The Daily Alaska empire., 1947-02-19
Dead Timber
 Is Cut Away
 By Senators
Veterans Tax Revision Is 0uesfioned- -Identifiea-
 lion Dept. Defended

ttSii v SS'' VI '0'~
 In rapid succession, eight mea- sures were passed by the Alaska Senate this morning, without op- position. Two other measures ran into snags and were not disposed of at the forenoon session.
 The majority of bills passed are designed to clear away dead tim Der" in present statutes. in pre- 7 paration for a recodification of the laws In this class are:
 s. B. g, to repeal the law pro- hibiting export of rationed mer- chandise, passed 16 to 0. Sponsor i O. D. Cochran explained that the law had been passed when Alaska was in danger of being rationed in order to ban goods being shipped out to the black market. That pur- pose no longer exists, he said.
 s. B. 23, to repeal the law auth orizing the Board of Administration to contract for education and well fare work among natives. Senator Don Carlos Brownell objected to stripping a power from a board without its approval. He was an swered by Attorney Norman c. Banfield who explained that the law had been passed before crea- tion of the Department of Public Welfare and before existence of the Social Security program. Those agencies now can take care of it's function, he explained. Passed Is i to 0.
 s. B. 24, specifically eliminating requirement for double bonding of approving or disbursing officers.
 Passed Is to 0.
 S. B. 25, to clarify the law relat- ing to descent and distribution of real property. Passed IA to 0.
 s. B. 26, to adopt the Common Law of England as it generally ap- plies in criminal procedure through out the United States. Baufield ex plained that previous statute to | this effect had been inadvertently repealed leaving a number of crimes by common law not covered. Passed IA to O.
 All the above measures came be- i fore the Senate in second reading and were advanced for passage by unanimous consent; as were
 S. J. M. 3, asking the Secretary of the Interior to designate hospi- tals maintained by the Veterans Administration for care and treat ment of Alaska veterans committed as insane Passed 16 to o. s. J. M. 4, asking 25 percent differential in benefits paid Alaska veterans under Federal aid provi- sions. Passed l6 to 0.
 s. J. M. 6, asking extension to tidewater of the road along the Southern Shore of Orca Inlet, near Cordova. Passed 16 to 0.
 Bills that did not speed through the Senate this morning were: $. B. 27, another dead timber" clearing measure to repeal the law establishing a Department of Grim inal Identification. Senator N R. Walker, author of the law sought to be repealed, objected to the bills being advanced. He described the law as imperative because of no appropriations, but said he is still and one that sometime will be used. It could help, he said, to meet the threat of the crime wave now sweeping the nation.
 Attorney Banfield was again call ed upon by Senator Victor c. Rivers to explain why the statute is sur plussage" and should be eliminated so that only live laws will be in- corporated in the new code. Ban field explained that the law is not comprehensive enough to accom- plloll ltS pulpOSe dilu llldb di IL seeks to do is being accomplished by Federal officials Attorney Gen. eral Ralph J. Rivers appended that the suggestion for the laws elim- ination had come from him. His is an office concerned with civil ac- tions, he maintained. Since the laws passage, the FBI has extend- ed it's activities to Alaska. s. B. 40 was held up in third reading when Senator Gunnard Engehreth could not be satisfied that the bill would not exempt can neries, mines, logging camps, etc, which buy their supplies at whole sale, from payment of the one-half of one percent Veterans Tax
 Author Walker explained that the bill would only exempt from the tax wholesale sales for resale at re- tail. On such transactions the one