Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-03-21
.PITT-JOHNS7ON ROAD
BILL DEFEATED
The Road Fight Has Been Shelved
for the Time. Governor Out to
Save Legislative Program.
BILL LEFT ST. VCIAL
SESSION f. BE CALLED
Many Other ImpOrtan. G, tiers Have
Been Taken %.al Sn tn 4s'

chip from the shoulders of the l.tt-
Johnston forces in the house.
The belligerency that was so
marked up to the hour the Johnston
road bill was suffocated by the
deadlock has disappeared and the
lion of the house is now the docile
lamb
Docility is attributed to two caus-
es. One is that the opposition can
no longer be belittled. The other is
that orders came down from Cover
nor Harding himself putting the Pitt
Johnston leaders upon their good be-
havior lest they swamp the ship Of
state with its entire legislative pro-
gram.
The road fight was shelved for the
time The steam roller was locked
in the garage altho the water was
not drawn from its boilers. The Pitt
men of the house decided to hold up
their retaliatory program against the
highway commission supporters by
striking thru the sitting committee
largely because Governor Harding
so ordered And then Governor
Harding went out to save his own
legislative program which the Pitt
Johnston men thru their mismanage-
ment of the road fight had endanger-
ed.
The governors first move was a
decided success. He went before the
house Judiciary committee and start
ed the code revision, ball to rolling in
the direction of a special session of
--'s14-t legislature Ia january 1918. The
governor outlined plan that met
with the approval of every mother s
son on the committee, their anti-Pitt-
Johnston feelings Notwithstanding,
He secured the appointment of COM
mittee of three to draft bill pro-
viding for a code commission of three
men to go to work by the middle OF
May and finish by next December,
said commissioners to be appointed
by the governor himself.
The bill was so worded that the
way was left open for the governor
to call special session to consider
the work of the code revision com
mission at his pleasure. The COVER
nor expressed a desire for special
session. And if the two houses agree
with the house judiciary committee
as there is every reason to believe
they will, special session in Janu-
ary, 1918, seems assured.
The governor blocked plans for the
present at least for the sitting com
mittee that the Pitt-Johnston men
talked that smilingly the first of the
week. Last Tuesday the word was
passed that the house sitting com
mittee would be organized this week
The further word passed among thu
Elwood- -Mackie men who backed the
highway commission in their roat
fight to keep heads up and eyes oper
begun.
The general understanding of thu
Elwood- d-Mackie forces was that tn,
guillotine was to be composed almos
entirely of Pitt-Johnston men ant
that the purpose thereof was to SCI
that as few bills as possible of th'
stalwart fifty-four who stayed by th'
highway commission got thru thu
sieve. The fifty-four Immediately or
ganized for battle.
Then came the pacifists from ex
scutive chambers to Suggest" t.
the Pitt-Johnston men that sitting
committee is not necessary and tina
it would be folly to have one in spit
of the fact the house is days benin,
its calendar.
Next day Speaker Pitt came alonl
with the declaration he wanted nom
of the criticism that his house wa
unable to keep up its work, whicl
criticism would come, he said, will
the appointment of sitting commit
tee. All OF the Pitt-Johnston leader
Immediately agreed that the hous
wonld work until midnight ), ever
night if necessary to clean up its cal
endar. "A
And so the sitting committee i
now returned to the list of possibili
ties instead of certainties. No sift
ing committee means the ASSEMBLY
win not adjcarn until the middle o
April.
The Pitt-Johnston forces are no,
dsyoting their attention to securin'