The Alaska daily empire., 1919-04-23
Measure Authorizing Terri tory to Go Into Shipping Business Gets Nearly
 Full Vote.
WARM DEBATE RESULTS
Partisanship Enters Dis cussion; Collins Charac- terizes It Democratic
 Bill, But Votes for It.

| After a lively debate in which par tisan spirit was shown, the Price
 Noon thransportation bill passed the i House of Representatives this m0rh- ing by vote of twelve to three.
 Representative Collins attacked the
 bill as a Democratic measure" but
 voted for it on final passage.
 Mir. Noon, father of the bill in the
 House. addressed the House in ia
 yor of the measure He said the
 success of the proposition was al
 ready guaranteed, as they had beeh
 promised the mail contracts and the
 freight for the Alaskan Engineering
 Commission. He said that the meas
 are was not introduced to fight the steamship companies, but as Alas
 kans were in a position where they
 had to take what the companies
 would give them, it was time foi
 them to protect themselves.
 MT. Collins, doubting the feasibll
 ity and practicability of the bill, as
 well as the sincerity of the Demo
 cratic administration which startej the measure, asked that other mem bers of the House consider the mat ter seriously. He said, however II that he would support it. MT. Col
 hns questioned the right of the leg Il islature to make such a large ap I propriation (the bill carries an ap i nropriation of $300,000) for an ex
 pertinent when the Territory's fl nances were in such dire distress.
 Dr. Dunn said that the passage oi
 the transportation bill will put Ali
 aska on the map, and that 1t will
 tring great and wonderful results fJr the Territory.
 MT Daly. chairman of the Commit
 tce on Ways and Means, replying to Mr. Collins remark regarding the Territory's financial condition, said that the Territory had $7o0,009 in the Treasury and that the Ways and Means Committee would submit a revenue bill to cover the appropria- | tion for the transportation bill ana l leave a balance in the treasury next year. The new revenue bill will pro vide for only a slight increase of l the tax rates, and affect only those who can afford to pay it. MT Daily said he regretted that Mir. Collins was endeavoring to make poltlcal ! measure of the bill, as all politica! parties had joined hands to put 1t l ,% bod nH Gov. Riggs.
 ] Mir Pennington objected to MT. Col- i lins' opposition to the bill on the 1 ground that it was a Democratic eX pertinent and an innovation. lie said that the Democrats were learn 1 ing the value of innovations after fifty years of Republican administra ton, and that they were now trying to wipe some of the Republican blun ders from the statute books.
 l MT. Collins replied, saying that T l the Democrats would take the re sponsibility of the measure upon their shoulders, to go to it. He said too, that it will take fifty years for 1 the Republicans to wipe Democratic administration blunders from the stat ute books, and that it will be fifty years before we see another Demo cratic administration.
 Mir. Daly said that as the bill waF to be discussed as a party measure | le would say that it had the hearty support of the Republican leader
 James Wickersham. who offered to do anything he could to see il through.
 The roll was then called, with q vote of 12 to 8 MT. Davies, MT Ray and Mir Slater voted against the bill MT Sowerby was absent.