The Omaha guide., 1934-10-27
ONE HOUSE LEGISLATURE
Continued from page ~

could function with two boards Of dir
rect esroqual in authority.
III. A one-house Legislature viii make
possible the definite fixing Of respoh,
sibility for action taken on an bills In
troduced; where two bodies Of persons
are involved it Is hard to fix blame
1t will not be possible as now to shift
blame from one house 70 another. Pub
lie attention will be focused upon q
single bsdy. permitting close scrutiny
OF all legislative proceedings while laws
are in the process Of enactment. Each
member Of a one-house legislature will
be more important and therefore more
conspicuous. The public win be enabled
to watch his acts and reward or pun
ish him accordingly.
iii. A one-house legislature win de.
GREASE greatly the opportunity for cor
ruption; special interests desiring to
kill proposed legislation find their way
twice as easy when it Is necessary to
cont.Oi OF corrupt only one OF two
houses.
Nv. Legislation by conference com.
mittees win be abolished
Approximately Is per cen Of all bills,
and rs per cent Of all important meas
ures, enac ed into law are the product
Of some conference committee. When a
bin passes one branch of the legisla-
ture, Is amended in the other house,
and tie first house refuses to concur
In the amendments. a conference com
mittee is selected by the presiding Of
ficers Of the two houses. This con-
erence committee in reality constitu-
ties a third house. The people have no
voice as to who it's members shal be,
its work Is performed in secret. and
committee is submitted to the House
and the Senate. it cannot be amended
It must be voted up or down as a
hole Members must take what they
believe to be bad in order TO secure
what they believe to be good. Legis-
iation by conference committees Is
secret. irresponsible legislation by fivte
or six men appointed at the suggestion
Of party leaders. A one-house. Iegisla-
ture vii end all OF this.
v. The tax burden of the state will
be reduced by the adoption Of the one
house legislature proposal.
Appropriations for the 1893 session
Of the Legislature totalled $2O1 .66s.13.
OF this, $110.504.73 was expended for
salaries and mileage of 1873 members:
S37,275.25 for salaries Of Is officers and
70 employees; S4,360.20 for postage;
$S,4SO.27 for supplies and incidentals.
and 12,4o3.54 for printing Of the House
and Senate Journals. Under the pro-
posed plan SITS, 0O0.0 90 will be the maxi
mum amount hat can be paid out In
salaries for members Of the Legisla-
ture. Instead of 10 cents a mile, the
members will receive actual travelling
expenses only. The amount necessary
to be spent for employees, postage,
printing and SO on. will of course be
more than cut in half.
vi. BY providing that the members
shall be nominated and elected on :
n~onpartisan ballot, the oae-house legis-
lature will be divorced from partisan
politics.
Honest m may disagree on the MIRA
tariff, and League Of Nations, but the
Legislature Of Nebraska has nothing to
do with those queSionst and its men,
bers should neither be elected nor de-
feated on those issues. The bst qualified
men and wmoen should be elected to
tn Legislature regardless Of their views
on national issues.
The representation from the rural
areas will be decreased by reason Of
the 1--WE members to the same extent
n IN the same proportion as the re-
presentation from the cities will be de-
creased. The relative strength Of the
farm territory and the cities in the
Legislature will Of course remain ex-
actly the same.
The claim that two houses insure
careful elaboration and prevent ill-con-
sldered and carelessly drawn legisla-
ton now pouring out Of two-chamber
legislative factories. With fewer MEM
bers to introduce bills and no last
hour conference committee report to
consider. the one-house Legislature
In this name rash and hasty legis-
lation can be prevented.
Under the one-house system the
Governor will still have his right Of
Veto The people win still possess the
power to suspend any bill under the
referendum and submit it to popular
vote. The Supreme Court will still
have authority 70 nullfy any act in
contravention Of the constitution. In
order to prevent hasty legislation it is
not necessary to render the Legisla-
not necessary to render the Legisla-
ture feeble, in impotent, n Inefficient
by dividing it into two antagonistic
bodies.