The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1915-06-17
"SIIp-EASy" Hall

SLlf-EAS1 HALL.
plain" Tom Hall or Fire Eating
John Andrews, or someone believed tc
be connected with the office of the dig.
nitied secretary of state, caused an ar.
ticle to be published in one or two
newspapers, last week, that would dis.
credit the work Of the legislative com.
mittee selected by the North Dakota
Press Association, of which the writ
err had the honor to be the chairman
There was newspaper lobby at Bis
marck during the last session of the
legislature, the same as there was a
farmers lobby, or a merchants lob
by, and nothing which this committee
did was under cover. The committee
assisted by it's good friends succeeded
in killing no less than q dozen bills,
that had vicious tendencies as far as
the newspaper fraternity was con-
cerned. In fact, not an unfriendly bill
was enacted. This is nothing to be
ashamed of for the newspapers of the
state are receiving no more than is
coming to them under the present
conditions.
One bill that the legislative COM
mittee did want to see passed was
House Bill No. 209, which would have
added the attorney general and the
governor to the printing commission
This bill was opposed strenuously by
Tom Hall, who had visions of seeing
some of his power slipping away. Tom
pussy-footed up and down the legisla-
tive halls, spending far more time try
ing to kill this bill than he did in at
tending to the dignified duties of his
nf4 Nhn 20 ~ 1.o%
per fraternity should think of asking
that the printing commission be in
creased from three to five members
was highly insulting to him. The
"boys" have your number, Tom. They
know why you opposed this bill. They
know why you do not want to distrib-
ute any of the Fifth Glass printing
among the printeries of the state. But
that is another story.
One of the accusations is that the
press association is big political ma
chine. If trying to get fair rate for
what we do and getting an opportun-
ity of doing what we are able to do,
then we will have to plead guilty to
the charge.
One of the charges is that the legis-
lative committee fathered the bill that
would have taken the power of distrib-
uting the insurance statements from
Walter Taylor, insurance commission
err. The writer conferred with Mr.
Taylor when he learned that such a
bill had been introduced and told him
that it was not the desire of any men,
Der of the newspaper fraternity, so far
as we knew, to have any change made
in this law; that Mr.. Taylor had dis
tributed those statements in a fair
and impartial manner, and that we
would not have anything to do with
the enactment Of such piece of leg
islation. Mr.. Taylor, no doubt, re-
members this conversation we'll and
will bear the writer out in this state
ment. We brand this statement as a
deliberate falsehood that cannot be
proved. The other charges, so far as
the writer knows, are just as false.
They were undoubtedly made to throw
dust in the eyes of the newspapermen,
many of whom are seeing Tom Hall in
his true light.
The writer cannot agree with the
statement that was made that the pub
fishers are receiving sixty per cent
more for some of their work than they
should. The newspapermcn of North
Dakota are entitled to fair pay for
what they do and they will resent such
a statement coming from Tom Hall or
anyone else.
We beg the pardon of our readers
for the space we have already used on
this subject. What we know about
"Slip Easy" Tom Hall, formerly
"Plain Tom" Hall, the newspaperman's
pretended friend, would fill quite
large volume.