The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1921-11-29
SENATOR ODD|E TELLS OF ROAD LAW
BENEFITS COMING To THIS STATE
Nevada Senator Lets Out Some Information Concern
ing the Much-Talked Road Legislation and
incidentally Shows Up Skullduggery

called retroactive clause, the extent
Of the application of the provisions
of che graduated scale. This clause
first appeared in an amendment re-
ported to the Senate from the COM
mittee by Senator Sterling for the
chairman, Senator Townsend, on
August 10.
An additional reason for the In
sertion Of the retroactive provision
and limiting its application to those
projects on which construction work
had not been actually commenced
prior to July /, 1921-meaning the
actual road building work-was that
in the states affected by the provi-
sions Of the graduated scale-par-
ticularly Nevada--the government
was bearing so large a proportion
of the expense as to make retro
active provision without any limita-
ton unfair to the other states.
Under these circumstances, to have
insisted that there should be no
limitation would in all probability
have resulted in the defeat Of the
entire retroactive principle.
When informed the chairman Of
the Senate committee on post offices
and post roads and other members
of the committee Of the intention
of our state highway department to
make use of the solicitors opinion
for such purpose in the admins
tration Of the Phipps and Dowell
bills, II those bills should become
law, they were greatly surprised and
indignant, for the reason that up to
the time Of drawing the Senate sub
stitute for the Dowell bill, the ques-
ton of retroactivity had not arisen,
and, Of course, had therefore not
been considered by the members Of
the committee, either rs 1t related
to this bill or to any bill.
When 1t became evident that the
Phipps-D owell bill could not receive
favorable consideration by the Sem
ate committee and that new legisla-
ton would have to be enacted to
effectually care for the needs of
good roads, and after the substitute
bill had been passed by the Senate,
Mr.. Cottrell, under date Of August
30, wrote asking me why the retro
active provision was In the substi-
tute bill and what actual effect It
would have on the proposed legisla-
ton. In another letter to me under
date Of September z, he for the first
time let it be known that he had
months before taken pains to de-
termine the possibilities Of "con-
STRUNG" retroactiveness into the
graduated scale provision, and in
closed copy Of his letter Of April
20 to the chief Of the public roads
bureau, the reply Of the chief Of
that bureau, and the copy Of the
solicitors opinion, which accom-
panied the bureaus reply.
In other words, while thereby ad-
uniting how deeply the interests Of
our states were involved in the pro-
posed legislation, he yet withheld,
officislly and otherwise, from those
in the Senate who were responsible
for this legislation all knowledge Of
the fact that he had taken up this
important matter on his own mo-
ton, having secured this opinion APP
parently with the idea that II the
Phipps-Dowell bill had become law,
and no contest Of the retroactive in
depreciation was made, he would
have accomplished his purpose of
placing Nevada in the position of
having secured money which Con-
gress was not willing to knowingly
grant. Was his haste at this late
day In writing. and disclosing his
correspondence relating to this So
licitor's opinion forced only because
he had found out that his plans had
been discoveredi
It is clearly evident from the
foregoing and from letters and tele-
grams that have come to me, that
our state highway department pre-
ferred to have this Legislation passed
without mentioning the solicitors
opinion, thus allowing the fortunes
of our state to rest on an uncertain
foundation, which might--and very
probably would-have been demol-
ished later. 1t Is also clearly evil
dent that they preferred to place
the state Of Nevada in the position
of favoring hidden joker legislation
in the hope that it might not be dis
covered, thereby securing from the
government money which 1t was
not the intention of the law or of
congress to allow, by the elimina-
| tion of the definite. clear-cux re<ro-