Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1937-03-11
GETTING DOWN TO
KASSTACKS
LAW-MAKING COMES HIGH.

complishments of Montana's twenty
fifth legislative assembly just closed.
Before going into that however,
can't resist mentioning the fact that
unless Sheridan county is cup and
doing" our sister county of Roose-
welt may have a new courthouse
built largely with federal funds be-
fore we are able to bring our own
dreams into realization. And, we had
a years start on them! Furthermore
the people of this county voted their
approval by two to one for a fifty
thousand dollar bond issue with
which to take advantage of the fed
eral setup. Tentative plans were pre-
pared, the application was properly
drawn up, forwarded to Washing
ton-and there approved. All that is
left is to muster sufficient persua-
sive powers that would loosen the
purse-strings of the Department of
Interior and actually allocate the
funds with which the county's new
office building would be constructed.
No me questions the need of a
new courthouse in Sheridan county.
1t is far greater than that of Roose-
welt. We continue to pay high rent
ais on dilapidated tumble-down
shacks with inadequate vault room
for valuable records that, should
they be destroyed, never could be
replaced. to say nothing about COM
modious quarters for county officers,
court sessions, or patrons who with
their business frequent the building.
In our opinion 1t Is high time to
learn definitely just where we stand
on this federal grant. With the APP
lication approved, are we to get the
money or are we not? Once we know
the answer to this question, 1t would
at least leave room for some con-
structive planning that may yet
make the building possible without
breaking faith with taxpayers who
voted for the new structure with the
definite understanding that the $780,
900 county bond issue would be
matched by a similar amount from
some outside source.
Whatever can be said of this
years legislative session, judging
from the records, 1t was rather an
expensive so days of law-making.
Doubling the appropriation for the
cost of the 1885 session Of $1O1,-
900, the total cost this year scared
to $205,000, said to be a record
peak in the states history. Out Of a
total of 500 measures submitted for
consideration in both houses-478
in the House and 221 in the Senate
only 283 were enacted into laws
and passed on to the Governor for
his approval. This number will
quite probably be pared down by
veto. So, you see, we're getting up
towards a thousand dollars apiece
for every law. There ought to be
some good ones-as there undoubt-
edly are.
Two major problems engaged the
greatest attention of legislators
throughout their quiet. but at times
turbulent, deliberations. These were
to set up machinery to fit into the
new social security legislation of the
federal government, and the ever
present problem of finding sources
OF revenue sufficient to balance a
four-million dollar budget. Accord
ing to Jul best sources of informa-
ton, after wrestling with the task
for many days, this goal was
reached. Some of the methods by
which revenue will be raised during
the next two years, however, will be
in for strong criticism.
Many, including ourselves, felt II
we must have legalized liquor, Mon
tana had about as good a system of
controlling it's sale as could be found
in the entire country. And they
didn't like to see the state store dis
tribution plan tempered with to any
great extent. Our own legislators
tell us that, had it not been for a
persistent cry for MORE MONEY,
no such Bill as the one which has
now brought back the old saloon
would ever have received favorable
consideration. Maybe we're not mod
ern enough In our views, but the
conviction still remains that ANY
AMOUNT OF MONEY, be 1t a thou
sand or a million dollars garnered at
the cost of encouraging an increased
consumption of intoxicating liquors
by those least able to afford it, Is a
price TOO GREAT TO PAY We
know the back alley and the up
stairs joints were being illegally
operated. We know too, as stated
before in this column, that this prac-
tice worked a hardship on the beer
parlor proprietor who wanted to
run his place in a respectable man
ner and exactly as the law provided.
But such places were permitted to
operate solely because those charged
with the obligation of enforcing The
laws closed their ewes to their