The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1943-06-25
THE ENTIRE STATEMENT

Fort Shaw, Mont, June 81, 1914
Editor of The Peoples Voice,
Helena, Montana.
I am enclosing statement by Rep
Leo c. Graybill and myself printed il
the Great Falls Tribune of June 18th
and am also sending carbon copy
of the letter we mailed the Tribune
You will note that they omitted print
ing the key paragraph referring to
corporation lobbyists and run it under
a heading that was misleading as il
was our purpose to point out the
parties really running the show at
Helena rather than condemn any par
ticular legislators. Should you care
to use the Tribune letter in The Voice
you may do so, and to prevent any
possible Misunderstanding, will try to
state in plain farmer language just
what we were driving at.
As every legislator knows, the final
verdict on these appropriations was
not made until the last days and
hours of the session, and then was
settled by just a handful of the mem
bers who, as each new problem arose,
rushed into a conference with the
lobbyists for our big corporations and
the representative of the Montana
Taxpayers Assn.
Watching this it became clearly ap-
parent that these polished representa-
tives of big business were having the
final say on appropriations. Such
procedure casts reflection on the en-
tire legislative body and results in
misery and &c meals for the helpless
inmates of Warm Springs. Remove
corporation control of appropriations
and our custodial institutions will
cease to be a disgrace to the state
RALPH A. PARKER.
Editor Tribune:
Now that the Warm Springs situa-
ton has been temporarily relieved,
though perhaps in an improper man.
ner, and as members of the legisla-
ture, we would like to state some
facts that have been overlooked.
While The Tribune is to be highly
commended for bringing to the at
tention of the public the deplorable
conditions at some of our state insti-
tutions, particularly the State Hospi
tai, still neither The Tribune nor Gov
ernor Ford mentioned the root of the
real trouble. All that has been done
is to make a blanket indictment of
the whole legislative body. AS mat
ter of fact, Legislators are about as
human as the average run of citizens
(they being of the average rum, and
would have given Warm
Springs every dollar. needed had they
been given the facts. However, ap-
just weren't handled at |
the recent legislative session in a way |
that gave the members the facts. And |
no state official outside the |
legislature took the trouble to get the |
facts to the members on this specific
matter of money needed for Warm |
Springs till July 1st
In a recent news release Chairman
Horrigan of the Appropriations com
mittee made the statement that each |
request for money was weighed care
fully before the Committee of the
Whole House. Every member of the |
legislature knows that this is far from
the truth.
Most appropriation bills are intro
1uced in the house after being worked
out by the Appropriations committee.
HB 179, which included the regular
Warm Springs appropriation, had 20
items. lib 264 was a def
cheney bill that came along very late
IN the session, covering six different
department. or institutions, including
Warm Springs, and covering the peri
ID up to July 1, 1943. Both bills were
Introduced by the Appropriations COM
nittee. There was, however, only a