The Daily Alaska empire., 1929-03-11
ECHO IS HEARD OF CONTROLLER
 BILL IN HOUSE
First Echo of 1927 Battle Heard when House Has
 Informal Caucus

A faint echo of the noted Con- troller Bill of 1927 whispere d through the hall of the House of Representatives Saturday afternoon but two flashlight pictures and a motion frightened it back into the corridors of silence. Probably it won't remain there all through the < session as it is the concensus of ] opinion that the bill will be rein I troduced this session and its ner- its debated pro and con. | Saturday afternoon, it's work con- 2 pleted and adjournment for the day taken the Houec went into a caucus for an informal discussion { of. governmental re-orrani17t' on and the matter of electin5 Terri , torial officers"
 | Motion Is Upsetting 4 Representative J. H. Murray, dean of the House and staunch opponent of the Controller bill in former sessions, launched the discussion by statement of his position q am now and always have been," he said in effect, "a believer in the election by popular vote of all our officers: Treasurer. Commissioner ! of Education, etc, but I was and Z am still opposed to the Controller |. Bill"
 l He pointed ou. c.le necessity for creating an office to handle the l Territorial duties now devolving on [ the Seer .tary of Alaska and advo- 'cated creation of Bureau of Audit with an elective auditor.
 i Then came the motion. MT. Eos ] ter moved that it be the sense of the caucus that an Auditor was necessary to succeed to the Secre- tary's duties and that he should be ! elected by popular vote, the first Auditor by the combined votes of the Senate and the House, and his successor at the next general elec- ton.
 4 Objections Are Raised i Mir. Vim objected to voting on the motion, saying it was his con- ! ception of the caucus that it was :, merely to talk matters over without ! taking any action. MT Murray re- 1 sponded that only by orderly dis cussion from some definite start { ing point could any understanding be reached. The meeting, he point ed out, was designed to see if an agreement could not be reached on the matters involved so that a measure satisfactory to everyone, or majority at least, could be drafted and passed
 l However, that opinion didn't pre- vail with any striking degree of l unanimity. Some members hesi- tated to go into any detailed dis cussion with such a motion pend ing.
 1 Then three photographers from the Alaska Scenic Views came into the scene, accompanied by members of the Senate, for the purpose of making a group picture of the Leg islaturc. When that was over, and while smoke from the flash i light powder was clearing away motion to adjourn was put and car ried unanimously, and the caucus ended.
 Elect All Officers ] Murray, Poster, Shattuck and Ziegler frankly said they were ready to vote to elect an auditor without any more discussion. A few members were apparently will- ing to. elect every Territorial off cial. P. O. Mccormick was com mitted, he said, for some form of comptroller bill Not the 1927 measure, which, he added he knew nothing about. He wanted time to study all phases of the situa- tfon before committing himself. It seemed, also, that a considerable proportion of the membership, per- haps a majority, are inclined to put most if not all Territorial off, cers into the elective class. 1 Routine Business s In neither branch of the Legis-