The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1915-02-04
EXEMPT SCHOOL LAND
IN WESTERN SECTION
CAUSES CONTROVERSY
Western Members Claim State
Gets Benefit and Should
Vote School Aid.

Pierre. S. d, Feb. lit required
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
~ curtatled by the fact that the state
lands lie within their limits, should be
assisted by an Appropriation of $1,000.
as last year, or by some larger
mount. The bill, as introduced by Pat
terson, of Potter. called for an ap-
preparation of 800, 600 but the commit
tee reported it with $12,500 recommends
ed for each year, the appropriation to
run on indefinitely. After a hard fight
In which the bill was lost and recon-
sidered 1t was passed with a $4,000 APP
preparation provided.
A long battle in which the lines Vera
to some extent drawn between the east
ern 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-
tty of state lands as an unrnitigated
curse, and resented the imputation that
they We're a benefit to the school dis
tricts 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
we'll as those in the west and he OPP
posed the amendment. This reused
Ischarner, 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
that the lands would be valuable. You
can pick up all of Moody county, he
said, and carry it over into Harding
county and o can't cover with it the
state lands in that county. No taxes
are paid on this land to help maintain
the prairie schools"
After a recess Of 10 minutes. the
fight was again taken up on a motion
of Withee, Of Turner. to reconsider.
Charges of unfairness were banded
back and forth. The bill was recon
sidered and a motion made to change
the amount of the appropriation from
$25,0 600 to $4,000. An amendment to
the amendment was offered making
the amount $1,000 but a substitute
motion by Ruhlnlan to make it SIS, 600
went through.
House Routine.
On motion of Labrie, of Sphinx, the
vote by which house bill No. 20, pro-
viding for keeping a record of all
acknowledgements was passed, was
reconsidered. Objections We're made
to the added cost Of acknowledgements.
bigger, of Fall River. wanted house
bill No. 1872, prohibiting the sale of
liquor within five miles OF the oldiers
home, k out of the hands of the
commIttee on temperance, because the
author of the bill was chairman of the
temperance committee, but the house
refused to establish this precedent.
House joint resolution No. 5, paving
the way to take advantage of the fed
eral appropriation for agricultural ax-
tension work under the Smith-Leever
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. 63, by Benson. of
Moody, permitting cities to work vag-
rants on the streets, was passed
unanimously.
The house passed a 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 giving fire department heads the
power to condemn and order removal Of
fretraps was defeated.
Senate Routine.
BY a vote of "a to 5 the senate passed
Urdahl's nepotism bill after the house
had killed a similar bill the day pre-
vious.
After the question of reducing the le-
gal maximum interest in the state from
IL to 10 per cent had been rather thor
Dughly threshed out. with objections
on the ground that the state was new
Hnd money scarce, n 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
S2. Another bill of similar import was
lost by a vote of II to "a.
Stoner's nepotism bill, which includ-
ed county officials in the prohibition
against employing relatives. was sent
Jack 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 been improperly expended. The