Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1909-02-28
is Building Fine Machine
for Governor.
MAY FIND HIMSELF OVERLOADED
Other Members of Boards Likely to
Balk on Doing the Work.
SLAP AT PERSONAL LIBERTY
Anti-Treat BiII IL FavOrabIy RE-
ported by Committee OF the
whole I'm Spite of q
Hard Fight.
(Trom a tsaff Correspondent)

LINCOLN. Feb. H.-(special.) )-Governor
Shallenberger this morning signed two
purely political bills, the work of the "or-
ganization for the relief of jobess demo-
Gratis" known officially as Nebraska's first
democratic legislature.
OF the other ten bills passed by the ag-
gregation and signed by the governor eight
are either bills for the appropriation of
money or for the purpose of asking con-
gress to spend the money! The other bill
signed is for the purpose of giving pris-
oners condemned to death a chance TO be
examined for their sanity by the sur vim
tendents Of three insane hospitals.
one of the job bills provides for the cleo
ton Of a city comptroller OF the city OF
Omaha, giving two persons Jobs where one
now does the work. The bill separates the
county and city comptrollers of the city OF
Omaha and the county of Douglas. the last
legislature having consolidated the two.
The other political job bill signed provides
that the governor shall designate in what
newspapers the notice Of the proposed con-
stitutional amendments shall be published.
In other words. 1t gives TO the democratic
newspapers OF the state the right to pub
lish the amendments.
The Objectionable feature of this meas
house, is that It makes the secretary OF
state. a constitutional officer elected at
the same time the governor is chosen,
second fiddle 10 the chief executive. In
other words, merely clerk to the gov
ernor Republican members OF the legis
lature attempted TO amend the present
law, which gives the secretary of state
the right to designate the papers. so that
the governor should attend to all the de-
tails of publication. but the democratic
majority would not stand for that SO.
under the law just enacted, the governor
says TO the secretary of state;
Here Is a list Of newspapers In which
desire to have you publish the coustitu-
tional amendments. Get your copy ready
and send IL out You pay the postage
out of your own office expense account"
When the bill was pending no one
raised any objection to the democratic pa
pers getting the sop, which amounts to
$50 or $50 each two years, but they did
object to the secretary of state taking
orders from the governor. The constitu-
tion provides that the amendments shall
be printed in one newspaper in eacn
county in the state, and should the secre-
tary of state see fit TO send out the no.
tices In advance of any action to be taken
by the governor, there Is a general senti-
ment around that the action would not
invalidate the amendments should they
be adopted,
Nothing of Use to state.
The fact that the house has used up
forty-two days OF it's sixty and the senate
thirty eight days. with absolutely nothing
of any Importance accomplished. and with
a hat full of bills providing for the creation
OF a democratic machine, which must take
precedence over everything else. has scared
some of the democrats.
Under the slogan, Let the People Rule"
the democratic majority has laid the
foundation for making zone Man Rule
in Nebraska" Under the bills pending the
governor is given authority TO appoint
every employe on the payroll of the state.
save the clerks in the offices Of the other
constitutional officers.
Every board in the state will be domi-
mated by the governor-the board of health.
the printing board, the board Of purchase
and supplies Through his state sccountanD,
the Board Of Charities and Corrections, the
banking board. the board of agriculture