The Cordova daily times., 1921-04-06
SOLONS PLACE AUTOBANDITRY
 AS HIGH CRIME

ciated Press). -- Two hundred and eighty new laws resulted from the in troduction of eight hundred and thir- ty-tWO bills-465 in the house and 367 in the senate-in the 1921 session of the Indiana legislature The ses- sion, the 72nd, was marked by effec- tive opposition to extreme regulatory measures and a proposed extension of blue laws was left to die in the house.
 Governor McCray counselled judi eious scrutiny of all proposed legis- lation and enactment of few laws in his message and at the close of the session he expressed himself as we'll pleased with the consideration given his advice. The governor vetoed six measures and refused to receive IS others in the final rush.
 Treatment of the crime wave occu- pied much time in the opening days of the two months session. A new crime, defined as "automobile ban ditry," was covered by a statute which provides penalty of three to five years for first offense and ten to twenty for a second. Use of an automobile by two or more persons to accomplish a crime or to escape from the scene of a crime constitutes automobile banditry under the h. diana law.
 Severe penalty for robbery with deadly weapon is contained in an other new law. For the first of fense ten to twenty years is pre- scribed and for the second life i'm prisonment. A determined effort was made to prescribe life imprisonment for first offense of highway robbery or burglary but it failed.
 Indiana followed the lead of a num- Der of other states in adopting option al commission or commission man. ager forms of government for cities. The law was patterned after statutes of other states and contained no or iginal ideas.
 One of the hotly contested strug- gles of the session centered about a motion picture censorship measure. Three were killed in the senate one providing for censorship and regis tration of films by the state board of education and another providing for appointment of a board of cen sorship. A measure similar to the latter was passed by the lower house, but killed in the senat. An amend atory bill to bring the states blue" laws up-tO-date and to leave no loophole for Sunday movies or baseball was never handed down on third reading
 Measures sponsored by womens or ganizations did not fare well, al- though for the first time in history a woman, Mrs. Julia Nelson, of Della ware county, sat as a member of the Indiana house of representatives. Al strong campaign was made for nine hour day for women in industry but the bill was killed in the house.
 Labor policies, in the assembly were not pronounced. A state con stabulary bill. opposed by labor was beaten as was an anti-picketing bill. On the other hand full train crew laws were repealed eliminating a struggle which lasted for more than ten years.
 Supporters of the direct primary system won a victory when the fight for repeal was relinquished after & test vote in the senate.
 The state public service commis- sion was made the target for wig orous attack in the lower house but a bill to abolish the commission was beaten on second reading.
 Perhaps the most unusual law en-i acted was the indigent parent meas ure. It provides penalty of fine and Imprisonment not to exceed six months for failure of children to sup port their poverty-stricken parents in the event they are able to do so.
 An echo of rural feuds was dis 1 cerned in the James law which makes possible criminal prosecution of own CTS of turkeys, chickens, ducks, and geese, which trespass on the land of others.