The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1920-01-23
HousesBill'6o Is
Unconstitutional

House Bill 60 is unconstitutional.
No Legislature has the right to declare
all Of it's acts emergency measures
and put them into effect at stated
date.
The supreme court Of North Dakota
the Non-Partisan League suprem:.
court itself--has so decreed and
thrown whole wagon load OF sane
into the gear boxes OF the Towniey-
Observation-Disclosures machinery.
Article CT of the North Dakota con,
stisution declares that an act which
does no! receive two.thirds Of all votes
in both houses. but which carries a
majority OF the gctes shall take ef-
tect on the July 1st following the sss-
sion. If it receives two.thirds of the
votes in both house and senate il may
become an emergency measure nud
effective after its signature by .',n
governor
Arguments on the constitutionaIitvs
Of House Bill 50 Which declares an
acts Of the special session to be emer-
gency measures were heard before the
SUPREME court two weeks ago. Friday
afternoon Jurge Bronson Who vJ11o
the adverse opinion, and received COZ
currance from Grace, Christfanson
and Birdzell filed the documents -
which it was held by q four to oas
vote that House Bill 60 overz1dss
ne provisions Of the constitution, aat
bill does not become operative until
July 1st after session of the legisla-
ture and that it is impossible to de-
clare all acts emergency measures
Further the constitution is held to
mean that session" or ASSEMBLY
means any session whether regular or
special. and that the rule applies to
both in respect to the time when laws
passed without emergency shall be-
come effective. s&&
While startling feature OF the At
fair is that Bronson and Grace, genu-
inc '.We1l Stick Townleites" agreed
that the billsszas Al joyIid ding legislative
'issteRmTollsrT and I1constl tional, the.
big feature is the fact that the Social
iss have utterly failed (until Juy 1st
at least) In their effort to punish
LANCER, Hall and Kositzky for their
boiling and fight against Townley ct
al,
The holding of the law to be uncon-
stitutional postpones until July. the
slashes in the appropriations for the
operation of the Attorney Generals
Secretary of States and State Audi
tors department; postpones the trans
fer of the state license department,
postpones the governors. bill which
allows him to get his hands on to or
his sleuths into any private mail,
property or business; retains on the
auditing board, the emergency conf
mission, the banking board, the board
Of equalization and other commissions
the auditor, attorney general or sec
retary OF state; it prevents the COVER
nor from spending s25,ooo for political
purposes in digging up propaganda
stuff through his investigating I, com,
mittee; it prevents the governor from
spending $25,OO0 for special attorney
general hire; it prevents the governor
from hiring lawyers to defend Hagan'
Sherman and other Townley1tes
whose prosecution Of cases might be
easily lost; it prevents the addition OF
two more salaried puppets In me
Workmen's Compensation Bureau and
the raise in salaries for the present
men, it prevents the spending OF
$4,000 for the state sheriff; It pre-
vents the league from being able to
personally solicit and collect votes IN
every precinct in the state under the
operation of the absent voters lay:
and it prevents the league from put
ting in an organizer in every to"n-
ship in the state ostensibly as
noxious weed inspector.