Montana labor news., 1937-02-25
SATIRI(AL TALE OF
THE LEGISLATURE
Continued from Page q


ideas have been expressed and the
general opinion is that time will tell
in seeing what kind of positions they
will get and what favors will be
extended to them when they get
home. After all the Legislature only
lasts for sixty days and man must
live for twenty-five months between
Legislatures even if he has to sell
out people who put him in there.
About this time I was beginning
to understand that there were sup
posed to be two different classes of
representatives. They were the Pro-
gressive and the Reactionary. The
progressive body seemed to outnum-
ber the other group but being COM
posed of men that were elected, some
by farmers and the rest by organized
labor, didn't have too much in COM
mon or the same problems in detail.
But they were both sent there to
better the conditions of the poor
man, the farmer who hadn't had a
crop for two or three years, and the
laborer, who has had about as many
jobs as the farmer had crops. So
you can see this group was not or
ganized very solidly.
Goliath Conquers David
The other group were composed
mostly of lawyers, so-called success
ful business men and men that were
furthering their own selfish ambi-
tions. Being pretty much of the
same mind and working solidly to-
gether with few leaders that were
old hands and knew all the tricks
they managed to do a very good
job of breaking up the progressives
and keeping them in a turmoil most
of the time. I watched this little
show go on for several days and
whenever bill to regulate some in
surance company, finance company
or any organized big business came
up you would see the same four or
five corporation lawyers that were
the leaders of the reactionary body
get up and start fighting. Neverthe-
less and despite their efforts there
were many very good bills from a
farmer-labor standpoint passed
through the House of Representa-
tives to the Senate. The reason of
this is that men Like Mr.. Anderson
of Lincoln County, Mr.. Finnegan of
Deer Lodge, Mr.. Mcleod of Cascade,
Mr.. Speigle, Mr.. Mulholland and Mr..
Stimatz of Silver Bow along with
Mr.. Metcalf of Ravalli who were the
Progressive leaders, fought every op-
posing force to the last ditch and
with number of others in the House
were considered one hundred per
cent for the farmer and laborer.
Dragon Chloroforms Unwary
Now having conquered the House
and what l thought was most of its
mysteries, l decided to look for new
thrills. l heard there was a Com
mittee on Revenue and Taxation
meeting to pass on the merits of a
bill to tax the power companies in
the state two per cent of their gross
earnings in place of the five-eighths
of per cent as is done now.
l got my thrill in listening to one
of the heads of one large power com
pany get up and bemoan the fact
that his company would deteriorate
and go on the rocks in very short
time if this bill were to become a
law. He said this despite of the facts
that were proven as to his company
having made net income of be-
tween three and four million dollars
year while handing the people
back in the form of power tax some
sixty odd thousand dollars The two
per cent tax would have increased
this sum to somewhere around $685.
900 for old age pensions and etc. The
fact was also brought up that our
neighbor, North Dakota, taxes the
power company twelve per cent and
there is very little natural resource
in that state for producing power
compared to Montana.
l am sorry to say this measure,
like practically all other goods bills,
went the way that the powers-that-
be would have it while an act to in
crease the income tax on a man
earning over a thousand dollars a
year passed merrily on its way.
Being weary of committees of
what could learn in them | thought
would drop over in the Senate and
see what they done there to make
our beautiful and wonderful state a
better place to live in.
Faces in Slough of Desp0nd
must confess, Bill, that after be-
ing treated to so many disappjoint-