The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1915-03-09
SENATOR URDAnL
ISSUES A STATEMENT TO THE
PRESS OF THE STATE As
TO HIS ACTION.

Pierre, March 9.-Upon the ad-
journment of the legislature Senator
Urdahl issued the following state
ment:
In a reply to a newspaper charge
appearing in the Huronite on the Bird
day of March and reprinted in some
of the Pierre papers to the effect that
| classified all printers of the state
as criminals | wish to state that this
is not true. The wisdom of taking
the word of Pierre newspapers for
anything that occurs in the legisla-
ture is shown by the error into which
some have been led by so doing. The
known and persistent policy of the
Pierre newspapers has been to abuse
and malign those who refuse to sup
port measures in which they are
financially interested and to approve
of those who are willing to submit TO
their strong arm methods.
From reading the bitter attacks
on me as the author of the state
printing bill a mistaken impression
would be received. 1t has ever been
the policy of the Pierre papers to rep
resent themselvs as in the same boat
with the general run of newspapers
in this state. They r in an entirely
different class and the able newspa-
per fraternity of South Dakota can
not afford to take upon themselves
the odium of the record which the
Pierre papers have made.
MY remarks referred specifically
and solely to the Pierre papers. Pos
sibly no man in the legislature has
had his legislative record more fully
discussed than myself, and it has
often been placed in the worst light.
That was peculiarly true of the ses-
sion two years ago, yet my constitu-
ents approved of my record and ad-
vanced me to the senate by an over
whelming majority both at the pri-
maries and at the general election.
Evidently they believed / was prop
erly representing them.
II am not in the legislature to
fight windmills nor to fight for the
sake of making trouble. ! am not a
misanthrope and do not look upon
my fellow men as depraved or less
unselfsh than myself. / do not look
upon the newspaper publishers of the
state as any less honest or more
grasping than other classes of pro-
fessional men. Instead ! recognize
that they do a work of preeminent
and peculiar value to the state and
localities.
when I undertook to expose the
overcharges of the Pierre printers |
did not feel that / was rejecting on
hundreds of smaller printing institu-
tions in this state. On the other
hand, l am of the conviction that by
exposing the condition Of our state
printing and helping to enact a new
printing law, l have given the small
err printers of the state their first OPP
portunity to get a fair chance to COM
pete for the state printing.
1T is possible hat the present
printing law may be lacking in some
minor particulars and had the print
ers come before the legislature ask
ing only for such amendments to the
present printing law as would have
been just and fair / would have sup
ported their bill. But the bill that
was presented would have excluded
all firms dealing in books, stationery
and office supplies from bidding for
state contracts and would again have
given the monopoly on printing OF
supplies OF state departments and