The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1920-12-24

having pceH inelnDef OF lnaJ BODY
during the 1917-1919 sessions. So
North Central Washington should be
we'll represented in that body.
In the average session of the egis-
lature there are introduced about 600
bills. In other words, this is 10 bills
a day. Each bill is intended to right
wrong or fancied wrong or create
more rights and privileges. Nearly
every bill introduced steps on the toes
of somebody or affects some industry
or organization. Those effected come
in person to the legislative halls to
protest or assist. Therefore. the
Lobby" and the lobbyist" Besides
the time taken up in giving a decent
perusal of the bills introduced the
legislator has to listen to his constit-
uency in the form of the LOBBYIST.
Maybe he has received fifteen letters
during the day and they will have to
be answered. And all the time his
fellow members are busy on their line
of legislation or for their own inter-
ests and they have to be watched and
counseled with; and then there are
the committees in session of which
he is a member and of which he should
be in attendance. Such is the life of
the legislator.
And so this coming session our
membership from this section will
have to contend with thcsc various de-
tails. There will be introduced for
their kind attention bill appropriate
ing a 100000 or so for the construc-
ton of a normal school at Chehalis.
something the state needs about as
badly as it needs three more univer-
sites. The proponents of the bill are
good citizens of the state, well mean
ing anr patriotic, but their enthusi-
asm has the best Of their judgment
and yet it is going to take lot of
fight and courage to defeat it.
Then there are going to be all
kinds of measures to control strikes
and affecting labor and capital. Some
thing along this line will be enacted
into legislation, but it will take care
full study and concerted action to
make it beneficial to all.
Taxation will also be a subject for
legislation. Every session sees bills
of some kind along this line but the
subject is so far-reaching and so com
pleX that the average legislator looks
askance at the enactment into law of
some new theory of which he has only
had few days to consider How
ever, there should be a remedy for the
present basis of taxation as the as
SCISSOR just gets the tangible things
and the intangible things such as
stocks, bonds and mortgages go un-
taxed
And then, Road Legislation: If
nf
were limited to Chelan county alone
or to this section of the state, the
matter would not be such a difficult
one but each section and corner of
the state has its needs for road mon
ey. Highway Commissioner James
Allen has announced policy that no
money will be appropriated to build
new roads until those now under CON
struction are completed. What this
policy will mean as to the proposed
connection between the Rock island
boulevard and Trinidad remains to be
seen but North Central Washington
has the strongest representation in
the legislature this session that if ever
had and the people here can depend
upon the best presentation possible of
their wants and needs. This will be
true as to all matters that come up
before the legislature. Seldom does
one section of the state have as able,
honest and conservative bunch of
men as their representatives in the
law-making body of the state as they
have in F.. M. Gillette of this county:
ben Thomas of Grant county; F.. f.
Banker of Okanogan county, and A
r. Mclean, of Douglas county.
These men will not be swerved bv a
desire for political preferment nor
personal gain. The result of the com
ing session will see enactment II
some new legislation along conserva-
tive lines that will tend to solve some
OF the problems of the day, but there
will not be anything vicious or exper-
mental.
An effort will be made to get the
next Legislature to pass law pro-
vldlng for lien on apple crops in fa-
vor of the labor employed in picking.
sorting, packing and other work in
harvesting and marketing the crop.
At the present time there is no such
law and when the grower gives a
mortgage on his crop early in the
season and meets with adversitv the
laDor employed in harvesting the crop
sometimes has hard shedding to get
their pay.
Lien laws for harvesting and mar
keting grain crops have been on the
statute books for many years and
take precedence over mortgages and
it would be no more than right to
have the same law applicable to ap-
pie crops for the labor emploved in
getting the crop ready for market is
an essential ingredient in the value OF
the crop.
Four years ago a law was passed
creating a lien in favor Of labor en-
ployed in the cultivating and carinp
for orchards and this law will prob
ably be amended to include the har-
vesting and the marketin