Arizona republican., 1917-03-01
LEGISLATIVE MAJORITY HAS
APPROPRIATION WHIP HAND

Believing that it had done enough in
a lawful legislative day of seven
hours, having brought the general APP
preparation bill to the verge Of passage
and assured that it would be passed
| this morning and sent TO the senate,
the house rescinded a resolution Of
the morning for night session and
adjourned until 8 o'clock this morning.
In the light of later events of the day
it is doubtful whether the resolution
really meant that there should he
night session or whether ii was in
tended to further discourage an already
Lharrassed and depressed minority. At
any rate, late in the afternoon the ad-
! journment until morning was taken.
Progress of Appropri Bill
| by series OF maneuVerS IN Whlch
the minority of twelve in the house was
! pushed from pillar to post. generally
under the rules and, sometimes, by
very close shaving of the rules, the ma
jority yesterday brought the general
appropriation bill to the verge Of final
passage. Mr. Lines of Graham, who
took charge of the bill on the floor,
| threw his cards on the table face up
in the morning, and told the minority
precisely what was going 10 happen To
ii in the course of the day. Nothing
was concealed He said that ii had
been determined to prevent. II possible,
an extra session and nothing would be
| left undOne to that end.
The first maneuver occurred early in
the morning session and WAS precipl-
tated by Mr.. Walton Of the minority
who thought he had discovered an OBJ
| struction. The rules made il nece--
sary. he said, that the bill should be
sent to the printing committee. Ordi-
narily that would mean a delay OF two
or three days. Speaker Johns directed
him to read the rest OF the rule on that
point, unless the house Shall deter
mine otherwise" But the speaker and
other members of the majority with
surprising amiability. waived any &c
ton by the house and consented To Lle
sending of the bin To the committee on
printing. The members Of the minority
looked at one another and smiled. Here
seemed victory
Nothing else occurred in the morning
session having a direct bearing on the
appropriation bill, though some sus-
picion attached to a resolution by Mr..
Lines that, beginning with last night,
the house should hold night sessions To
dispose of the accumulated business.
The minority pricked up its ears but
before it could make an inquiry the
resolution was adopted and the house
proceeded 10 other business.
The regular order was disposed at
half past eleven when Mr.. Flake. and
other members of the minority whose
bills have been hanging on the calen-
dar thought an opportunity had now
come 10 go into the committee of the
whole But at that moment Mr. Lines
who seemed TO have become the Off
cial adjourner and recesscr moved a
10 M CT ~ T har
q protest broke out and after an an
rouncement that the motion had car
ried, Mr.. Flake and others demanded a
ron call. The speaker replied that Il
was plain from the volume Of SOUND
That the motion had carried Mr.. Flake
replied that he knew il had carried
but he wanted to put on record those
gentlemen who wanted to work at might
and refused TO work in the daytime
But observing that il was only a han
hour to noon. ne withdrew his demand
for a roll call and the house stood a
recess.
The Afternoon Session
After the disposition OF the regular
order. the order Of reports Of siaudinl
committees was referred 20 and The
committee on appropriations returned Z
favorable report on House Bill 40 rs
That is the new, boblailed general APP
preparation bin. Some objection wal
made by Mr.. Edwards that the hous
7 could not go back 10 that order withou
a suspension Of the rules The speake
knew Of no such rule and invited Mr
Z Edwards or any other member ot th'
minority to favor him with the rule
Then the house went into ihe com
mittee of the whole for the consider
alton of bills on the calendar Unde
a special rule thoughtfuliy adopte'
some days ago before tie presen
events were generally foreseen by tn
minority all bills carrying appropria
tons automatically take their places a
the head Of the calendar. SO that i
where us was now found. Next to /
was House Bill 40 and immediately
thereafter Mrs. McKay's now famou
minimum wage bill.
The appropriation bill was read il
full and then the minority began at
tempts at amendments The majorit
rcsolutely stood against even tn
slightest change in the bill. Not a Il
was allowed to be uncrOssed or an Il
to be indicted. If there had been
fly speck on the bill. the majorit
would not have allowed il to be erased
The reading occupied about tw
hours and then the committee rose an
recommended the passage Of the bill
reading produced an oratorical pesti
lence. The minority wanted to recor
their positions that posterity nigh
know. After several speeches. Mr.. Coo
Of Cochise thought he had discovered
defect in the proceedings. He wante'
to know when the bill had been en-
crossed Was ii during the ten min
ute's recess? Mr. Francis was sur
il had not been done then. He was
member of the committee on enrolle
and engrossed bills and he had bee
unaware of any meeting of the com
mittee. Other members of the commit
tee who were of the majority threy
some light on the question Of Mr.. Cook
The bill had been engrossed partly tina
day and partly the day before; any
way. it had been engrossed and the jo
was flawless. In support of motion
for third reading and final passag
Of the bill under "A suspension of tn
rules, Mr. Lines appealed to the mo
noritv to offer no further obstruction
He showed them the hopelessness o
their position in the face of the deter
mination of the majority to prevent
further waste of time that was WORT
forty cents a second.
In reply. members of tho minorit'
complained of the steam roller process
and when reply was made that TIL
word steam roller was not a nice on
to be used in dignified deiberativ
bodies among friends, Mr.. Eddy replied
that that was right. Hereafter he said
when complaint should be made o
hasty action by a majority against ;
minority, instead of steam roller tn