Albuquerque morning journal., 1910-11-13

thought they might We'll be frhstc
with the responsibility az elcciin
their corporation commissioners Tn
speaker admitted that the raiiIua
employees were deeply interested y
the personnel Of the commission. bu
called attention TO the feet tina
there were some a0O.0 coo ether peo
pie In New Mexico who By their pat
ronage supported the railroads, nn'
whose wishes IN the matter shoul'
be considered hs the convention. ~
WAS opposed 10 distranc higing ann
class ol citizens In the election oil
their state officers
After an amendment offered ni
Mr.. Richardson. the purpose Of which
was the reduction cf the salaries pi
the commissioners. from $4,000 to
90 per annufu. the article, as
whole. WAS agreed "a by the eonNeu-
ton
The committee which drafted the
corporation report consisted 81 tne
following delegates u. . BHrsum.
chairman; NJ. l.. Stern, secretary,
Gregory Page. solomon Luna, Alejdn-
dro eandoyaI. Harry w Kelly. Reed
Ifoilomnn Nenresiao Jaramillo, Juan
Navarro, George s. brown. II. Al.
Dongherty. NJ y. Skeen. J. Lee Law
son and G. e. Davidson. The latter
three gentlemen, while agreeing win
the ma ajority In the main. presented "a
minority report on section 7, which
provides the method by which the
commission is 20 carry into effect its
rulings T. r. Lewis. of S0eurfo. act
ed as clerk OF the committee. and "
Is said. drew up no less than forty
eight tentative drafts OF the proposed
article before II was considered Ia pro-
per form for presentation 90 the con-
vention.
The convention was called tu order
this morning at 1880. The first bus-
mess WAS the presentation of some
fifty petitions for statewide prohibi-
ton, which came from all parts or the
territory. These petitions were referred
10 the appropriate committee The
convention at once went into commit
tee Of the whole. with NJ. l.. Stern, on
BernnliiiO, as chairman. The mem-
bers OF the BernniillO county delega-
tion seem 10 be IN favor as presiding
officers, Mcssrs. Sedillo. Montoya,
wood and Stern. having served IN this
capacity during the week, ana on
Thursday Delegate Stover declined
the honor. There are, however. among
the members. some carping critics.
who claim that the Bornaiillo county
men are put In the chair for the pur-
pose Of keeping them from moving
amendments and making speeches,
but even these critics admit that the
men from Bernalillo have all made
good as presiding officers
The report Of the committee was
taken up section by section and the
work proceeded rapidly A Few minor
changes were suggested, and Mr.,
Wood had 10 be shown on the phrase
oloRy OF section 6. Several lawyers
explained the section and the explain
ations consumed some time, Grow
inR impatient ~ the delay, Delegate
Childers moved that the section be
adopted as read, and In presenting his
motion. the gentleman from curry
took occasion Is score what hc
called wind iamming lawyers"
The first real snaE was struck when
section was reached. This h. the
section providing the procedure of
the commission, and upon which three
OF the four democratic members of the
committee had presented minority
report. Delegate Lawson made a
lengthy argument In support of the
minority rr0postion and WIS fol-
low II ny Chairman Bursun, who held
that the minority provision. II writ
ten into the article, would seriously
ieopardizc lts eouslltuti0nality and
might render the whole work Of the
convention IN the maiter Of corpora
tion regulations null and void
Mr. MOflett OF oteFo thought The /
majority section would admit OF too I
much delay before final action ON
the rulings of the commission This
Taid Mr. Hprsum was mot 81. Iio
said the sole object uf the committee
had been 20 afford means of feeling
absolute Justice as between corpora
lions and the public Re pointed 90
a.. H Sal
fcrnia railroad commission lRw had
rendered tho law in that state q dead
letter
Judge Fall held that ~ the mlnrr-
lty members "a then report he'd in
tended 20 give the comm lssion more
power they had signaily failed Tie
said that the demand ol the puhlic
had been tO do away with TIE crying
rsii OF corporate Influence ln the iea.
islature. and this the committee bad
done. lnsteed ot going ip the iesis-
lature al every session, seeking Tho
enactment OF laws frNrruhie g.. them
Cr the defeat of laws hostile lo uhem,
the corporations would NOW he forced
10 go Go the commission aud ifom
the commission to the highest enur,
ia the stnte. Judge Fan said that tho
minority seemed To forget that the
sovereign power of regulation ol cor
porationH rested with the people ana
that an power not Hy This ennsttu-
tion sciied ln the commission WAS
still vested in the people ilo f'ln
that the majority prnN aiun fImnN
specified that the power given in tnc
commission shouid never De taken
away by the Legislature. but this did
not prevent the people Through the
legislatures from granting the com
mission additional power from time