The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-03-14
GOOD ROADS ACTS
PASS IN SENATE
Four Of Seven Measures Orig
inaIIy introduced Now Ready
for the Governors Action.
TO BE NO CONVICT LABOR
TAX ON VEHICLES ALSO DEAD
BILL.

-Four of the seven good roads bills in
trodueed as the result Of the gooC roads
convention held in salt Lake early this
year. passed the senate yesterday. They
have now passed both houses and. with
the governors approval, VIII become
laws.
A sharp fight was made on one of the
bills. This provided that convicts from
the peuitentiary were to work on the
roads Of the state This bill was fought
by Senators Kuchler and Huianiski,
and supported by Senators Badger and
John Y Smith Senator Badger urged
the passage of the bill, and read letters
from Colorado in support of his contcn-
ton. Senator Kuchlcr contended that
it was not fair to free labor To- attach
to il the stigma of convict labor. He
said that at present it was no disgrace
to be compelled to work on the street
for living, but that il would be con-
sdefed such if the state forced the work
of convict labor on the public highways
in competition with free labor.
Both he and Senator HulaniSki were
warm IN their arguments for the pro-
lection of the workingman, and in OPP
position to any measure making the
honest laborCr compete with convict
labor
Cost Would Be Heavy.
Senator Kuchier introduced an
amendment. proposing that all prison
made goods be labeled as such. Senator
Hulsniski said that Warden Pratt was
very much opposed to convict labor. He
quoted the prison warden as saying that
he believed the cost of forcing convicts
10 work on the roads would amount to
= IL
den Pratt was in the senate a the time
the bill was considered, and advised
several senators against its passage.
On the roll call vote. the bill failed of
passage by d vote of to 10.
Senator Badger. who had been lead
ing the fight in behalf Of the measure.
moved a reconsideration. Senator
kuchler asked him when the motion to
reconsider would be made. and Senator
Badger said that it would be made to-
morrow Senator Kuchler then showed
the senator that so far as the present
legislature is concerned tomorrow
would never come, since the members
were now at work on the sixtieth and
last legal day of the session. no matter
how many actual days were Included
in this last day. The chair sustained
Senator KUchers contention. I'm spite
of Badgers protest. and the latter
moved an immediate reconsideration.
This required a two-thiTds vote. which
the motion failed to receive, and the bill
was killed.
Vehicle Tax Bill Killed.
Another OF the bills killed was the
one requiring an annual vehicle tax.
Senator Hulaniski argued that this
measure was an unjust one, since there
was no way of knowing how often or
how seldom every man who owned a
vehicle used the public highways. on
ms motion the enacting clause of the
bill was stricken out
One of the bills passed provides for
the creation OF state road commission
TO supervise the construction of all
roads in the state. Another provides
Tor a standard system of road construc-
ton, the third provides that the county
commissioners of each county shall an
point one man to have entire charge of
road construction and Improvement in
mis- county, and the fourth provides for
the raising of revenues. This bill. when
1t came back to the house from the
senate, was amended so as to provtde
for the payment of 81 annual poll tax
in cash. instead of So in labor. The tes
timony was that much more good couId
be accomplished by the cash system
than by the labor system. The good
roads people profess to feel highly en-
couraged at the outlook.
The seventh Of these good roads So
res was killed in the house when adj
verse action was taken on the yride-tire
measure.