The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1913-03-13
THE LEGISLATURE
THIRTEENTH SESSION OF LEe,s-
LATURE ADJOURNED SAT-.
URDAv MORNING.
MUCH GOOD LEGISLATION

O'U Nt0Ck IN tne rouse was turned
Back Several Times In Order
That the Work Could %
N Cleaned Up.
Amid scenes OF confusion and tur.
hoil, with the galleries, corridors and
xo6ices Of the state house packed al.
SAest to suf1ocation, the thirteenth ses.
saon OF the North Dakota legislature
cane % close ON Friday night, after
turning the big clock back several
times In order to stretch the day to At
the vast amount of work to be cleaned
up that night.
It was gala night in the capital
city. Everybody turned out to see
the wind-up Every legislator, except
Senator Englund, who is i'll, was in
his seat shortly after supper when the
gavel dropped and the work waz TAX
en- up with speed like unto that Of
horse race. Bills were called in rap
/. i'd succession by number and shot
through like cobs out of shelter. 1t
was another demonstration of the in
adequacy Of our legislative system. In
the rush, two important bills were kill
cd accidentally and it was with much
confusion and difficulty that they were
dug up from the debris and passed.
The legislators were tagged and their
faces were drawn. The crowds in the
building, which consisted of men, wo-
men, children and babies, surged back
and forth and jostled each other till
after midnight before they began to
thin out. After supper there were
something like hundred bills in the
house and quite number in the SEN
ate to be disposed of. As the big
clock back Of the speaker in the house
cfspt along toward midnight ladder
was raised and man turned it back one
hour and nifty minutes. Again it ap.
preached the 'witching hour, and
again it was necessary for its hands
to be reversed about two hours. Fin.
ally the close came, and with q whoop
the scene was converted into bedlam
Thousands Of bills were thrown in
the air, books, hats and everything
which Jay loose was thrown In al d.
fsctions. Membsrs in order to brave
the storm. placed wire waste baskets
upon their heads and participated.
This scene lasted for fully half an
hour and when the fun had died out
the floor Of the mammoth house cham.
Der was covered to 4 depth Of two
feet with debris. 1t was really rough
AoI.se.
No Initiative and Referendum.
There il considerable speculation a.
to what the republicans will have to
say for themselves since they failed
to adopt any measure whatever re.
garding the initiative and referendum.
There was a plank in the republican
platform favoring this but the entire
session passed and nothing was done
toward accomplishing the end There
was tie vote in the senate which
was voted off in the negative by Lieu.
tenant Governor Kraabel! That set.
tied it and the matter will make an
issue two years hence.
Senator Hookway Exonerated.
There was pathetic scene in the
senate on the closing night when that
body in its rush paused long enough
to exonerate one of it's members, Mr..
Hookway. from the charge which had
been made against him in the Ness
bribery case. 1t had been stated that
he had received money from the snuf1
people both last session and this ses.
sion. The senator has the perfect con.
fidence Of every member of the sen.
,ate and after several eervid speeches
in his favor and defending his charac.
ter, that body adopted verv strong res.
olutions clearing him completely and
recommending him to the world. A
resolution refuting the statements OF
(. SANDER against the senator, and which
had been adopted by the Granville
commercial club, his home, were also
: incorporated in the minutes.
Higher Standard for Ads.
House bill No. 2S3, providing for the
prevention of false and misleading ad
vertisements Of any and all kinds
passed This is done with a view to
protecting the public in a measure
against the INSCRIPTIONS advertisers
who would get the peoples money
without giving returns. It is endorsed
by the majority Of newspaper men.
Dickinson Normal School.
The people over in the west end In
general and the people Of the Dickin
son in particular, are in high spiritl
ever the passage Of the bill establish
ing normal school at that city. This
IL quite generally considered as very
good move as there is no educational
institution in the southwest quarter Of
the state higher than high school
and 1t would hardly seem fair for the
large population in that part of the
state to 80 longer without some kind
OF an institution Of learning.
Good Roads Bill Killed.
The good roads bill was killed. II
was the provision Of this bill that the
state should be bonded for $1,000, 900
the funds to be expended for the con
struction Of good roads in the state
Owing to the present state of North
Dakota's finances and tho many de-
mands for money in far more import
ant Zines, it was decided by the mem
bers Of the legislature that it would
be poor policy to place this debt bur
den upon the people. The killing u
the bill is generally looked upon az q
good piece OF business sagacity
- R..U