Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1919-02-01
HAS LIVE BUNCH
Correspondent Says That the Black Hills
Bunch at Pierre This Winter
Are Live Ones.

Pierre, S. D., Jan. 27.-Out in the
Black Hills where highway construction
means the expenditure of thousands Of
dollars a mile in many places, the views
expressed by some of the eastern mem.
bers of the legislature in regard to such
work may sound rather crude. One Of
the strongest objections to the state
highway system is the fact that the de-
paTtment has good sized working force
making blue prints, or pictures" Of
highway work This the average mem
Der calls waste Of money and time.
They want to get out and build roads"
and they don't need any pictures to
know how to build them. But they fail
to point to their success along that line
to any great degree as result This
one feature is apparently the one being
played up by the advocates of the policy
Of retaining the control of highway con-
struction in the hands of county COM
missioners, Such policy has apparent
ly worked out pretty well in some Of the
Black Hills counties where the people
have dug down for the necessary cash to
make the plans good, but it is a rather
safe bet that there were some engineers
pictures" to work from when such con-
struction was under way and carried
out. This is one of the things which
will have to be fought out in the session
soon after the return of the members
from their recess vacation. Both the
state control idea with trunk highways
as base from which to build the high
way systems of the state; and the county
commissioner control with county high
ways have their advocates, and which
will win is the issue. This will also
have lot to do with the question of
bond issues for highway construction.
If much is done along this line it will be
because the trunk highway idea under
state control has won out, and the ques.
ton of just how far the state wants to
90 will have to be settled. The fact
that for the past week the eastern part
of the state has been favored" with
weather which keeps their roads in such
shape that the gas wagon stays in the
shed may have more effect than any
other element when the voting time
arrives.
The speaker announced the last com
mittees, covering the new ones which
are made necessary by constitutional
amendments. In this list Miner, of
Custer, was placed at the head of the
committee on cement products; and
Skutt, of Meade, is part of the com
mittee on coal development.
If the house accepts the action of the
senate the state game wardens will get
an increase up to 81 800 year for the
regular force, and the special deputies
put on in the hunting season will have
an eight hundred dollar limit. These
figures will be a material increase over
the old compensation, and make the
selections more desirable to those who
take up that work
New senate bills started Just before
the recess, were by Helm, of Custer,
which changes the method of computing
salaries for states attorneys giving them
an increase in most cases, and by Milne,
of Butte, which provides general code
for the regulation of cooperative com
panies which are springing up all over
the state, and under which they will
know just how to proceed in the organ
ization and general control of their
affairs.
All the Black Hills members left for
home for the recess, except Representa-
tives Driscoll and Bird, of Lawrence.
Representative Drscoll, because the Flu
stepped in and prohibited his going and
Representative Bird for the reason that
he had come over to stay for the ses-
sion, and just staid. Along with these
there have been about dozen members
who did not attempt to get out into
their home counties for the vacation,
for similar reasons as those which kept
the two Black Hills men here. Either
they had arranged for the session, or
brought their families with them, or
just didn't care to make the trip, either
of which appears to be satisfactory rea-
sons to them for not moving about.
While things have been dragging for
the session, there is going to be more
activity AS soon as the members return.
1t was generally conceded that nothing
would be rushed before the recess. but
the Rapid City school proposition is
likely to get into the open very shortly
after the members return, and along
with that the bill for a county hospital
plan which is being pushed by Repre-
sentative Cock, of Butte, and also his
bill asking for an appropriation Of five
thousand dollars to help along the stock
industry by the erection of n stock pa
vilion at Belle Fourche.
There is no question that the session
will make provisions for extension of
the scope and accommodations at the
state tuberculosis hospital before the
adjournment, this with possible new
building at Rapid City being about the
extent Of the building legislation for that
part of the state this session.
The state game department is likely
to ask for authority to use a part of
their fund to purchase the holdings of
more Of the homesteaders within the
limit of the reserve, and to carry out
this plan until these holdings are elm
mated,
The Black Hills section can be certain
of one fact, AID that is the vital one