The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1927-09-29
to await action by the 1929 legis-
lature. Such a plan will naturally
arouse some opposition.

Ae@eoAS' OuCu pldu VIII naturally
arouse some opposition.
Control: There is no unison of
thought on control of highways as
yet. Many, perhaps most of the
people, are satisfied that the pres
ent ex-officio system should be a.
bolished and then comes the scat
tering of opinions. Some hold that
the program should be centralized
under the governor. Others hold
that the highway engineer and de-
partment should be taken away
from the governor and placed un-
der the present highway commit
tee. Still others are partial to the
idea of creating semi-indepen-
dent system or highway commits
sion. The elective plan, however,
seems to be ditched for keeps. This
question is dynamite, and the boys
may make a few faces, threaten
etc., and then leave it alone: but
it looks as if the convention will
be forced to make some sort of
recommendation to justify it's ex-
istence.
Many other topics are brewing,
too, but the things outlined are
more than any deliberative conven-
tion can digest in two days.
Senatorial politics are booming.
Ex-senator Miles Poindexter is
back from Peru and reports from
Spokane indicate that many of his
friends are telling him that he
can't win the republican nomina-
tion. Nevertheless, Mr.. Poindexter
is still looking for encouragement
and is slated to do some sounding
at the Longview convention.
Chief Justice Kenneth Mackin-
tosh, Olympia, went to Spokane for
the air derby and was greeted pro
and anti. Many of his friends. es-
pecially lawyers, cheered him to
stick to his intention of going
after the seat now held by Sena-
tor Dill, democrat. The Spokane
Spokesman-Review, however. pro-
tested that Seattle wants both
senators" and called upon Mr..
Macintosh to stay out of the con-
test. The dope, nevertheless, is that
Mr.. Macintosh will resign from
the Supreme court early in 1923
to be candidate for the republic
an nomination.
T.
Olympia is somewhat disturbed
by the contempt case before the
supreme court, October z, in which
Samuel Humes, state highway en-
gineer, is to explain to the court
why he failed to obey the courts
order to deliver certain records
the minute book-to the state
highway committee. 1t is gener-
ally agreed that the case is filled
with grave possibilities, the ulti-
mate prospect being a dramatic
clash between Gov. Hartley and
the supreme court.
In fact the case is already of
unusual Importance, being the first
since Washington became a state
that the governor, assuming that
Mr.. Humes is acting under the
council of the governor, has failed
to comply with an order of the
supreme court. And it is the first
contempt case that the supreme
court has had on its hands in 25
years.
The fear is that, in the advent
of finding of contempt, the gov
|ernor will resist any attempt to
punish Mr.. Humes. If it should
come to such a showdown, some
fear that Mr.. Hartley will go so
far as to call out some national
guardsmen to protect the engineer
and the records. That is the most
extreme eventuality, of course, but
there is no denying of some tensity
and uneasiness over the prospect.
The fight over occupancy of the
new $7,000,000 capitol has broken
out anew, and, it seems, the issue
is headed for the supreme court.
Gov. Hartley, keeper of the keys,
has ordered Director Olaf Olson
to keep the doors closed until he,
the governor. is satisfied that the
furniture is fully checked with the
order sheets and everything else
is all right. In the meanwhile,
Land Commissioner Savidge and
Auditor Clausen, the majority" "
of the capitol committee passed
a resolution for immediate occu-
patton. Both sides give clear-cut
indications of standing pat. Con-
sequently, it is limited that Mr..
Savidge and Mr.. Clausen will call
upon Attorney General Dunbar to
institute proceedings in the SUI
preme court to compel the COVER