The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1921-03-03
LIE suagAu Ar- srATg cAFIrALI

TIMES sUsEAU Al STATE CAPITAL
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind, March S.--A
number Of she more Important billie
that held tho center Of tho stage 'o
the house of representative last @ccis
arc moving rapidly toward third read
ing in the senate and most of .sc-a
seem to be backed b,- a majority.
Among these arc the Anderson osiia
providing for tho repeal Of the fuil
crews for railroads. One of these re
peals the fun c;ew raw Of 1909 tpt
trains and the other il the 1911 law
providing for full switching crew "
The railroad man declare that these
laws are not 4 necessary and that they
add at least 100000 to the cost ~
operation Of the railroads in Indiara
Every Indication points to the pasy-
age OF both of these repeal bills by
the upper house. The lobby against
them IS not demonstrating the sort 8
strength chat results in killing a XII.
after it has passed one house,
Another important measure, the
Barker administration tax bin, will b,
ready for passage before the end .
the week. There seems 10 be no op-
position 10 this bill whatever in the
senate.
To persons VINO have been observtn.s
the trend 9f tax legislation il appeal,,
that tho administration tax bill WAS
one Of the measures that vas fouglt
out By the press and the people before
the assembly convened. Soon afto-
the passage OF the Johnson home rue
bill last July it became apparent TO
observing citizens throughout tho
that sro,a rert-fCtgor.s
put on unbridled issuance OF bonds am
on tax levies.
1t is true that many Of the msfarifv
members Of the assembly came to n
dianapoiis with widely different idees
on the method ot cure that should Be
adopted AS a result there have been n
wide range OF bills presented VIII
no other object in mind but to keen
down bond Issues. One Of these wa.
sthe Beardsley referendum bill. This
has been put up for passage twice in
the senate. The first time IT was re
committed and the next time il faiiea
to attract constitutional majority.
This plan is, therefore dead, Tne
other plan IS to reducc the limit 81
Indebtedness any road building unf-
can incur. Tho senate now has undse
consideration a house bill which wiz
limit the indebtedness on three ,nlte
gravel roads 20 per cent of the a.
sessed valuation Of the road district.
The limit is now percent
IT Is tho theory Of the legislator
pushing this plan that IL is better 30
set limit Of Indebtedness and thy,
let tho various local units build roads
as long as they can. In this way rli
state control is eliminated as well as
the expense and red tape OF referen-
dums Or any other plan.
But there has been no effort made s.,
any member of :he assembly to work
out plan whereby ali indebtedness
limits may be reduced from the pres.
ent limits set by the constitution or
by law. This would be a difficult ta-is
and at the best would result In hard
ships somewhere in the state az anc
hard and fast !lmit on school c,r-
struction, for instance. would crtpai.
poor townships or give rich tawnships
a wide margin 20 incur debt.
All thees things have been cares,1i.,
considered by the Governor and bv tbo
Republican leaders in the assen,hl,,
with the conclusion that nothing bat
ter can be offered than the asn,tpis-
tration tax 0ill. or course there j. =,
doubt that It Will pass As soon a. /.
IS IN operation 4 group Of ten t.xnsv-
eTs IN any taxing unit can No.
safeguard against unwarrauted ev
penditures and excessive levies. w,hep
protest IS filed Il viii be up TO ~
state board OF tax commissioner i,
decide the question