The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1913-03-15
Homer D. Dibell, of Duluth, and N.Y.
ron D. Taylor, Of St. Cloud, Ap.
pointed Commissioners.
0'NElLL MEASURE IS FAVORED
Senate Committee Recommends Road
House Bill-May Support Dew
elopment Work.

St. Paul, March 15-The house
Friday passed Senator Frank Clague's
bill giving cities of che fourth class
local option. The bill permits all
cities of less than 10000 population
to vote on saloon issues. Local option
heretofore has been granted only to
towns and villages, and to some cities
by home rule charters. The bill has
been fought hard and defeated in
several previous sessions.
Nine other bills were passed.. One
provides a state legislative reference
bureau, the director to be named by
a commission composed of the lieu
tenenat governor, speaker of the house
and the president of the state uni
versity.
A senate bill passed permits the es-
tablishment of the fifth state fish
hatchery at Granite Falls. A house
bill providing that a fish hatchery be
established in St. Louis county also
was passed.
Two state supreme court commits
sioners and two district court judges
were appointed Thursday night.
The five judges of the supreme
court named the two commissioners
early in the evening and sent word to
Governor Eberahrt. Before midnight
the governor had named the district
court judges and received their &C
ceptances.
Homer D. Dibell, district court
judge at Duluth, Repu blican and in
1910 candidate for the supreme
bench, becomes supreme court COM
missioner and his place on the district
bench is taken by Bert Fesley, Dem
ocrat, now city attorney of Duluth.
Myron D. Taylor, Judge of the dis
trict court at St. Cloud, Republican,
IS the other supreme court commits
sioner and John Roeser of St. Cloud,
another Republican takes his place
on the district bench.
A law passed by the present legisla-
ture creates the two commissioner
ships. The supreme court judges
long have been overcrowded with
work. The constitution prohibits
there being more than five of these
judges. To relieve the situation the
legislature created the commissioners
ships. The salary is the same as that
of a judge of the supreme court,
$1,000. Their power is almost as
great. They are as near being judges
of the supreme corut as the constitu-
tion will permit.
The senate cOmmitte on temper
:ance Friday afternoon voted to re-
commend for passage the bill by Rep
resentative D. P. O'Neill prohibiting
boards of county commissioners from
issuing liquor licenses. The bill has
passed the house.
Representative O'Neill appeared be-
fore the committee, and made a very
brief and pointed speech in behalf of
his bill. He said:
81 am sorry to have to impose such
a bill on Southern Minnesota, where
it might be all right to have places
where the weary traveller can re-
fresh himself.
"But we need this bill to blot out
the places in the woods of Northern
Minnesota which the lumberjack sky
pilot truly calls the very vestibules
of hell'"
The project of placing county Off
GERS on a non-partison basis, ratified
by the senate, went by the board in
the house committee on elections yes.
terday afternoon.
In point of fact, the idea had nc
defenders whatever in the committee
and it was not until the more violent
partisans proposed to undo the work
of the extra session in putting judges
of probate and county superintendent
of schools on non-partisan basis that
there was any evidence whatever Of
a perception that it is incongruous
to continue on a partisan basis the
election of mionr officials whose du
ties have no more relationship will
national party lines than the Aldrict