Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1913-02-06
TO WELD
!. He; H A X.
Numerous Bills are introduced
Cutting Off or Consolidating
n n State Boards.
MANY MAY LOSE THEIR JOBS
r All Pending Bills Become Laws
There Will be Many Office
Holders Out of a Job.

AAVlucES Out Vi q JVD.
Pierre, Feb. Legislative sessions
of the past four years have been long
on expansion" of state offices and
boards, but the present session is one
of elimination and concentration so
far, with the bills and resolutions
which have been presented. One of
these, a resolution for a constitutional
amendment, proposes to reduce the
management of the different state in
stitutions to one board of control, in
stead of the three boards now looking
after the work. Then in the way OF
laws, bills have been introduced for
the elimination Of the state immigra-
ton department, the state fire mar
shal department, wiping them out COM
pletely. Other. bills introduced or be-
ing drawn will concentrate the state
board 5of health and the state board of
medical examiners into one board,
while another will reduce the many
different boards of control of agricul-
tural and live stock industries into
one, eliminating a half dozen boards
in the work. and put them all under
one central body; another bill pro-
poses to eliminate the three oil in.
spectcrs and put the work which they
have done under control of the state
pure rood and drug department.. All
these measures look toward the elim..
nation of lot of official places and
cut off lot Of men who draw salaries
or compensation ranging from few
dollars up to quite good sized salaries
each year, and while the new bills
provide for we'll paid executive Of
ficer, the pay Of the one man will not
be anywhere near the driblets which
are paid out of the state funds to the
many different people who hold Of
fetal appointments.
Travelling Expenses.
There has beens considerable com
plaint in regard to the travel claim
of some, of the state officers in theil
| wanderings over the country, espe
cially is. this complaint aimed at the
accounts of Governor Vessey for the
past two years, and those of State Eli
gineer Lea, which are alleged to have
been excessive. Several members
have been Investigating along these
lines, and Senator Howe attempts te
cure the situation by bill which goes
20 the opposite extreme. He seeks IT,
prevent any state officers from draw
ing travel pay anywhere outside the
state, save the attorney general IL
cases which call him outside the stat<
to appear in courts. This is elimina
ton, with vengeance, as it woulf
prohibit state officers from attending
national meetings of like officers from
all the states of the union, or force
them to pay their own travel expenses
if they do go, and would prohibit the
state land commissioner from going t.
Washington to look into matters O.
interest to the state lands, which !,
many cases need looking after person
ally to get shaped up for the best in
terests of the state
The appropriation committees o
the two houses are going through tht
usual biennial grind to hold the ap
preparations for the next two year,
within the estimated revenues OF tht
state, the representatives of every in
stitution insisting that they are asking
for only what are the absolute need.
of their various institutions, and tina
they cannot get along with anythin!
less. But as these absolute needs
exceed the total estimated revenues
of the state, and leave nothing for tn,
general running expenses of state gov
ernment outside the different institu
tions, some one is bound to fail il
what they expect.
The Mcfarland bill which would ri
low Judge to enter judgment in cef
tain cases regardless of the jury yer
dict, went down after tilt in whicl
Mcfarland and Eae on the one side
and Urdahl and Morgan opposed, Ug
dahl taking the position that mos
judges and lawyers do not look witt
favor upon the fury system, and ]
the house wanted to kill that system