The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1915-02-25
BENTON COUNTY IS ALLOTTED
$4,000 STATE ROAD MONEY
Representative Successful Landing Ap-
preparation Slated for Expenditure the West Side
Experiment Station Appropriation is in Doubt
(By Special Correspondent


(By Special Correspondent
Olympia, Feb. Thirty-five thou
sand dollars has been allotted for Ben
ton county work on the Inland EN-
pire highway in the tentative draft
of the bill appropriating approximate
/ ly $2,O0O,00 for public highway work
during the coming biennium.
While Representative Grant Stew.
art contended that 100000 should be
allotted for work in his county, the
reduction is no more than that made
on other sections of road. For the
Pacific highway preliminary estimates
for instance, ran over 100000, but
finally were reduced to $435,O00.
Benton county is considered fortu-
nate to be able to get any highway
money this year at all, being COM
PEELED to ask Western Washington
support, as the Columbia river has
been taken as the boundary line be-
tween the two sides of the state, in
stead Of following the usual practice
Of taking the Cascades.
It is the belief of Mr.. Stewart that
the $4,000 allotted Benton county
should be spent beginning at Kenne-
wick and running west. Chairman L.
D. McArdle, of the house roads and
bridges committee assured the Benton
county representative that the exact
location Of the appropriation should
be left to his own wishes.
Provision will probably be made al
so that portion Of the money be spent
on surfacing the roadbed constructed.
1t is the usual practice Of the state to
do only grading work, leaving the
counties to surface the highway thus
constructed from the permanent high
way fund Of the county. Since Ben
ton county has already expended q
large portion Of its permanent high
way funds on actual construction
work, however, it is probable that the
usual practice viii be departed from
in this instance. :.
Segregation of tie money to which
Eastern Washington will be entitled
for road construction has not been
completed when this was written. The
apportionments tentatively decided
upon for Western Washington are as
follows:
Pacific highway, $4S5, 900; Olympic
5000, 900; National Park
5000 900; State Road No. 8
along the Columbia river, $60, 900; !;
Pass highway, $50, 900.
Experiment Station
Whether the present legislature will
appropriate $4,000 for dry farming
station in the arid belt, as
provided for in the bill introduced
jointly by Representatives Urquart,
Stewart, Long and Perkins, Of Grant,
Benton, Franklin and Adams counties,
respectively, probably viii be deter
mined next week. The appropriations
has been busy until the
present time on the general budget
bill, which made its appearance late
this week, giving no attention to date
to any special appropriation measures
which will be taken up next.
Stewart Introduces Bill
Representative Stewart introduced
q bill among the eleventh hour meas
ures to prohibit building and loan as
sociations from charging membership
fees, practice charged against three
associations in the state, working q
upon individual members and
amounting to an evasion Of the usury
statutes in some cases.
Following the passage Of the Me-
Ardle land board and board Of equal
ization bills over the governors veto
last week, the legislature passed the
tax commission fbill, which had been
held in the senate rules committee,
awaiting the governors action on the
other two bills. The tax commission
bill as passed, however, was in very
different shape from that which it
bore upon introduction. As passed it
divides the tax commissions work be-
tween the secretary Of state and pub
lie service commission. AS introduced
it gave all this work to the commits
sioner Of public lands.
Tanner Backs Legislature
By direction Of Governor Lister
proceedings were brought in the SUI
preme court this week to test the val
idity Of the emergency clause attached
by the legislature to the McArdle land
board bill, making its provisions ef-
fective Immediately. Il is the con-
tention Of the governor that the ahix-
ing Of emergency clause6 to many inn
portant bills now pending, is for the