East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1919-02-08
LEGISLATURE NEWS

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3 SALEM. Feb. S.-(Special to the
East Oregonian. Prom present in
dications the thlrtieth legislative as
sembly is going to make a record on
the amount OF legislation for the for
: ty day session. Four hundred twen-
: ty-five bills have been introduced in
the house. $50 having passed. 20 have
been withdrawn, 25 defeated and the
; remainder are in the hands of the va
riors committees.
In the senate 191 bills have been
introduced, As having passed. five
withdrawn and 10 defeated. -
About so per cent of the bills intro
duced are amendments to laws already
on the statute books These amend
ments include court proceedings, in
creases in salaries, bills affecting tax
alton, business affairs and labor,
/ Many of them are of minor imports
ance, but in practice the old laws
were found to be deficient, cumber-
some or ineffective. The remaining
| twenty per cent consist of new laws
! but so far none have been of great
import or radical in their effect. In
many ways the legislature is a clear
| ing house for the mistakes of former
| sessions which have been discovered
by the people who must live under the
laws and try them out each biennium.
Representative Dodd is the father
of six bills on the house calendar so
far Three of these bills have passed
both the house and the senate, two
have passed the house and the other
is in the hands of the committee. The
three bills having passed both houses
are Nos. "A, 46 and 65.
No. A is Mr.. Dodd's dodder bill |
providing for the eradication of the
alfalfa parasite dodder. and penalty
is attached for the failure to remove I
same within twenty days of notifica !
tion to do so.
No. 46 is the language bill. Copies
OF this bill have been sent to the gov
ernors of all the western states who 4
have written Mr.. Dodd that they have
either introduced the bill or were pre-
pairing to introduce it in their respec-
tive legislatures. There is some tend
ency to confuse this bill with one in
troduced in the senate by Senator /
Dimick. The Dimick bill is far more
drastic than Mr.. Dodd's and barely
got through the senate and will likely
house 1t provides that the German
language shall be prohibited fr m all
public schools. Mr.. Dodd's bill pro-
hibits the teaching of any subject in
the public or private schools except (
in the English language. but does not 1
prohibit the teaching of any foreign 2
language as a subject.
No. 65 relates to mechanics liens.
7 rEa-um
to file "a lien on the property for his
work the same as a carpenter or any Z
other mechanic.
Representative Dodd's bill No. 142 Z
relating to the contracts of public 7
school teachers has had an interest
ing experience.
On February 5th it came back from /
the committee with the recommends
tion that it do not pass. This after
Mr.. Dodd had spent nearly an hour
explaining to the committee how the
bill really protects the teacher as well 4
as the school board. Mr.. DOdd refused |
to accept the decision of the commit
tee and took the bill to the floor of I
the house where it diG not take long Z
to find out the sentiment on the I
question. The report of the commit !
tee on education was almost unani-
mously defeated, the bill was placed h
on the calendar and on February 6th {
passed the house with very little OPP
position.
The bill in question requires that a
teacher shall not cancel her contract A
after sixty days prior to the opening
Of the school term. In the past a Il
teacher could cancel her contract 80
days before the beginning of school
and with the prevailing shortage of N
teachers it has been very difficult to
find another to take her place on such
short notice.
Representative Brownell has been
placed on the legislative committee, :
which is of some Importance as all
bills introduced after the twentieth
day of the session must first pass
through its hands.
Representative Woodson of Gmatllla
and Morrow counties, is a member OF :
several committees, the most import
ant of which is the judiciary. Mr.
Woodson is a man of distinctive char
acter and ability. He is decidedly con- :
servative and when he has anything
to say his remarks ale listened to and
respected by every member of the :
house. This Is great deal m"
than can be said of some of the legis-
ators.
J. n. Burgess, well known Pendle-
ton resident, recently spent a few
days in the capital as a member OF
the third house.
SALEM Or, Feb. Senate bills
passed yesterday:
$. b. 112, by Dimick-Relating to
the deposit of moneys in the state
treasury monthly.
S. 3. 13O, by NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. II