Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1917-02-22

study it so that you are in a pos;t;on
to act intelligently thereon in commit
Tee, Tor unless you do you will be car
med away or influenced by the cham
pions OF the bill or some LOBBYIST that
Is there to see that the committee
makes favorable report on same.
All this takes great deal of time.
Anyone that has not been in the legis.
lature, except lawyer, perhaps, has
little idea of the amount of work en-.
tailed in drawing up bill that is to
be enacted into law. If it is an entire
new act it is not SO bad or so hard as
when old laws are amended or repealed,
1t takes a good lawyer to draw up a
bill that will stand the test of consti.
tutionality and not to conflict with al
ready existing laws. I never before
realised so fully that to be lawmaker,
one should know the state constitution
and also have some knowledge of exist
ing laws, to that end we are furnished
with complete set of law books About
half of the bills introduced are simply
amendments to, or repeals of already
existing laws and it is impossible to act
intelligently on them without knowing
what the old law is and what the
changes are, that are proposed in the
new. This takes lot of time and it is
impossible to thoroughly inform ones
self on every bill that comes up and
that is the reason of SO many commit
tees. If bill comes up having to do
with the game laws it is referred to the
Educational committee, etc. That COM
mittee then takes up the consideration
of the bill and if they think it good
bill, send it back to the House with re-
concentrations that cit do pass.' Of
course a committees report is not con-
elusive and when they report with re-
concentrations that cit do pass" does
hv no means assure it g passage in the
House, but it does mean that they who
have been specially selected to study
this character of legislation and to give
first expression as to the merits of the
bill, have decided that it do pass 1t
has therefore been given its first step
forward towards enactment into law.
On the other hand if they recommend
that the hill edo not pass' that is al
most equivalent to killing the bill. OF
course, if the author of the bill is a
scrapper he may succeed in bringing
the bill into the COMMITTEE of the
whole" and there give it another run
for its money, and where it may be so
amended that it will finally pass, but
the chances are that if it is really an
Objectionable bill it will be so worked
over that it will not at all accomplish
that which it was intended to do and
had just as we'll been lost. Quite often
the author is then willing to move Gin
definite postponement," which kills it
then and there. Besides this committee
you cannot escape the lobbyists who
swarm around the legislature like flies
around a molasses barrel. They hunt
you up in the House, at home, on the
streets, there is no getting away from
them They are here to assist or re,
sist any measure that affects their in.
terests. In this respect the large cor
porations are least in evidence. County
divisionists pro and con constitute the
major portion. They are not the only
ones. Threshermen, labor unions, sports
men, doctors, in fact, every profession
and industry furnishes it's quota. Try
as you may you cam It get away from
all of them, so that your time Is alwayS
taken up. There is no time for shows
and banquets. 1t is steady grind with
more bills being poured into the hop
per every day. Two much straw ano
chaff for what wheat there is in the
bunch. Bills come up that take up
lot of time and for which there is M
demand. Regarding bills that Idaho
county is particularly interested in,
can say very little. Selway county ha
|had turbulent and disturbed caree
and is by no means in calm waters ye
and may never get there. Nothing cal
be said about the road issue as yet. l. !,
Valley county goes throug gh we vii
succeed in trading off about half of ou
county which no doubt will meet witt
general approval by our people.
Yours truly,
w. B. Hussman.
| broni io1 1f