Also, Senate bill No. 658, An act to authorize the establishment and maintenance of a county high school in Decatur county, Kansas;

Also, Senate bill No. 662, An act authorizing Oskaloosa township, in Jefferson county, Kansas, to vote bonds and to construct macadam roads and supervise said construction;

Also, Senate bill No. 518, An act fixing the terms of court in the thirty-fourth judicial district, and repealing section 1968 of the General Statutes of 1901;

Also, Senate bill No. 574, An act to enable the township board of Humboldt township, Allen county, Kansas, to lease lands owned by said township to individuals or companies for gas and oil purposes; Also, Senate bill No. 550, An act providing for high-school tuition in the city of Fort Scott, Kan.;

Also, Senate bill No. 236, An act authorizing the State Schoolfund Commissioners to purchase refunding bonds to be issued by Le Roy township, Coffey county, Kansas;

Also, Senate bill No. 575, An act changing the name of the town of Bachelder, in Geary county, Kansas, to Milford, and legalizing all conveyances and other instruments in which the name Milford has been used;

Also, Senate bill No. 553, An act authorizing cities of the first class containing 40,000 inhabitants and over, to issue bonds to pay judgment;

Also, Senate bill No. 554, An act relating to appeals in certain criminal cases in counties having more than 70,000 inhabitants;

Also, Senate bill No. 590, An act directing the state librarian to furnish the Carnegie Law Library Association, of Wyandotte county, with reports of the supreme court, court of appeals, and copy of Dassler's Digest

Also, Senate bill No. 582, An act providing for the additional salary for the sheriff of Miami county, for pay for under-sheriff;

Also, Senate bill No. 588, An act authorizing and directing the county treasurer of Shawnee county, Kansas, to pay over to school district No. 7, of Tecumseh township, in said county and state, a certain sum of money upon certain conditions being performed;

Also, Senate bill No. 610, An act creating and fixing the salary of the under sheriff of Anderson county, in the state of Kansas;

Also, Senate bill No. 589, An act fixing the compensation of the county commissioners of Shawnee county, Kansas, and to suspend all acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith;

Also, Senate bill No. 599, An act to provide for the application of the sinking-fund of Harmon township, Sumner county, Kansas, to the payment of its bonded indebtedness;

Also, Senate bill No. 618, An act creating and fixing the salaries of the under-sheriffs of Jefferson and Jackson counties, in the state of Kansas;

Also, Senate bill No. 617, An act to change the name of Zella D. McCurtain to Zella D. Blake;

Also, Senate bill No. 616, An act to vacate certain portions of Huff's second addition to the city of Downs, Kan.;

Also Senate bill No. 621, An act relating to the fees and salaries of the sheriff of Linn county, state of Kansas:

Have compared the engrossed copies with the enrolled bills, and I am directed to report to the Senate that the same are correctly enrolled, that they have been properly signed by the president and secretary of the Senate and the speaker and chief clerk of the House, and have been presented to the governor for his approval, this 4th day of March, 1903. F. W. SPONABLE, Chairman.

Senator Codding, chairman of the Committee on State Affairs, offered the following report:

MR. PRESIDENT: Your Committee on State Affairs, to whom was referred House bill No. 551, An act providing for a state architect, and repealing sections 1 to 16, inclusive, of chapter 160 of the Session Laws of 1891, have had the same under consideration, and instruct me to report the bill back to the Senate with the recommendation that it be passed. J. K. CODDING, Chairman.

Senator Chaney, chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, offered the following reports:

MR. PRESIDENT: Your Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred Senate bill No. 400, An act making appropriations for the purchase of lands for the Kansas State Penitentiary, have had the same under consideration, and instruct me to report the bill back to the Senate with the recommendation that it be not passed, because same subject-matter is contained in another bill.

Also, House bill No. 827, An act relating to the State Penitentiary, and making appropriations for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1904, and June 30, 1905, and for the balance of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, and instruct me to report the bill back to the Senate with the recommendation that it be amended as follows, and passed as amended:

In line 58 of section 1, "Marsh" be changed to read "Nash."

In line 4, section 3, after the word "fund," the following be inserted: "Provided, that no money shall be expended in the payment of royalties."

That the following sections be added to the bill, and numbered as follows:

SEC. 8. That there be and is hereby appropriated to the board of directors of the Kansas State Penitentiary the sum of $12.780, to be used by said board of directors in payment of the following described tract of land, to wit: All that part of Staiger's island in the Missouri river which lies south of the line extended due east from the northeast corner of the Delaware town site, in Leavenworth county, Kansas, the same being a part of an accruance of lot 1, in section 8,

lots 4, 5, and 6, in section 17, and lots 1, 2, and 3, in section 16, township 9 south, of range 23 east, according to the survey thereof made by the government of the United States, together with all bars, shoals, rights and further accretions thereto, containing 800 acres more or less. The same to be paid to the owners of said land upon the owners making and delivering to said board of directors a good and sufficient warranty deed conveying the title to said land to the state of Kansas.

SEC. 9. That there be and is hereby appropriated to the board of directors of the Kansas State Penitentiary the sum of $713.55, to be used by said board of directors in payment for the following-described tract of land, to wit: All that part of the northwest quarter of section 28, township 9 south, of range 23 east, in Leavenworth county, Kansas, which lies north and east of the right of way of the Missouri Pacific railroad, the same being a strip of land along the bank of and adjacent to the Missouri river, containing 443 acres, more or less; the same to be paid by said board to the owner of said land upon the owner making and delivering to said board of directors a good and sufficient warranty deed conveying the title to said land to the state of Kansas.

