The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-01-30

tons for 1882. They exultantly seized
upon 'nepotism" as one fine, large
foundation stone, and with the en-
thusiastic assistance of some Minnea-
polls newspapers and quasi-news papers
they toiled for two months Juggling and
showing it into place and polishing 1t
up for presentation at the opening of
the legislative session.
Nepotism, the dictionary says, means
favoritism. Some centuries ago, when
latin was more a vehicle of speech
than it is today, some popes appointed
a good many of their relatives, par
ticularly nephews to positions.
Nephew or grandson in latin is "nepoS, +"
so the word nepotism was coined and
became synonym for favoritism.
The Legislature of 1929 practised
nepotism to the extent that out of 200
employees of the house and senate 80
were related to members of the legis-
lature.
On the very first day of the present
session Representative Youngdahl Of
Minneapolis, militant farmer aborite
and blah-blah socialist, offered a reso-
luton in the house forbidding the en-
ployment by the house of the rela-
tive of member At the very hour
that Farmer-Labor Youngdahl was Of
fering his resolution launching in the
legislature the farmer-labor campaign
against nepotism,-at that very hour
Farmer-Labor Henry Arens, lieutenant
governor, was appointing his nephew
as his secretary at $3.50 per day, the
highest salary paid to any legislative
Employed
Others Who Practice Nepotism.
The practice of appointing relatives
to government jobs may be as repre-
henSible as our farmer-labor frienus
claim, but some of the most conspicu-
Gus of the farmer labor statesmen do
not seem to see anything wrong in it..
Mrs. Tom Schall is Tom Schalls sec
rotary and draws most or all of his
SIS 900 allowance for clerk hire, and
Tom was nominated and elected by
farmer-labor votes. We cannot vOuch
for it, but we are told, that Mrs. Hen
rik Shipstead has at times been Sen
ator Shipstead's secretary, and if there
is God in the farmer-labor party,
Senator Shipstead is it. The only
farmer-labor congressman from Min
nesota, Representative Kvale, was for
years his fathers official secretary in
congress.
Moreover, while farmer labor spell
binders in the house illuminate against
the wickedness of nepotism, the far
mer-labor party in the house secures
the appointment of five of the sixteen
relatives named this year as house en-
ployees. InaSmuch as the farmer
labor strength in the house is not more
than Is per cent of the membership,
the farmer-labor members scored, in
proportion to their strength, one and
one-half relatives for each relative
placed by the republicans and demo-
Gratis combined If there is anything
in the rules of arithmetic that makes
the nepotic wickedness of the farmer
labor party in the legislature fifty per
cent crater than the wickedness of the
regulars" Anyhow they seem to be
just as human as the rest of us.
How the House Voted.
Representative Youngdahl offered
his resolution to outlaw nepotism, but
failed to press it, after week had gone
by and nothing done, in order to bring
the matter to a head, we moved to in
definitely postpone the Youngdahl
resolution The motion carried by a
vote of u to SIS. The farmer-labor
forces failed to offer any argument on
behalf of the Youngdahl resolution,
but later, in discussion of a resolu-
ton by Representative Starkey, farmer
labor leader of the house, to require
affidavits of unemployment from all
applicants for house jobs, the whole
subject of nepotism was threshed ont
in rough and tumble fight. The
Starkey resolution was decisively de-
feated by vote of 101 to %. Where
upon Speaker Swenson complied with
the requests of members to the extent
of naming 70 house employees, of
which number 16 are relatives of men,
bers and of the 16 are relatives of
farmer-labor members.
Minority Well Treated.
In both house and senate the min
ority members were given good COM
mittee assignments. In the house
many of the committees were almost
evenly balanced as to majority and
minority strength but none of the
farmer-labor minority were given
chairmanships. The house with As
chairmanships and IS old members
cannot supply the regulars" with all
the chairmanships to which they are
entitled In the senate the liberals"
were still more literally treated. The
determination of Lieutenant Governor
Arens to pack" the rules Committee
with farmer-labor members and to re-
move many of the veteran regulars"
from posts of Importance forced the
senate majority of the regulars to de-
part from custom and name the COM
mittees of the senate thru a com
mittee on committees" Very generous
treatment was accorded the farmer
labor minority, which was given COM
plete control of ten committees, in
Guiding civil administration, which will
handle Governor Olson's program, labor
and agriculture. Governor Olson's
spokesman, Senator Bridgeman of Bel
trami, was made chairman of the civil