to the State under invalid decrees or jurisdictional defects affecting the proceedings or sale by which title was supposed to have passed. And if a valid deed, as the foundation of a homestead entry, cannot be given it would appear to be at least questionable policy to issue a deed subject at any time to cancellation, with resulting hardship and injustice to many innocent homesteaders and their families. After the lands are reoffered and the sale has been confirmed on a valid decree it will be possible to ascertain what lands may be transferred to the homestead list, but at the present time it is not possible to say, even approximately, how many acres should be so deeded. Very respectfully, |