Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1912-05-18
From Governor Down, State
Officers Are Unpaid; Law
makers Frltter Away Time
Doing Little Of Use to People.
GROVES EXPLAINS
QUEER CONDITION
Corporation Commission Not
Allowed a Dollar to Defray
Expenses; Turns Large Sum
Into Treasury.

Especial Dispatch to the Morning Journai.1
Santa Fe. N. NJ. May 1.-THE mat
ter OF paying the salaries of the vari-
Gus state officials who are running the
government Is one which has had
scant attention from the legislature
at this session. From the governor
on down, every state house officer
has been working without pay since
the state government was organized
on January 5th last, and until some
appropriation is made to cover their
salaries, they must continue to work
without pay.
The bill providing for the salaries
and expenses OF the corporation COM
mission has passed the senate, but 1t
has struck a big snag in the house. ana
there Is no telling what Will be Its
fate In the end. In the meantime, the
commissioners are continuing to dis
charge their duties as best they can
without any money with which to do
the things which the people elected
them to do.
A peculiar situation is presented In
regard to the corporation commission.
In the short period OF less than five
months in which 1t has been In exist
ence the commission has taken In
from fees and other revenue incident
to the office nearly $4,000. or APP
proximately $4,000 more than II IL
aslsiag shs legislature to atprcpriate
for its maintenance for the fiscal year.
II is estimated that the income from
the revenues collected by the comnis-
sion win approximate $4,000 year
right from the start. with the cer-
tainty that the amount VIII increase
with the growth OF the state as years
20 by.
And yet. although the commission
has already earned for the state near
" $4,000, It Is having the hardest
sort OF a fight to get the lawmakers
to give IL $4,000 for It's support.
Under the constitution, all monies de-
rived from fees or arising from any
source which the commission takes IN
must be turned into the treasury ana
none of 1t can be used to pay the sal
aries or expenses of the commission.
The fight being made on the bill
now pending In the house. grows out
of the fact that II carries lump
sum appropriation of $4,000 for con-
tingent expenses. The watch dogs OF
the treasury In both senate and house
have insisted that the purposes Tor
which this money Is to be expended
should be stated and the amount to be
used for each purpose specified. In an
interview on this phase of the ques-
tion today, Commissioners NJ. ;. Groves
said:
1T would be obviously Impossible 10
specify or ltemize the different
amounts trat will be needed or tho
exact purpose for which those
amounts that will he needed or that
membered that this IL brand now
department of the government ana 10
still I'm an experimental stage. We can't
tell until we have tried 1t out how
much we will need or for what specific
nurposes we will need II. We have
made the most economical estimate
possible. and the bill specially provides
for "A strict accounting of every penny
that will be spent"
some of the members of the legisla-
ure have also objected that the amount
Of $4,000 for contingent expenses Is
100 large. on this subject, Commis-
sioner Groves said:
AS TO the amount we Will need.
here is no better way of arriving at
an intelligent estimate than by a COM
parIson with other states where prac-
.ically the same conditions exist as
IN New Mexico. Arizona has a cor
,oratlon commission of more limited
f,,a ,sh "A a N has
no Jurisdiction over insurance compa-
1ies, those companies being under
,,parate department while our COM
mission embraces every sort or cor
1oratlon The bill now pending before
he Arizona legislature, which | am
Informed. Is practically certain to bs
passed appropriates $4,000 for con-
invont expenses alone. or $4,000
more than the entire amount for
which we have asked. The entire ap-
including the salaries OF
commissioners and employees is $685.
100.
In oklahoma" continued Mr..
iroves. the entire appropriation for
he expenses of the commission IL
$3.50, of which amount s50.00o Is
or contingent expenses. or more than
hree times the amount that we arc
skiing for. II must be remembered
hat Oklahoma Is a very much smaller
tate in area than New Mexico. that
/ is more densciv populated and that
railroad and travelling
Expenses are much less than in this
tate. And it must also be remember
d that in Oklahoma. as in Arizona.
here A. a senarafe Insurance denarf-
nent. rendering the necessary ex-