The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-02-21
3 INDEPENDENTS And
2NO|pARTSANSVOTE
AGAINST ITS PASSAGE
Completed Highway System to
Cost State Nearly Three Mil
lion Dollars per Year
MORTGAGE BILL VOTE CLOSE
Patterson Declares the Money
Lender Must Gamble on Sue.
cess as Well as Farmer

O0oS 40 vv0U 10 U ~ Uv0U
Business scored victory over poll.
tics In the state senate "wednesday
when the Bonner bill calling for re-
Of the highway commits
sion and department passed by q vote
Of ~ to 5.
The fight forecast prior to reading
Of the measure was notably missing.
The only discussion was the explana-
ton Of Senator A. F. Bonner, Jr.,
Richland county, regarding the pur-
poses Of the bill and the reason for
its introduction.
Three Independents and two Nom
partisans voted against the measure.
They were Senators Cain, Stark
county; Hyland, Ramsey county; Nc
Crory, Sargent county: Martin, Nor.
ton county and Tofsrud, Pierce coun.
ty.
Bonner emphasized that the bill
would not create q one-man highway
commission but one-man manage
ment Of the department supervised
oy three-man higkSAy commission
as at present. Thl manager or COM
missioner. the govt nor and state au-
ditor would be me- bers Of the COM
mission under the B\aser bill.
States Biggest Dusiness
The highway dep1 ktment is the
states largest busine& and spends
more money than vbther depart-
ments combined. BOND said. He as
serted that. had the money already
spent been spent wisely, the state
would have more roads than ut pres
ent. II the department is to be con-
Quoted efficiently, he. said, someone
must be at Its head and responsible
for it. The bill. puts Limitation On
the department office expenses 81
$4,000 q year. Last year, Bonner
said, $4,000 was spent for this pur-
pose. It also puts Limitation on the
salaries which may be paid to various
classes Of employees. The governor
and auditor must approve an pur-
'chases Of more than $1,000 and must
approve all contracts.
ION the basis Of present costs"
Bonner said, maintenance alone.
when the proposed highway system is
complete. will cost $2,250 600 q year.
This does not include regraveling
which would cost 100000 year
more.
This bill may be politically wrong.
have been told that 1t is. But the
roads do not belong to any political
faction. They belong to the people
and the people have . right to expect
the most for their money
Bonner attacked the business
methods Of the department, charging
that engineering costs are mounting
and last year totaled 43l7,OO0 He
pleaded that the states largest busi-
ness be put on business basis and
asserted that one man control Of the
highway department is the way to
accomplish that end. ~
welcomes Any Challenge
Closing his short talk, Senator
Bonner declared that he would well
come any challenge Of the figures
that he had given stating he could
verify any Of the data that he had
given. There was no challenge.
One Of the closest votes Of this as
sembly came on the report Of . min.
GRITTY of the judiciary committee rec.
ommending passage Of the bill barring
creditors from taking deficiency
judgments when the proceeds Of
mortgage foreclosure sales are insult
ficient to meet the amount Of the
mortgage. Every Independent voted
against the minority report Of the
committee and all but one Nonrarti-
san favored 1t.
Dell Patterson, Renvillc county, au-
thor of the bill. contended that de-
ficiency judgments are wrong In priu-
ciple and constitute 2 sword over the
head OF the debtor. II . man ever
accumulatcs anything, he said. the
holder Of q deficiency Judgment can
come in and take 1t away from him.
He said he knew Of hundreds Of cases
where deficiency judgments had oper-
ated to cause injustices.
A. w. Fowler, Cass county. said that
the borrower always Solicits the loan
and that the bill would be m injls-
tice to the lender. since. II land values
were to shrink to such q point that
the land was not worth the amount
loaned, he would BE- the loser. He
contended that the law amply pro-
tects the borrower ana that the e.
feet Of the bill would Be to make Il
harder for farmers to borrow money
and would increase the interest rates
Cause Higher Rates
w. p. Lynch, II Moure county, sai6
he knew Of few deficiency Judgments