Grand Forks herald., 1919-12-05

missioner of agriculture was that the
latter would take orders. FL
i The climax was precipitated by Rep
resentattve Walker, who appears as the
author Of the BILL, when he moved that
;Burtness' explanation be expunged
from the record Y Rs
lss s;4. Ii 81 Explainer Explained
Bugtness then explained his explana-
,,t1oh In terms even more vigorous than
the original. To begin with he had OBJ
tJeeted to changing the personnel of
state boards to meet the political
Whims OF the majority to substituting
Tor men now on these boards others
who Will take orders. He had declared
that he sdespised q man who will stab
In the dark; who will not fight fair,
and as such he classified the men
whom he declared would deprive the
state auditor of the privileges of the
office to which the people of North Da-
kota had elected him and who are not
men enough to try to impeach him.
Burtness insisted after Walkers mo-
tion that his explanation of his vote be
read He then stated that he would
not withdraw from his position that
the motive behind this measure was
absolutely political. He referred to the
campaign which has been carried on
against Kositzky. elected on the league
ticket to be state auditor: reelected
after two years trial to the same posi-
tion trump card Of the opposition on
the stump during the last campaign"
II repeat" said Burtness, that this
bill is a stab in the back. Why don't
you allow him to come before the bar
of the Senate and defend himself by
bringing impeachment proceedings
against him? II you take offense at
what have said, if it hits some Of you
1 don't care.
IF you want to enforce autocratic
rule and to keep my remarks out Of
the Journal do so, but wish to say to
you, gentlemen, that they will come
back to you great deal stronger than
they would if they had been made a
part of the record Of this House"
:, Rules of Order
Miller of Bottineau reminded Burt
ness of Roberts Rules Of Order.
O'Connor Of Grand Forks. suggested
that under the North Dakota consti-
tuition; (which in some circles ranked
even above Roberts Rules Of Order in
this state" every member Of the legis-
lature was guaranteed the privilege of
recording his vote, and that an expla-
nation was considered q part of a
members vote, and that one-sixth Of
the membership Of the House. or nine
teen representatives in the case Of the
present House, could insist that any
members vote be placed on record,
and with it that members explanation
of his vote
Stair, however, sustained Walkers
motion, and announced that only such
! portions of Burtness' remarks as he,
the speaker, considered not offensive,
would be permitted to appear in the
House journal. r
Politics Again
Walter, ]. Maddox, League floor
leader. would stop personal and polit-
ical flights on the floor, he informed
the House. He suggested that they
| might amuse the galleries. but that
! they were mighty poor craftsmanship,
and he declared some members all
ready had gotten enough into the jour-
nal to hang themselves politically.
The House passed every measure up
on its calendar except House Bill 81,
which relates to auditors notices of the
sale Of property for delinquent taxes
| and which was re-referred to the COM
mittee on state affairs, and House Bill
! II, abolishing the office of county tax
supervisors, which also was re-referr-
ed.
More Grist
The House passed the following bills:
| House Bill II, relating to co-opera-
tive organizations and providing that
| five per cent of the gross earnings
might be set aside for purposes Of edu-
cation, similar to the plan adopted by
Townley's Consumers United Stores
Co. The House lost some strength on
this, the vote being so to a..
House Bill SO, substituting the COM
missioner Of agriculture and labor, for
| the state auditor on the emergency
commission.
House Bill 80, appropriating $4,000
for the use of the governor in such
emergencies as the Senate Bill II, ap-
propriating $4,000 for flood control
in Richland county, when matched by
similar amount from Minnesota.