The Death of the Egg Law

In 1875 an old gentleman named Miller represented Island County in the territorial House of Representatives. This gentleman was evidently in the chicken business and kept a fine quality of hens, for his pet measure that session was to have a law passed to 'regulate the sale of eggs by weight.' He introduced the bill early in the session and watched it with a mother’s care all through its meandering before the committee on military affairs, then through the committee on education, and from there through the committee on agriculture, and finally secured a favorable report. Out of sympathy for the good old man the House passed the bill, and with equal care he worked it through the Council. While it was one of the first bills introduced in the House, it was among the last to pass the Council and become a law. The father of the measure went home rejoiced, but his success proved too much for him, as he died within a few weeks after the adjournment. Out of respect to the old gentleman’s memory the bill has remained a dead letter on the statute books of the Territory until today, when an act to repeal it, which passed the Council several days ago, finally passed the House today, and now the Governor’s signature will knock the yolk out of Mr. Miller’s egg law.