Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-02-04
SCHOOL LAND
IN WESTERN SECTION
CAUSES CONTROVERSY
Western Members Claim State
Gets Benefit and Should
Vote School Aid.

Pierre, S. d, Feb. LIT require
nearly two and one-half hours of the
time of the house to decide whether
school districts In the western part of
the state, whose taxable area is serious
~ curtailed by the fact that the state
lands lie within their limits, should be
assisted by an appropriation of s12,5o
as last year, or by some larger
mount. The bill. as Introduced by Pat
tefson. of Potter, called for an ap-
preparation of 500. 900. but the commit
tee reported 1T with $12, 500 recommend
ed for each year. the appropriation to
run on indefinitely. After a hard fight
IN which the bill was lost and recon-
sidered III was passed with a $4,000 APP
preparation provided.
A long battle in which the ines were
10 some extent drawn bet ween the east
erf and western parts of the state fol-
lowed the motion of Anderson, of Cor
son, to increase the appropriation to
$25, 900. Johnston of Meade. said the peo-
pie OF the west considered the proxim-
lty oil state lands us an unmitigated
curse, ana resented the imputation that
u We're a benefit to the school dis
trlcts in which they were located.
Anderson, of Clark, declared the
schools in the eastern part of the state
We're a burden upon the taxpayers as
well as those in the west and he OPP
posed the amendment. This reused
~Tscharner, of Perkins, to a defense of
the children going to the little sod
school houses" and prairie shacks.' He
declared the state was refusing to sell
the state lands until the settlers had
so improved and built up the country
mat the lands would be valuable. You
can pic up all OF Moody county" he
SAID, 'anG carry it over into Harding
county and YOU can't cover with it the
Gfnfn IN MI Ia I~,,A nm, N.Y. --.--
are paid on this land to help maintain
the prairie schools"
After a recess of 10 minutes, the
night was again taken up on a motion
Of Wtthce. of Turner, to reconsider.
Charges of unfairness were banded
BACK and forth. The bill was recon-
sldered and a motion made to change
the amount of the appropriation from
$25,00o to 100000. An amendment to
the amendment was Offered making
the mount 5000. but a substitute
motion by Ruhlman to make it $500
went through.
House Routine.
On motion of Labrie, of Sphinx, the
vote by which house bin No. 20. pro
vidins for keeping a record of all
acknowledgements was passed. was
reconsidered. Objections were made
to the added cost of acknowledgements.
Bilger. of Fall River, wanted house
bill No. 1872, prohibiting the sale of
liquor within FIVE miles of the Soldiers
nome, taken out of the hands of the
committee on temperance, because the
aulhof OF the bill was chairman of the
temperance committee, but the house
refused to establish his precedent.
House joint resolution No. 5, paving
the way to take advantage of the fed
eral appropriation for agricultural ex-
tension work under the Smith-Lcever
act, was passed.
House bill No. 6, requiring the at
torney general to prepare a synopsis
OF all referred and initiated laws and
constitutional amendments to be
printed on the official ballot, was
passed almost unanimously.
House bill No. SO, by Benson. OF
Moody. permitting cities to work vag-
rants On the streets. was passed
unanimously.
The house passed 81 bill making the
owners OF gasoline traction engines
SUBJECT TO the same regulations as own
ers of steam engines.
BY a decisive vote the bill of Walt
ner living fire department heads the
power to condemn and order removal OF
iretraps was defeated.
Senate Routine.
BY a vote of 81 TO 5 the senate passed
urdahls :lepotism bill after the house
had killed Il similar bill the day pre-
yious
After the question of reducing the le-
gal maximum interest in the state from
l2 to 10 per cent had been rather thor
oughly threshed out. with objections
on the ground that the state was new
and money scarce. and arguments in
favor on the grounds that eastern loan
sharks profited by the high rate of in
terest. the bill was voted down, is to
%. Another bill of similar import was
lost by II vote of Ia to "a.
nepotism bill, which includ-
ed county officials in the prohibition
against employing relatives, was sent
back to committee for amendment.
The senate passed the house concur
rent resolution for an investigation into
the states system of auditing and ac-
counting and reports that state money
had beer improperly expended. The
vote on this resolution WAS % to Q