The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-03-03
ROAD BOARDS
FATE RESTS IN
SENATE HANDS
Replacing Commission With
Bipartisan Group to
Be Considered.
PROBE THRUST PARRIED
Failure to Get Federal Aid
Money Declared Justified
Under Conditions.

,'If congress had made $4,000, 900
in federal aid for state highways
available as unemployment relief in
1880. the present state highway
commission and Director John j.
Brown would not have collected 81
Of it,
With this charge of Senator An
derson Ketchum dem. Bartholo-
NEW, Decatur, Franklin and Union)
having been made on the senate
floor Monday afternoon, senators to-
day were to consider the advisability
of abolishing the present commits
sion set-up and substituting a full
time bipartisan commission of four
members.
The bill creating this change is
up for passage on third reading. Sen
ators Ketchum and Charles L. Strev
CReps., Kosciusko and Wabash) are
its authors.
strey and Ketchum signed a mi
nority report Of the senate investi-
CATION committee criticising Browii
and the commissioners for their
failure to collect some 100000 in
federal aid during the fiscal wear
1880.
Majority Report Adopted
Ketchum defended the report
throughout the Monday afternoon
session, but a majority committee
report was adopted after an I'M
successful effort to kill both of them
The majority report, facts of
which were largely the same in
regard to testimony before the
committee, carried conclusions
favoring the commission.
These conclusions were that 1880
conditions were unusual" and thar
the commission was Justified" in its
failure to collect the federal aid
funds.
Both reports pointed out that in
addition to failure to collect the
federal aid, the commission Dor
roWed $1,600,000 from the cities.
counties and towns share of the
gasoline tax, went into debt 5000 900
to contractors and stalled off pay
mentS on some contracts until April
of this year.
Senator James J. Nejdl (Rep..
Lake., sought to put off both re-
ports until the 1888 legislature on
the grounds that they didn't SHOW
the commissioners were Crooked
In arguing for this move he asserted
that IF they were crooked the
matter should be before the grand
jury and not the senate any way.
ketchum declared the Neidl mo-
ton an affront to the committee.
which has labored diligently and
taken its work seriously
Brown, Commissioners and depart
ment heads had been called as com.
mittee witnesses.
Failed in Emergency
In the only emergency test thai
the present state highway commit
sion has ever faced, they have
tailed" Ketchum charged.
He then proceeded to A. detailoJ
DEFENSE OF the minority report.
In reply, Nejdl charged that the
enClre Investigation was inStieated
because Senator Strey failed 10
dictate location of pavement of the
hllls-to-Lakes highway through his
home town of Wabash.
Feeling that the minority report
contained a personal affront 70
commissioner jess Murden (Rep..
Peru, Senator Harry K. Cuthbert
son (Dem., Howard and Miami
look the floor against the minority
report and under questioning tod
Strey that IF you are too densa
to understand what it is all about
can't help it."
Murden, he said, was his neigh
Dor and an outstanding Peru citizen
with children in the public schools.
He should not be criticised for sell
ing dump truck to a contractor
a state road near Peru. he
asserted.
Nurden had testified before the
committee that such sale had been
nIade when he was in the Ford
business, as well as commissioner.
1t received the o. K. of ATTORNEY
General James NJ. Ogden in a let
ter to Strey, who was committee
chairman.
Senators Holmes and Deunigan
defended their report and The
former took issue with Director
Browns criticism Of the commit
tees failure to employ auditors TO
investigate federal aid expenditure.
The commission in 1880 in
creased employment by not slavishlv
to the federal aid program
Holmes declared.