New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1917-03-09

legislature have witnessed the usual
scramble for place of pet" mea-
sures. the rush center tactics of the
majority In the lower house, and to
an extent dictated by the amount
Of legislation to be passed, in the
senate as welt In this grist the min
ority has by no means been over
looked and meritorious measures
whether they be of one party's ori-
gin, or the other, have received their
place for consideration by the calen.
dar-makers.
A Game of Wait
The appropriation bill after max
ing a momentary appearance in the
senate from the finance committee
became seuuestered again. Solicitous
friends have so encumbercd the de-
liberations. of the senate finance
committee, that that portion of the
legislative machinery Jagged behind
in its final reDort until considerably
after the eleventh hour In its first
form the bill, after providing for ne
cessary interest expenses. and set
ting aside $l20,OO0 for the redemp-
ton of state certificates of indebt-
edness. merely listed the previous
maintenance expenditures Of the
various state departments. Only a
few Of the most pressing and una-
voidahie demands for extra expense
were represented Result: every in.
stitutionai head has been here look
ing the situation in the face, and en-
deavoring by hook, not to say crook,
to get extras on the list. The re-
suit NAV be called more or less sat-
isfactory. more satisfactory to those
getting increased appropriations and
less to those who were reduced, but
not entirely satisfactory to any one.
for where was there ever an appro-
priatior bill that meets that cordi'
ton! Nevertheless the best efforts
OF the states chosen from among
the states chosen. have passed on
the bill. and il meets the states re-
cuirements we'll. Those who anti
e;pated bizarre cutting off of our
needed though needv educational in
stitutions, were mistaken. The axle
grease has been pretty welt smeared
over all the bearings Of the states
n1echanisms, and we are on our wav
for arother two wears 10Y ride OF
New Mexico toward prosneritv.
Appointments for Dessert
Watchfu' waiting was new role
Cor the majority element in the legis-
iat,,re hut they waited with the "a,
ticocc Of Job. or lob. and at the end
cf the sese On the anrurciamert ,s
of the new governor arrived. The
governor had little enouoh time at
that in which to do a good job. but
that he did make fine selection NJ
officers. not even a Democrat will
denv. However lest the governor he
given too mich credit for the se1ec-
tions he made. attention is called to
the material he had to pick from,
as the employment agency appear
arce Of the governors waiting room
during the days NJ his brief incum-
bencv, we'll testified. Most Of the
aggressive men Of the state were in
that waiting room. and literally Tin
fire" for aopointment.
New Mexico now has harmoni-
ous set of public officials. capabie
and united. and New
Mexico snreiv expects big things.
Good Laws concocted
Foremost of the sessions enact
ments must perforce be named the
prohibition Submission resolution.
An earnest effort to get upon the
statutes some law promoting equal
suffrage. was successful in that Il
cut this desirable project forward ;
another notch. An unavoidable .
of circumstances pre-
vented the majority with getting as
far in this matter as they would
have desired.
OF far reaching Importance is
law enacted during the eliminating
iays Of the session. and for whi.h
our friend "Jim" Tully is to be
more perhaps than anv
other. is the good roads bill, which
gives us a state highway commission
81 three appointed by the governor
md a highway cnpireer. whose DIV
les and official affairs are divorced
rom those of the office of the state
engineer proper. Detailed instsuc-
ion as to how the counties and the
tate shall jibe. and as to how these
shall meet the federal
,roffers in road matters are an in ,
egraI part of the biz. Some of the
provisions of this good law are as |
ol1ows:
No state or county official can
'e appointed to the highway board. {
dcmbers must be of different poll I,
ical parties. They receive $500 per
lay when at work for the states in S
crest, and travelling expenses. Ev- {
~ two years one new member Is a
dded ard an old member goes ont. {
he term of office is six years. To- i
ether thcv appoint the highway en- s
inecr. ffis office is non-politieai.