Arizona state miner., 1927-02-26

PHOENIX-Disgus with failure
of the legislature to enact any form O.
legislation to refnance the state high
way department, creditors of the de-
partment held a sort of indignation
meeting in Phoenix a few davs ago
and as result new highway oil
was scheduled to be presented to the
legislature this week, with the de-
mand that it be given preference over
all road legislation.
The bill will ask for an appropria
ton of $620,000 or whatever amount
may be necessary to enable the de-
partment to meet it's outstanding OBJ
legations. ''Pay us off first, then in
vestigate the department, determine
who is to blame, place the department
in the hands of a commission or do
whatever else you want to do with it,
but let us have the money for which
we have been waiting for 10, these
many moons" is the demand of the
irate merchants.
In view of the fact that there are
something like 900 creditors scatter
ed over the state it is assumed that
the lawmakers will see fit to give the
proposed measure full right of way.
Slow Progress
Up to date the legislature has done
very little except investigate con-
ditions of the various departments.
The one outstanding piece of legis-
lation, the bill providlng for the ap-
pointment of a permanent Colorado
river commission, has been vetoed
by the governor on the grounds that
ten commissioners are too many and
that the chief executive should have
opportunity of naming at least half
of them. 1t is reported that senate
leaders now busy revamping the bill
in such form as will meet executive
approval, knowing full we'll tnat the
solons wont care to return to their
homes without having accomplished
something toward Colorado river de-
velopment.
Highway Situation Serious
The highway situation is serious
in the extreme. W1u4 me department
at a stand still, and de-
ficit staring it in the face, recent
rains have washed out two major
bridge structures and damaged hun
dreds of miles of highway, and de-
spite all this the legislature has as
yet failed to do anything about it.
The highway commission bill was
still in committee at the end of the
week with the promise, however, that
it would be reported out at an early
date
Raises Pay to $500
The price of justice in Arizona has
been elevated considerably by bill
which has been signed by the gov
ernor, increasing the pay of justices
Of the supreme court from $4,000 to
$500. About a dozen minor bills
have been signed thus far
Last week was devoted principally
to harpooning the highway depart
testimony taken by the joint commit
tee on highway investigation, how the
so called highway machine" operates.
employees Of the depart
ment appeared on the scene to de-
nounce the methods of their superiors
as wasteful and eXtravagant. Some
of the highway workers had been
caught in the act of playing horse
shoes; some had been active in organ
izing political clubs and collecting
dues; as for the higher-ups they were
guilty, it was alleged, of spending too
much money on highway construction,
poor judgment and inefficient engi-
neering.
Thrust two consisted of red hot
come back by w C. Lefebvre, in
which he charged Chairman Sutter
of the Senate Highway Committee
with political intrigue.
Act Tree was a bomb-fnroWing
scene calculated to throw the entire
highway department into oblivion,
with Chairman Sutter holding the
spotlight.
Act four, or was it round four, gave
Engineer Lefebyre a chance for a
come back in the minds of many ring
siders. He told how one of the wit
nesseS against him had been given a
fat contract for feeding the men on
the Winslow-Canyon Diablo federal
aid project, how the men went on
a strike because of poor grub, how
the merchants Of Wins1ow had ex-
tended credit to the boarding house
man, and how he still owed them.
Again Lefebvre refuted the allegation
of the investigators that the state had
lost upwards of a hundred thousand
dollars on the WinslOw contract by
having the work done by the force ac-
count system instead of under con-
tracts. The state engineer showed
that the work on which the con-
tractors bid did not include the sur
facing of the roads, whereas when the