SEC. 10. That there be and is hereby appropriated to the board of directors of the Kansas State Penitentiary the sum of $25,000, to be used by said board of directors in payment for the following-described tract of land, to wit: All of the southeast quarter of section 19, township 9 south, of range 23 east, in Leavenworth county, Kansas, the same to be paid by said board to the owners of said land upon the owners making and delivering to said board of directors a good and sufficient warranty deed conveying the title to said land to the state of Kansas.

SEC. 11. Upon the passage and taking effect of this act, the auditor of state is hereby authorized and directed to issue his warrants upon the treasury for the amounts appropriated in sections 8, 9 and 10 of this act, payable to the board of directors of the Kansas State Penitentiary.

SEC. 12. The warden and the board of directors of the Kansas State Penitentiary are hereby prohibited from mining or permitting to be mined for the state of Kansas any coal to which the state of Kansas does not hold title.

That section 8 of the bill be numbered section 13. That section 9 of the bill be numbered section 14. That the words "statute-book" be stricken out and the words "official state paper" be substituted.

JNO. T. CHANEY, Chairman.

Senator Pestana, chairman of the Committee on Elections, offered the following report:

MR. PRESIDENT: Your Committee on Elections, to whom was referred House bill No. 407, An act to amend sections 5, 6, 7 and 11

of chapter 177 of the Session Laws of 1901, entitled "An act to amend chapter 129 of the Session Laws of 1897, entitled 'An act to. amend chapter 78 of the Session Laws of 1893, entitled "An act to provide for the printing and distribution of ballots at the public expense, and for the nomination of candidates for public office; to regulate the manner of holding elections and to enforce the secrecy of the ballot, and to provide for the punishment of the violation of this aot," etc., have had the same under consideration, and instruct me to report the bill back to the Senate with the recommendation that it be passed. H. L. PESTANA, Chairman.

Senator McKnight, chairman of the Committee on Insurance, offered the following report:

MR. PRESIDENT: Your Committee on Insurance, to whom was referred House bill No. 795, An act to amend section 3486 of the General Statutes of 1901, relating to mutual fire insurance companies, have had the same under consideration, and instruct me to report the bill back to the Senate with the recommendation that it be passed. G. W. MCKNIGHT, Chairman.

REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE.

MR. PRESIDENT: Your committee, appointed under Senate resolution No. 56 to investigate the charge made in the Leavenworth Times of February 8, 1903, with reference to the purchase of certain lands by the State Penitentiary, beg leave to make the following report:

Your committee went to Lansing and took the testimony of twelve witnesses. We examined all the witnesses which either side of the controversy desired us to examine, and it is the opinion of your com. mittee that the testimony produced was full and complete on the the question involved.

It appeared that the article in question was written by a reporter for the Leavenworth Times named Rauh, and was based entirely on information which he received from one R. L. Isham.

The land in question is now owned by the heirs of H. T. Green, deceased, and Mr. Isham is a cousin of these heirs. On this account the reporter and the editor of the Leavenworth Times relied upon his statements without any question and without any investigation. It appears, however, that Mr. Isham's information was based on two conversations which he had with two different heirs of the Green estate, and that he misunderstood what one of the heirs said to him.

We find that a contract has been entered into, in conformity with the law passed by the last Legislature, for the purchase of the southeast quarter of section 19, township 9, range 23 east, Leavenworth county, Kansas, which belongs to the heirs of H. T. Green, deceased, whereby this land is to be purchased by the board of directors of the State Penitentiary from these heirs for the sum of $25,000. This land consists of 160 acres, the north half of which is directly east of

the penitentiary grounds, and separated from it by a narrow strip of land under which the state has heretofore mined all the coal on the vein which it is now using.

This contract was submitted to each one of the Green heirs and signed by each one separately, and the testimony of the heirs whom we examined shows conclusively that these heirs are to, and will under the contract, receive every cent of the $25,000, and no part of it will go to any other person whatever.

We therefore find that the article in the Leavenworth Times of February 8, 1903, is without the slightest foundation in fact.

We find that, unless the matter is carefully investigated, it might seem that $25,000 is an excessive price for this 160 acres of land, and, therefore, the transaction, unless it is perfectly understood, might be open to some such suspicion as contained in this article, but the testimony taken by us shows to the satisfaction of the committee that, from a business standpoint, the management of the Kansas State Penitentiary did the best thing for the state in the premises in contracting for this land, and in view of all circumstance, the price named does not seem to be excessive.

We herewith submit the evidence taken by us in this investigation. Respectfully submitted.

T. A. NOFTZGER, Chairman.

M. A. HOUSEHOLDER.

J. A. KENNEDY.

F. W. SPONABLE.

E. V. PETERSON.

Senator Noftzger moved that the report of the committee be adopted, and that the committee be discharged. The motion prevailed.

MR. PRESIDENT: I am directed by the House to inform the Senate that the House has passed House bill No. 913, An act relating to the hard-fiber twine plant of the Kansas State Penitentiary, at Lansing, and making an appropriation for the operation thereof. Also, passed House bill No. 942, An act to establish a fish hatchery and making appropriation therefor.

The bills are transmitted herewith.

W. P. MASON,
Chief Clerk.

MR. PRESIDENT: I am directed by the House to inform the Senate that the House has amended, and passed as amended, Senate bill No. 316, An act making appropriation for the support of the State Normal School, and for certain land, buildings and improvements herein named, and to provide for fees to be charged students of said Normal School.

Also amended, and passed as amended, Senate bill No. 336, An act making an appropriation for the Western Branch of the State