The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-25
FEVERISH RUSH OF CLOSING DAYS
OF LEGISLATURE now AT HAND

il now secures. If its revenues are
shorn away the system must newt
ably suffer. 1t is probably true that,
next to the individual motorist, the
cities profit most from the trunk
highway system. But it should not
be forgotten that the cities pay the
most; neither should it be forgot
ten that the trunk highway system
profits every section of the state,
even to those sections many miles
back from any trunk highway. Min
nesota should examine with great
care any proposal which may threaten
the development of its rtunk highway
system.
The Vicious Rider" System.
OF late years the practice has
grown up in the finance and appro-
priations committees of raising the
salaries of state officials and en-
ployees by means of attaching pro-
visos or riders" to various appro-
priations. This practice resulted at
the 1925 legislature in the final all
night squabble between the senate
and the house, the house contending
that the rider" method was not q
proper method of raising salaries. By
means of riders" during the past
four years the salaries of the fol-
lowing state officers have been in
creased: Secretary of state from
$4,000 to $500, assistant secretary of
state from $500 to $500, auditor
from $4,000 to $4,000, deputy auditor
from $270O to $4,000, treasurer from
$4,000 to $4,000 and the three members
of the railroad and warehouse COM
mission from $4,000 each to $4,000
each. If the "riders" should be
omitted from the appropriation bills
at any session the salaries would re-
vert back to the figure provided by
statute. A bill was offered by the
appropriations committee to the
house this week to test the sentiment
of the legislature on this matter.
If the bill passes the increased sal
aries named above will become perm
anent by statute; if the bill fails
well, perhaps in that event, there
will be another house and senate dead
lock on the closing night of the ses-
sion.
No Crime Legislation.
Twin City newspapers are vigor-
ously "panning" the legislature for
its failure to enact legislation to pre-
vent crime. 1t is feared that the leg
islature may fail to enact into law
any of the major recommendations of
Governor Christianson's crime com
mission. Twice only in its history
has any legislature in Minnesota
given serious heed to the reports of
-. o1-a-oeeanz Arr4 tx -
Der of commission reports that it has
cast into the discard or utterly ig-
nored are very numerous. The legis-
lature of 1925 enacted into law the
principal recommendation of the in
term committee for the reorganiZa-
ton of the state government, where
at there is nov much ~muttering.
The legislature of 1928 accepted the
recommendations of the interim
on education. Other in
term committees have had their Ia
bors for their pains. The senate COM
mittee on crime prevention has re-
most of the proposals of the
governors crime commission. The
house committee has accepted many
of them, but indifference to the whole
matter still prevails.
Everybody Wants Money.
The house committee on ~appropria-
tons has already this session held
more than fifty meetings and at every
one of them some citizen has ap-
peared to declare: 81 don't know of
anything for which the state can
more wisely spend money" than for
this new park, that proposed hatch
cry, an auditorium, a vacation camp,
experiments with farmers electric
lines, a bounty for crows, tuberculin
tests, a 100000 state fair swine
barn, and many, many other very
worthy undertakings. The taxpayer,
at thees meetings, is conspicuous by
his silence and his absence. At only
one meeting has an anti appeared.
The blind want a pension; they came
and argued for it; other blind came
and argued against it. Outside of
this one instance the only opposition
to spending the states money comes
from the big Three" and how they
are catching it for the temerity!
Mobbing the Schools.
In the past 20 years, since 1900, en-
rollment in the high schools of Min
nesota has increased 500 per cent and
the number of students graduated
from the high schools has increased