The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1921-03-23
THE GOVERNORS FIGHT

hears some crOaker say, "That special session is
costing us $4,000 a day; what is the governor {
trying to do? Bankrupt the state?" Or little
further on you will hear other propaganda that (
is not complimentary to the highest executive in
Montana nor to the men who are supporting him.
1t is to laugh. That game is about played
out in Montana. Ten years ago, or twenty per-
haps the people could be fooled But of late
they are getting wiser and even though the state /
press, as & whole, will not print what is going on
in the capital city, it is being spread broadcast /
through the state by host of eager men who adj I
mire and respect the courage of the governor and
believe in what he advocates.
The special session was not called to fix up
the matter of one judicial district. Despite what
practically every large paper in the state had to
say about being puzzled at the governors reasons;
everyone who had followed the course of the
regular session knew what was up. 1t was the
old fight-the people against. the vested inter-
ests. The fight is about over. AS this is written
the adiourning of the legislature is hourly ex-
pected. And the interests, as usual, have won.
But there is one difference-the issue is now clean
cut and clear. Twenty-eight senators of Mon
tana, under the leadership of Senator Edwards
and Senator Dolan blocked Governor Dixon and
by doing so defeated the cause of the common
people.
The question of the special session was not
the 'bue sky" law land the senate defeated that,
by the way, not the funds for the tuberculosis
hospital, not any of dozen other things touched
upon in the governors different messages it was
matter of taxes. Should the governor be given
authority to appoint tax commission, to employ
scientific and expert help in the determination OF
what tax each class of property should pay?
Dixon wanted the tax commission. The house
wanted the tax commission. But the senate,
dominated by the big interests of the state, killed
the measure.
The debate upon the tax commission bill in
the senate was joke, fiasco. On last Friday
the bill was considered in the upper house. An
Edwards senator would get up and move to emas-
culate some clause and give his reasons for doing
so. A Dixon man would then tear these reasons
to ribbons, but when a vote was called it was
always the same. The corporation senators stood
without hitching. Their votes were registered
with the regularity of clockwork. The machine
was working perfectly. On the floor of the SEN
ate chamber it was openly charged that those
senator's who opposed the tax commission were
controlled. The allegation was not denied. Or
the floor of the senate chamber practically every
railroad big corporation and immense fortune il
Montana was openly charged with seeking tt
evade taxes. The allegation was not denied Cor
pOrations, vested interests, particular moneyeC
men were cited, instances were given, figure
were read-but these allegations still were no
denied. And the machine kept working, killing
the measure advocated by Governor Dixon fo
the more equal distrbutatiOn of Montana taxes
In the fight against the tax commission
measure the interests stopped at nothing Coer
cion was tried. Influence was brought to bear
1t alleged that even bribery was attempted. Tn
state papers, most of them, have not printe
what was going on. Governor Dixon and the me
who supported him have been held up to ridicult
abused and discredited insofar as it was With
the power of some big Montana newspapers
discredit men for doing their simple duty. Dixo
lost his fight-temporarily But there is anothe
election coming two years from now and we b,
lieve that nothing on earth will stop the governc
from going from one end Of the state to the othe
and reading the roll of the men who betrayed the
constituents and their state
1t is the old, old fight, the fight that Gun
minis waged in Iowa, LaFollette in Wisconsin an
Johnson in California. Dixon is waging tn;
same fight here in Montana. The powers that
have run this state during the thirty years of i
history. For the first time last fall, the peop
really elected governor For the first time Il
chief executive is on the side of the people wi
elected him. And that is going to be the winnir
side, as it was in Iowa. in Wisconsin and in Cali
orna. In this fight Gallatin county has con
clean. Harmon, Buell., Sales, and Dunbar. R
member those names. They constitute the Ga
latin delegation in Helena-they voted Wi