Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1920-01-15
BITTER BATTLE
of WORDS PUTS
LIFE IN FIGHT
Fear Of Killing Road Program
In State Held Reason For
Decision Favorable To War
rem Construction.

Senator Lachmund's attempt to pro-
hibit the payment of royalties on pat
ented pavement laid in Oregon went
down to deefat at the hands Of the
senate this morning after bitter word
battle which extended well into the
noon hour. Not even visions Of paw
ing trusts" and hoary "octopuses'
were sufficient to save the measure.
Nor were references to Combinations
and corrupt influences" sufficiently
menacing to change the votes of those
who saw in the measure not so much
an attempt to drive the Warren Con-
struction company out of the state as
an attemp xii lhe road program OF
he state. Roll call found 20 senator's
opposed to the measure with only sup
porting the bill as follows:
For the bill-Eberhard, Eddy, Far
rell, Lachmund, LaFollett, Pierce,
Strayer, Thomas and Vinton.
Against the bill-Baldwin, Banks,
Bell, Handley, Howell, Huston, Hur-
ley, Moser, Nickelsen, Norblad, Orton,
Porter, Ritner, Smith Of Coos and Cur
ry, Smith of Josephine and Wood.
1hesAhSSio Aauu OCpuitAuCKkL.
Intimations that the engineering
department runs the road game of the
state of Oregon" with retired million
aires upon the state highway commits
sion who could not be expected to give
| detailed attention to the affairs of the
department and an open hope that the
Warren CONSTRUCTION company wound
be driven out of the state were hurled
at the members of the senate by Sena-
tor Pierce in a defense of the Lacn-
mund bill prohibiting the payment of
royalties on patent pavements.
1T has been said," Pierce declared,
that this state is pretty well divided
up for road construction purposes and
that competition is no as keen as it
might seem when it comes to bidding
on road construction jobs. We can
, not expect the member of the commits
sion, selected as they are, to give de-
tailed attention to the affairs of he
highway department and it is pretty
freely rumored that the engineering
department runs the road game Of the
state"
We have gone wild ARE crazy, we
have forgotten all sense of the econ
omy of the old days. he continued in
pointing to the lavish hand with which
Oregon was doling out state funds for
highway construction.
Time for Settlement.
Senator Lachmund in insisting upon
favorable consideration for his meas
ure declared that it was time for final
determination of the pavement royalty
problem which had been injected into
every legislature for years past. He
admitted that his bill was aimed pri-
marily at the paving trust" which he
declared should be driven out of the
state of Oregon as he had driven il out
of Salem.
Senator Handley, who admitted that
he was "smeared with bitulithic," de-
clared that the fight represented by
the Lachmund bill was not so much an
attempt to put the Warren Construc-
ton company out of business as IL was
an attempt to kill the road program of
the state.
"rhe owners of the Evening Tele-
gram" he declared, "are heavily in
terested in the timber interests of the
state and consequently are not inter-
ested in any move that will tend to the
development of the state with its at