Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1914-01-16
REFERENDUM PETI-
TIONs NULLIFIED.
Suprme Court Holds That Legislature
Adjourned on June CO.
JULY I.

bhuuhA penllOHb dbdluSI Jne state cap
ital appropriation bill and the amend.
ed election law, asking that both
measures be put to vote OF the peo~
pie, were nullified by an opinion from
the special supreme court holding
that the House OF the Fourth Legislal
ture adjourned on June 30 and the
Senate on July !, ip place Of July o.
1t follows that the referendum petit
tlons we're not filed with the Secre-
tary of State within the 9O-day period
made mandatory by the statutes. The
opinion was delivered by Judge still
well Russell of Ardmore, member
of the court in the disqualification of
Justice r. l.. Williams. Judge u B.
A. Robertson, member OF the Supreme
Court Commission, was also spec
ial Judge sitting in place of Justice
Kane, who was disqualified.
Another effect of tn courts decis-
ion is notification of the general rev.
enue law, which was adopted on June
29. The constitution requires that five
days shall elapse between passage of
a revenue measure and final adjourn
ment Of the Legislature, and II was
with a view of saving this law that
the houses adopted their peculiar
method Of adjourning. A third eff
feet of the decision is that members
of the House are cverdrawn five days
on the payroll and members of the
Senate are overdrawn to the extent
of four days pay.
Tn House on June 30 and the Sen
ate on July / adopted concurrent
resolution providing that the Legis-
lature adjourn until noon on July s,
when the roll was to be called and if
no quorum appeared, the presiding
officers of the houses were to adjourn
the Legislature without delay. On
July 5 the set procedure was follow
ed and a quorum did not answer TO
roll call The court holds that this
was an unwarranted delegation of
authority by a majority to minor
IVY dhu was NOiu' III Oiuti 70 eSlhD-
lish legislative session the journals
of the houses must show proceedings
and in the absence OF the latter, there
was no session, the court held, in the
House after June 80, and in the SEN
ate after July 1, except the meetings
of the unauthorized minorities. The
court defines what constitutes "ses-
sion"
Activities are restored to the State
Capitol Commission, composed of W,
b. Anthony of Marlow, Pat Foulding
of Enid and Stephen H. Douglass of
Ardmore, which has been without
power since the filing of the referepd-
um petitions The commissioners were
elected by the legislative houses un-
der terms fixed in the capital appro-
priation act. Otherwise the act pro-
vided for State House that is tc
cost $1,5O0,00O, and one-half of this
amount ,is made avilable for immed-
late operations. The last given
9mount is made up as follows: One
hundred thousand dollars paid to Gov.
Cruce as trustee, through an Okla
homa City bond issue; $53.5S7.50 as
balance due on the free rent fund
94,1971O borrower from the game
protection fund, s252.224.4O being un-
used portions of appropriations made
by former Legislatures, and $250,OO9
TO come out of the taxes levied for the
fiscal year ending June 1915.
The amended election law was
adopted by the Fourth Legislature up
on the Governors recommendation to
include the following four proposi-
tions: Rotation of names of candi-
dates on the ballot, increased penal
ties for violating eection laws, an
thorizing candidates of newly organ
lied political parties to be placed on
the ballot and restricting voters to
the primary election of the party of
their allegiance. The Legislature in
serted a fifth provision that caused
all the trouble. An investigating
committee of the Senate probed the
State election board and recommend
ed that Ben w. Riley, the board sec
retary, be dismissed from the States
service. When Riley's name came be-
fore the Senate for confirmation It
was rejected by a majority negative
vote, but Riley, under instructions
from Gov. Cruce. continued to serve.
The fifth provision inserted in the bill
by the legislature was that the Sec
retary OF State Senate should he
secretary of the State election board, |
which had the effect of divorcing Ril-
ey from the office. The Governor
permitted the bill to become a law |
without his signature. and thinking
l. n l..