The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1921-03-10
The South Dakota
Legislature


investigation of charges made
and securities commission by Walter
Flanagan of Sioux Falls will be investi-
gated by h senate judiciary commit
tee. Flanagan sent a communication
to Senator Danforth shortly after the
recess. 1t was a lengthy document
with references to the Midland Pack
ing company and present conditions in
h banks OF the state. Nothing had
been done with it until the securities
commission officials asked that it be
aired. Senator Danforth asked that
authority be given the judiciary COM
mittee of which he is chairman to
subpoena Flanagan and any other wit
ness who might be involved by him
for investigation Of charges. The re-
quested authority was given.
The house passed the Otte anti-dis-
elimination bill after an amendment
to cut out the reference to selling, had
been voted. The bill prohibits chain
concerns, particularly creameries,
from manipulating prices to drive out
Independent cream buyers and cream
cries. State boards of engineers and
architects were voted down in the
house with the adoption of adverse
committee reports. The objection was
made that it would simply mean
trusts" of men in the state to keep
new competitors from coming in, and
that with this precedent, there would
be requests for plumbers boards, car
penters boards and boards for every
other trade.
Residents Of counties in the north,
western and southern parts of the
state where Their are no railroads want
to take matters in their own hands.
They have a bill introduced author
izing counties and townships to bond
FOR construction of railroads. Members
from these districts say that II they
get roads through by any means
1t will increase the value of their land
five to ten times and they fear that
If they wait for the natural expansion
of roads they will wait a long time. A
question OF constitutiOnality has been
raised on the bill introduced but if
they a get around this they will
fight for the right to build their own
roads.
The house voted against doing any
thing to relieve the situation among
the feeble minded of the state. The
bill was before them providing for a
state commission of mental experts to
survey the situation in the state at
$500 a day for each of the five mem
bers. The bill provided that county
boards Of insanity could commit feeble
minded persons to institutional care
and segregation without the consent
Of parents or guardians to secure re-
lease of patients. Representative Van
Ornum of Sphinx county, pointed out
q recent instance where two girls tax
en- from the institution by their folks,
were returned several months later
with illegitimate feeble minded babies.
A fight on the home building bills
is assured in the house. This question
will be up for the first time in the
bill outlined by the committee pro-
viding for the administration Of state
home building through municipalities.
1t requires that the town dweller
who wants aid must have a
lot and 20 per cent of the costs Of
his house. No loan would be more
than $4,000. There are features of the
bill which are opposed by many mem
bers. There is general agreement that
some measure of this nature must be
passed by the present session but
leaders agree that there will probably
be a fight before this particular bill
goes through.
A general increase in the number
of names required on initiative and
referendum petition is favored by the
house. The present law fixes the
number at five per cent of the votGrs.
A bill has been passed by the holse
raising the percentage to Is on city
ordinances, after it was shown that
in Sioux Falls il had been possible on
the five per cent basis, to get a 81, 900
election on the question of muzzling
dogs in the summer. A resolution has
been adopted submitting a constitu-
tional amendment raising the required
percentage on state laws from five to
fifteen.
The plea on which the bill was
killed was that it created another com
mission and there was enough now,
Advocates of the bill pointed out that
there were plenty of commissions but
none qualified to pass on cases Of
feeble minded persons and that every
veal wasted meant more crime, misery
and feeble mentality. However, the
house did not consider the problem
worth passage of the bill.
House Bill No. 339, reuesting rail
roads to give a two-cent fare for volun-
teer fire department members going