The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1921-03-24
The South Dakota
Legislature

Legislature
By accessions to west rive and east
river members the 1921 legislative ap-
portionment bill was put through the
? house. The senate plan of one house
member for each county was adopted
by the house after it was urged by
Rosebud and Black Hills and those
from thinly settled counties between.
The senate bill provided for this but
did not largely increase the house
membership Of counties now having
more than one representative. The
house plan which was discarded for
the senate added one member each to
Brown. Beadle, Minnehaha, and yank-
ton counties and cut Lawrence
county down from four to two. Floor
amendments to the bill in the house
gave an additional member to Brown,
Minnehaha and Yankton but left Bea'
die out cold. Lawrence was raised to
three members on the ground that
with the dropping of prices of other
metals, gold miners were coming back
to work and she population was COM
ing UP again to normal.
The senate passed the automobile
license TAX bill, expected to furnish
the major portion Of funds after 1928
to meet the 81, 1000 % federal aid for
highways. The automobile tax is
based on weight of cars and ranges
from $l3 for cars weighing less than
1000 pounds, up to $S5 for those of
1000 pounds and over. Motor trucks
T are to be taxed on capacity. This
tax would be in lieu of all other as
sessments, local or state, and is not ex-
peCted to average much higher than
accumulation of present costs. The.
.emaiuder of the federal aid will Oe
met by agasOline tax of one cent d
net by a gasoline tax of II cent a
ways.
"This country is going dippy on ed
ucation. with town and country peo-
| pie alike striving to give their boys a
college education so they will not have
to do manual labor, and who in
thunder is going to do the work."
This was the challenge put UP to the
house by former Representative w.
H. Lyons OF Sioux Falls. He prophe-
sled that it would soon be necessary
to import Japanese or Mexicans to till
the soil and thought it more honor to
a mar to own his home than to have a
college education. Owning his home,
he believed, every man with land
enough az his disposal should have a
wood lot and relieve the coal demand
by furnishing his own fuel.
Farmers were called to the colors in
the house to protect themselves and
heir sacred right OF assessing them
selves, against the county assessor bill
which has passed the senate. Nelson
of Roberts said it was a declaration
that farmers were too stupid to do
what they had done for 60 years.
Belk said 1t was another step away
from home rule, and other farmer
members fell in line. Nordness urged
1t as the efficient and economical
method but Bailey of Minnehaha
another city man. nulified his argu
ments. Bailey feared it would be, toe
expensive and bulky, and the bill went
down.
West of the river delegations wor
out in the first fight on the Legislative
apportionment in the house. The sen
ate has passed a bill providing one
house member for each county and
members from thinly settled country
west of the Missouri river favor this
The house committees had buried thai
bill and had put in one of it's own
basing representation strictly on pop
u~lation. The house bill took one
member from a west-river county ant
added four new members east Of thu
river. The Rosebud and BLACK Hills
members succeeded in smoking out
the senate bin which was in com
mittee.
Home building was finally put ovel
the top by ex-servlce men ever after
1t had been originally killed in the
senate. The original bin had passed
both houses bat an effort was made
to kill the apportIonment of $25. 00t
to carry on the work of organization
The bill was killed but was resurrect
ed and after being amended to pro
vide only SIS, 900 was passed Senator
Wagner, only democrat In the senate
proved his worth when he changed
his vote from no to aye and allowed
the bill to pass. Without his vote the
appropriation would have been killed
and the entire home building program
made imperative
The house decided the livestock
fight In favor of the present board. A
fight by independent stockmen and
attorneys againsts the livestock sani
tary hoard as 1t now exists has beer
on all through the session. The house