The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1933-03-02
LEGISLATIVE LETTER
BY r. W. Hitchcock

The legislature was indicted a
few days ago by twin city news
paper for it's lack of major accomp-
lishment. ''The session is half
gone" it exclaimed, land nothing
at least, nothing much-has been
DONE" This is the old familiar COM
plant lodged against every legisla-
ture at about this point in the ses-
sion.
Major accomplishments are not
thrown off lightly and airily, how
ever, by the legislature Of by any
one. They require time and labor
The major accomplishments of thu
legislature, so far as they are evi.
denced by actual laws, are invar.
iably the fruit of the latter days
of the session. A body of 1913 in
dividuals, drawn from every quarter
of the state, and representing all
the states varied and diverse in
terests, requires time to precipitate
it's opinions. It takes time to
agree, and it takes sitting and prob
ing and testing to winEow out the
the chaff from che wheat, ard to
evolve and perfect acts that are
sound and productive. There is the
struggle between conflicting opin-
ions, there is the tempering Ct
theory by fact, there Is the gradual
emergence of basic truths, there is
the final fusing of opinion and
knowledge into folm that can
command &c votes in the house
and "a votes in the senate. For
major accomplishments that takes
time and it takes labor.
The first three weeks of a legis-
lative session are largely devoted to
organization. Then the rush of
proposals for laws begins. No mat
ter how much subjects of legisla-
ton may have been discussed pre-
vious to the opening of the session,
it is not until organization is COM
pleted that the deluge Is due. A
few emergency measures. subjects
of common agreement, are enacted
into law, local measures and pet
projects are hurried through the
committees and finally The CON-
mittees settle down to the grinding
work of whipping matters OF ma
jor moment into shape.
A Good Beginning
One major accomplishment of the
forty-eighth legislature of Mime
sofa may be noted. It is a subsran-
tial accomplishment. The finance
committee of the senate and the
appropriations committee of the
house have, after laborious sittings,
trimmed nearly $5,000,000 rom the
appropriations of two years ago.
and more than one-half of the total
of appropriations to be made by
this legislature are still to be con-
sidered. To the harried and har-
raised taxpayer, the lifting of the
tax burden is "consummatioa
devoutly to be wished" and the
work of the money committees of
this legislature thus far is an aug
ury of the most direct and satisfy
ing benefits that the legislature can
provide for the people of the state.
The urgency of the need for ex-
actly this sort of thing is sometimes
showed into the background OF our
thought. We get so busy trying to
give the taxpayer shot in the arm
that we almost forget, at times, TO
take some of the load off his back.
Figures on tax delinquency in Min
nesota, just released by the state
tax commission, rather terrifying
show the urgency. Tax delinqucn-
cy in Minnesota in 1892 jumped $1O,-
100000. The increase in one short
twelve months period was from
$44 100000 to $6O,OOO,OOO. These fig
ures are highly significant of the
legislatures principle job-to stern
ly stop spendings.
A Real Major Issue
For fourteen years good roads,
and problems in connection with
them, have constituted one of the
most important issues that have
confronted Minnesota legislatures.
An outgrowth of all this legislation
is the problem of commercial trans
portation. It doomed large at the
1881 session, but it is one OF the
major issues, well up to fore front
of them all, at this session.
Substantial progress has been
made toward the solution of this
problem. Based upon the so-calQed
Texas case" recently decided by
the supreme court of the United
States, three proposals have been
drafted to control and make pro-
ductive of the best results, that
tremendous outgrowth of our good
roads, effort, truck transportation.
These measures are house files ISL,
1872 and 365, and their companions,
senate files, 1913, 1894, 1876. Apparently
every person in the state has heard
OF these bills, for the mail of men,
bers Of the legislature groans with
demands for their enactment into
law. "By the day after tomorrow
declared one member, II am sure
that shall have heard from every
voter in my district on these hills.
The letters are so numerous that
1t Is impossible to answer them in
dividually." One member, in fact,
resorted to the newspapers to sd
wise his constituents that he had
heard from them as to the truck
bills.
The purpose of these bills, set
forth in the declaration Of policy"
taken verbatim from the Texas
act sustained by the supreme court,
Is Quoted here only in part) that
the highways may be rendered SAT-
er for the use of the general pub
lie; that the wear of such highways
may be reduced; that the 6iscrim-
nation in rates may be eliminated;
that congestion of traffic on the
highways may be minimized."
House File 331 is the regulatory