The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-02-28
Report Made BY Railway Com
mission to House Raises
Storm of Debate.
s0RLH AND THE GOVERNOR
N OoUBLE.CRoss DEAL
Question Of Ones Word Against the
3 observation-disclosures Demonstrat.
ed Among Other Things That They
Knew More Law Than the Author
Of the Probe Resolution.
Dy George Davis.

~ George Davis.
Bismarck, Feb. 28.-The meeting of
the house to hear the report of the
railroad commissioners proved two
things conclusively. One is that the
commissioners have not been able to
enforce the present law relative to the
regulation of railroads and the other
is that the house leaders attempted
to make some cheap political capital
out of this condition. 1t is not nec-
essary to defend the commissioners
They may have been derelict in their
duties SO far as looking after the de-
tails of the work is concerned, but
they put some of the self appointed
guardians of the public for political
purposes in hole repeatedly. Rep
resentative Sorley of Grand Forks
who was looking out for chan.:a to
get a speech in edgewise stated that
the law required the commission to
make report on certain matters and
that he had gone to the governors Of
flee and had not been able to find the
report and suggested that this was
one of the things in which the COM
mission had been derelict. Chairman
Deisem of the commission who was
in the house, stated that the report
had been made and governor Sarles
declined to have the report printed
because there were no funds for the
same. The matter therefore took the
shape of a question OF variety between
Sorley and Deisem or the governor
had hidden the report so that it could
not be found. The fact is that Mr..
Sorley came to Bismarck just a few
days before the close of Governor
Sarles' term, and while he did not so
state, it is reasonable to infer that
during the fight for control of the
house in which Mr.. Sorley was
prominent figure, he did not give much
attention to serious matters and it is
presumed for the purpose of this ar
ticle that he called upon the governor
after the present incumbent had as
sumed the duties of his office. If that
is true, there would seem to be some
foundation for the statement he made
that he could not secure the report.
If he called and could not get the re-
port it must have been because the
governor kept the report in the back
ground. There the matter lies be-
tween the governor and Mr.. Sorley.
Representative Streeter made one
of the most sensible talks of the en-
tire session when he stated that he
for one was not in favor of bringing
any set of officers before the house to
have them made monkeys of. He
realized that questions could be asked
the commissioners which they could
not answer off hand, and he suggest
ed that Messrs. Casey, Sorley and
Twitchell be appointed committee
to reduce to writing the questions
which It was desired to have the COM
missioners answer and give them un-
til the following day to do so. This
motion was amended so as to allow
the commission to send for persons
and papers and to examine witnesses
under oath, but it was lost.
Representative Garden who had got
ten golden opportunity to get in the
lime light, sought to show the COM
missioners how to run the railroads.
1t is stated that he has strong social
istic tendencies politically. He got
in on the tower of able business which
marked the larger portion of the So
called debate, until Mr.. Ueland. the
democratic member from LaMoure
county who was in the chair, ruled
that under the resolution which had
been introduced by Mr.. Garden and
under which he was trying to get the
commissioners to answer his ques-
tions, these officers were not required
to answer. This proved one thing
that the commissioners knew more
law than did the author of the reso-
luton, and with that ruling the hopes
of Mr.. Twichell. Casey and SorIey
who were fighting hand in glove, went
to the bottom of the sea. This was
the contention of Mr.. Deisem during
all the debate, that the commissioners
had made report in response to the
resolution and that having made that
report, the house could not require
them to submit to an oral catechism.
1t showed that the commission
ers were not only far better pest
ed than he but they knew far more
law.
Major Buttz did not neglect the op-
portunity to rub it into the members
that, they had no knowledge of what
1t cost to build, operate and maintain
a railroad and had therefore voted in
the dark on the two cent rate bill. He
contended that while the commission
ers did not know anything about the
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