The Carlisle independent., 1921-02-10
STATE CAPITAL NEWS

-
 Assembly is one half gone. As a re-
 suit of the first four weeks of the ses-
 sion there are 50 new Acts on the
 statute books and a large number of
 new measures on the way. A total of
 353 bills has been introduced in the
 House and 255 in the Senate. The
 most notable feature of this session
 as compared with the three sessions
 of the 42nd, is the reversal of the
 body on the question of special road
 acts. There is scarcely member of
 the House and Senate who is not the
 author of some sort of bill repeal ing, amending or modifying the spe-
 cial acts of 1919 and 1920 creating
 these districts. Only one member
 Mir. Belote of Hot Springs, has had
 the temerity to propose the creation
 of new road improvement district.
 And he got by with his proposition by eliminating the bond issue provisions
 and providing that the road shohld
 be built and maintained by tax on vehicles, operated on the roads. The House has also passed a general bill
 applying to all counties permitting the people to call an election on any district created by special act of for
 mer sessions to determine whether or not the proposed improvement shall be carried out. This bill has been hailed by the friends of the peo- pie as Democratic measure, since it refers to the taxpayers the question of whether they shall be taxed or not for improvements in which they are interested.
 Another feature of the session is the disposition on the part of both the House and Senate to accept the poli- cies outlined by Governor McRae for the abolition of various commissions and agencies. The first to be put out of business is the penitentiary commission, which became defunct February 1 and was succeeded by an Honorary Commission. The Arkan- sas Corporation Commission will be submitted to the Third Degree this week and predictions are freely made that it will go the way of the Peni- tentiary Commission Other agencies which are skating on thin ice are the Board of Control, the Arkansas Tax Commission, the Fish and Game Com mission, the Boiler Inspection Depart ment, the Oil Inspection Department, the Highway Department, State h. heritance Tax Collector and possibly few other honorary and semi-hon- orary commissions.
 Elaborate bills have already been introduced to provide methods for taking over the work of the Tax Con- mission and the Board of Control. In place of the Board of Control which now has charge of the state elimosa- nary institutions, it is proposed that three honorary commissions of five members each shall be appointed by the governor. In fact, the honorary commission appears to be the favor ite means for the administration of public affairs. Governor McRae is thoroughly committed to the policy of honorary board The House is prac- tically unanimous in supporting him in this policy while the Senate is more nearly evenly divided.
 Investigations are also popular pastime of the legi4lators. Provi- sions have already been made to in- vestigate the affairs of the State Pen itentiary and more than 100 subpo- naes are being served this week all over the state for witnesses to testify before the committee. The State Boiler Inspector is also being investi- gated as we'll as the state hospital dairy farm, and the employment of an engineer from Missouri by the Ar kansas Corpoation Commission There has been talk of Investigating the Fish and Game Commission, the Highway Department, and various other things. Two unsuccessful at tempts have been made by Mir. Dow ell of BoBone to order an investiga- tion or rumors of gambling and boot logging in the offices and rooms at the State Capitol.
 It appears inevitable at this time that there will be radical change made in the system of collecting au- tomobile licenses. The members seem to be determined that the mon- ey derived from the annual licenses shall be returned to the counties where the owners reside to be used on their own roads instead of being placed in state highway fund to be disbursed by a highway commission. There is an open question whether this will invalidate the Federal aid. | The question has been freely dis