Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1915-02-12
FIFTH WEEK MUCH
BUS|ER FOR S0L0NS
MORE DESIRE TO DO REAL WORK
DISPLAYED-IMPO
ACTS COMING.

ACTS COMING.
More of an intention to get down
to the real business of the session has
been apparent during this, the fifth
week, and while no bills of great i'm
portance aside from whatever impor-
tance may be attached to the McArdle
tax board bills, have gone the route
through both houses, a mass Of less
important measures have been acted
upon in either the house or senate.
paving the way for final action in the
other.
This means of course that the next
three weeks, the last three of the ses-
sion, will have to be mighty busy ones
for the legislature that made the as
founding record of just three bills
passed in the first half of the session.
It is the really important bills, from
the angle of politics or from general
state interest, that have to be acted
upon, too, in these last three weeks.
for SO far the legislature has really
done nothing of importance.
During the first three weeks Of the
session the jockeying among members
for places of vantage in the organiza-
ton, amounting in fact to the perfect
ing of the Republican organization.
and the preliminary phases of the
liquor question absorbed most of the
attention. while in the fourth week
the development of the partisan fight
with Governor Lister over the Nc
Ardle tax board bills in the house
made partisan politics the issue to the
exclusion of other business.
Liquor Issue Not Dead.
The liquor issue is by no means a
dead one In this session, however, II
all the reports can be credited. and
though several newspapers last Sun
day carried stories to the effect that
new liquor bill is being prepared for
introduction this week, 1t has not yet
made its appearance. This report
carried no surprise to those who had
studied the peculiarities Of the resolu-
ton adopted during the fore part of
the session. a resolution which, ac-
cording to the discussion at the time
and the general acceptance of 1t.
pledged the legislature not to meddle
with liquor legislation in this session,
but which as a matter of fact merely
precluded calling a special election on
Initiative No. 1S or anything In con-
nection Herewith" 1t was neat
little Joker" introduced by wet"
senator, yet it worked for time.
This reported new "wet" bill pro-
poses to get around the economy plea
the principal argument earlier ad-
vanced against q special election this
yearly levying a heavy excise tax
upon all malt or spirituous liquors
manufactured or sold in the state. the
tax to be sufficient to raise, before
next November, enough money to
meet all expenses Of special election.
This bill, which probably will be
some sort Of an anti-saloon measure.
though permitting the manufacture
and restricted sale Of certain liquors,
is based ON the assumption that the
vote by which this state adopted 1ni-
tiative No. 3 last November was an
anti-saloon vote and not really an
anti-liquor vote. Therefore 1t is be-
lieved by this element of the "wets"
that any measure that would have q
chance for success must be based on
the elimination of the open saloon as
1t at present exists. and it will be the
aim of the proposed bill to do that.
"Steam Roller Congress.
National politics and national legis-
lation came in for a little more OF the
limelight this week when the Repub-
lican house control set out to apply
the ''steam roller" to q Democratic
congress by adopting. by a vote OF "a
to 20, a memorial demanding the re-
peal of the Underwood tariff law ana
passage in it's stead Of high tarin'
averring that the Underwood measure
had played havoc with Washington
industries. Six Republicans, three
Progressives and all the Democrats
voted against the memorial.
For some reason or other the house
control is still smothering the various
other departmental consultations
based on the same theory as the NC
Ardle tax board bills: the removal OF
further patronage from the governor
though 1t was reported week or two
aro that these bills we're then under
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