Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1917-01-19
he has operated on somebody's bank

he has operated on somebody's bank
roll.
Abolition of the office of county
engineer as an elective office. and the
placing of the selection of an engin-
eer and road builder in the hands of
the county commissioners was agreed
upon by the house roads and bridges
committee this week. The commit
tee also went on record as favoring
the procedure followed two years ago
of adopting the road program of the
Inland Empire Good Roads associa-
ton. which body has practically
agreed upon the apportionment of
the road funds in that district.
The senate Tuesday passed a me-
mortal, introduced by Senator Wal
ter S. Davis, to President Wilson and
congress, asking submission of the
national woman suffrage amendment
to the states. Only three dissenting
votes were cast, those of Barnes,
Client and Palmer, all Republicans.
Chairman E. w. Olson, of the in
dustrial insurance commission, ap-
peared before the appropriations
committee this week and asked for
an immediate appropriation of $1O,-
900 to be used during the remainder
of the biennium. Mr.. Olson ex-
planned that the department had
turned over $4,000 of it's funds to
the bureau of inspection and super
vision to defray the expenses of the
investigation which that board made
following the Gillies defalcations,
and that $500 was required to meet
the costs of printing and mailing the
annual report to the contributors to
the various funds, a requirement of
the law not followed during the last
four. years.
Following a meeting of the joint
committee in the house and senate on
public morals, at which meeting At
torney General w. Vaughn Tanner
appeared, it was decided Tuesday
night to eliminate from the bone dry
measure the Saving clause" of Sec
ton II. Mr.. Tanner went over the
measure section by section with the
members of the committees. He had
previously received full copy of
the recent decision of the United
States supreme court upholding the
Webb-Kenyon law. AS a result of a
study of this decision he informed
the committees there was no doubt
but that the bone dry law. as intro
duced in the house by Halsey, would
be upheld by the supreme court. Be-
cause Of this fact the committee de-
cided upon the elimination of the
savings clause.
The county unit plan of handling
school districts Is being advocated in
the house educational committee, and
poll of that committee indicates
that such a movement will find a
strong enough following to bring out
a committee bill. Under the unit
system, the taxable property Of the
county will be assessed for a school
fund and the money will be appor-
toned to the various districts, all far
ing alike. Management of the schools
will also be lodged to county board
of education.
Leading legislators in both the
house and the senate are taking Sc
riously Governor Listers recommen-
dalton that the state bureau OF in
spection and supervision has outlived
its usefulness and should be abol-
ished, and the same attitude is being
shown towards the suggestion that
the office of the state auditor be given
a thorough investigation. Opinions
of 80 county auditors in the state and
of the mayors of 20 largest cities as
to the value of the state bureau are
being gathered by Senator c. e.
Meyers, of Lincoln county. Men,
bers of the bureau have not been con-
spicuous by their absence from the
corridors and legislative halls since
the message of the governor was read,
and the activity Of employees of the
department is causing some Of the
legislative leaders to take a more
than passive interest in the sugges-
ton that the office be abolished.
An illustration of the careless,
slipshod work done during the closing
hours of a egislature-when most