The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-02-22
House Quickly Passes
Bills Which HI ad
Caused Much Debate
CONTINUED from page one)

opposed to construction of a bridge
at this time.
The bill requiring voters At bono
elections to be. freeholders, home.
steaders or persons paying personal
property taxes was passed after some
argument, 81 to as.
Another bill to turn over to count,
superintendent the work of inspect.
ing classified schools also met with
opposition, but was passed, 62 to 40.
Fourteen measures were killed or
reports of committees Monday after
noon, among them the bill legalizing
the North Dakota safety council and
making an appropriation for it's sup.
port, and a bill forbidding oil com.
panies from issuing master con
tracts" covering the sale Of gasoline
} at discount to all employees of any
company.
Mrs. Craig Favors Bill
Opening the discussion on the OF
bill, Minnie d. Craig. Benson coun.
ty, said that more lobbying had beer
done with regard to it than any
other bill has called forth at this
session and that she had "heard
from more than one direction that
. money has changed hands" in con.
nection with the bill and expressed
the hope that mo. member is mixed
up in the handling of any money"
l.. l.. Twichell, Cass county, ma.
jority floor leader, said he believed
Mrs. Craig's statement to be unfair
and that he had heard nothing OF
any money being passed around. He
expressed the belief that any such
rumors were groundless and pointed
out that the lobbying on the bill HAD
ln,1a Irrr sol krys y&1a n,1ln all
dealers who favored it's passage
Mrs. Craig, in her remarks, had said
that the Standard Oil company had
seemed to be intensely interested and
that its interest seemed to be suf.
ficicnt reason for passing the bill
II. A. Roberts, Cass county, point.
ed out that oil dealers get reduc.
ton Of only half cent gallon or
gasoline purchases of more than 75C
gallons whereas Twichell had said
that farmers get rebates on pur.
chases of 200 gallons month OF
more.
Guy l.. Elken, Trail county, said
he would favor the bill if it were
amended to provide only for guam
tity discount and A. j. Rulon
Stutsman county, said he had signed
the majority report favoring defeat
of the bill but had changed his mind
and would support it.
j. II. Burkhart, Ward county, mi
nority floor leader, averred that re-
bates offered by gasoline dealers
stranglc competition and that the
big oil companies are driving the
small distributors out of business.
Would Enter Dangerous Field
S. w. Thompson, Ramsey county
said the legislature would be enter.
ing dangerous field if it attempted
to legislate upon the subject of com
petition in the gasoline business and
that the next session would see per-
sons in other lines asking simila,
legislation.
o. f. Erickson, Kidder county, said
he had bought thousands of gallons
of gasoline but had never got re-
bate from the Standard Oil com.
pany and pointed out that 10 small
oil companies "went broke" last
year. The Standard Oil company
tried the master contract" system
dered to quit by the attorney gen
cral. 1t resisted the order, he said
but quietly complied before the case
was brought to trial.
II. +. SWEET, also of Kidder coun-
ty. said it is only fair that the man
who buys in quantity should re-
ceivc lower price and that the
salvation of the independent oil
companies is not legislation but CO.
operation. No antitrust legislation
has been effective, he said, and the
bill would not lower the price OF
gasoline.
Corporations have grown because
they understood the theory Of mass
: production and sale, he said, and
no legislature could change the oper-
alton of that principle.
Price Still Too High
C.. F. Stretch, Bottineau county,
pointed out that the complaint of
the independent oil dealers seemed
to be that the Standard Oil company
was setting the price too low but
said it still is too high and asked
defeat Of the bill.
j. M. Thompson, Burleigh county,
said independent operators got no
sympathy from him in view of the
fact that gasoline sells for three
cents less in South Dakota than in
North Dakota.
The only effort to re-apportion the
state which the house witnessed at
this session failed when the house
recommended defeat of a bill de-
signed to make re-apportionmen mt
sof legislative districts on the basis
of the 1925 census.
+. J. Lyon, Mclean county, point
ed out the disparity in the popula-
ton Of various legislative districts
and contended that if the bi:l were
unsatisfactory to the Independent
hmajority it could have been amended
so as to be satisfactory. No one
spoke against the bill or explained
the reason for the action Of the APP
portionment committee in recon-
mending defeat but it was shouted
down in a viva voce vote.
Advocates of the safety council
fought valiantly for the bill giving
il five cents from each automobile
license fee but lost. William Watt,
Cass county, objected that the safe
ty council had not shown how it
was going to spend the $4,000 which
would have been allotted it under the
Fowler, SWEET and others pointed
out that the money would be spent
in educational work, that big cor
into the safety-prevention field and
a real opportunity exists in North
Dakota. They pleaded that a trial
be made and that if only one life
Twere saved by the work it would
prove worthwhile. An effort to rec
ommend the bill for passage was
defeated, 80 to So.
The bill requiring school boards
to budget their expenses was APP
proved by the committee of the
whole after it had been amended to
meet objections previously urged
against it. As finally passed the
method of determining and adopting
the budget was materially simpli-
fled.
AZ. College Appropriation Approved
The bill carrying $288,O00 for the
agricultural college experiment work