Arizona republican., 1912-06-13
Upper House With Appar- ent Sincerity Struggled With the Worsley- Rob erts Bill to Wipe Itself Off the Map
MOTION TO KILL TT
 WAS A FAILURE
Alarming Discovery Made That Several of the Con stitutional Mandates" Have Not Yet Received Consideration

1 Yesterday Senator WorsIey's bill for ! the abolition of the state senate and | the investiture of the house of repre- | sentatives with all the authority now ] exercised by both bodies came up for ] discussion. An attempt to postpone | the bill Indefinitely failed by the vote 1 of II to and the bill was sent on its ! regular course. It is not likely this measure will reach the house and per 1 haps 1t is well enough for the senate 1 that it will not; for there is grave | suspicion that if that body got chance at the bill it might pass it just as a l joke on the senate; and then, as it provides for a constitutional amend | ment ana does not go to the governor, ] the state would have an election on it's hands that it has not bargained for But apparently there is no real | danger of that. It is not conceivable
 that the senate is quite ready to con-
 init this sort of hari-kari
 When the bill was called up Senator | Davis, of this county. made the first ! speech. He said he did not feel there was any reason for a proposition of 1 this sort: and if there were he saw a perfectly easy way out of the difficulty | by resigning his seat in the senate. Also, he hinted, if other senators felt ! that the people wanted the body abol- l ished they could very easily take that l course themselves.
 | Senator Worsley called attention to the fact that a senator in voting for his bill would not vote for the abolition of the senate; but would merely vote to put the question up to the people for their decision. Worsley said he favors the abolition of the senate for the reas- on that Arizona has no need for such a body because by the operation of the initiative, referendum and recall the people are themselves vested with all the powers of legislation hitherto held only by the regularly elected legislative
 body. "If you take this step," the ! speaker said, you are taking one step nearer pure democracy"
 MT. Pace said if Worsely's argument were good he thought the house ought to be abolished also. If it is a good
 thing to do away with one legislative body" he said 'it ought to be a still better thing to do away with both of them"
 But Worsley strongly objected to that proposition. He argued the state
 has need of one legislative body to
 shape the laws, but has no need for
 two of them. Also, he said, he did not
 care which house is abolished He
 would as soon it were the house as the
 senate. He argued that the work would
 be done more expeditiously, and that
 there would be less expense if there
 were but one house. Also, he de-
 ola t,.o Nf l,ro nf;,,U 0c
 a check upon the other is an exploded
 idea. He referred to the abolition of
 the veto power by the English house of
 lords and pointed to the British gov
 ernment as a good model for this
 country. Worsley also said he would
 be better satisfied if Arizona had come
 into the union with no constitution of
 any kind.
 Roberts whose name is attached to
 the bill with that of Worsely, spoke i'll
 it's favor. He called attention to the
 we'll known fact that the proposition
 was discussed in the constitutional
 convention and he said it would have
 been adopted by that body except that
 there was some doubt as to whether
 the constitution would be approved if
 a measure so radical were in it.
 Senator Cunniff said he favored the
 idea but he doubted the wisdom of
 rushing through a bill of such grave
 importance without more time for de-
 liberation. He was afraid the senate
 would become "balled up" with the
 amendment because he believed a more elaborate bill would have to be pre- pared. His belief is based on the fact that the divided legislative authority is recognized all through the constitution and he thought it might be that good many sections would have to be ! changed to accomplish the desired re- suit
 Then a motion was made to postpone the bill indefinitely; but this motion was defeated as noted above. Senator Chase raised a laugh both by a short speech l,e made in explaining his vote and by then voting on the wrong side of the question. "Gentlemen. l have
 never voted to pry myself loose from job and I never will,'' MT. Chase de- clared; and then, evidently under the impression that the motion was for recommendation of the bill and not for its indefinite postponement, he voted in the negative.
 The house yesterday got action on both the university and the northern normal appropriation bills but the x,otar were moi taken until there had