The Wrangell sentinel., 1947-02-28
THROUGH THE SENTINEL RERTSCOPE

The 18th Territorial Legislature passed it's 3Oth day, the halfway mark for the 6O-day session, this week and had enacted into law seven measures out of 79 bills in troduced in the House and 54 in the Senate. Those passed were a deficiency appropriation to the Public Welfare Department of S5.- 900 to meet old age assistance pay ments until March 31 of this year; a referendum on fish traps to be on the next general election ballot; fixing the school age of children at six and permitting them to en- ter school if six on or before Nov. ember l of the school year; max ing an appropriation of S214,78488 to meet deficiencies of the Depart ment of Education for the bien- nium ending June 30 of this year increasing the excise tax on malt beverage to 10 cents a gallon, on wine 25 cents gallon and on hard liquor to three dollars per gallon; repeating the 1943 law which pro hibited the exportaton of rationed merchandise from Alaska; extend ing the gross revenue tax (vet's bilD to March 31, 1949.
 
 Revenue still was the legislative headache. The increase in the liquor tax was expected to bring in an additional $2OO,OOO for the biennium There were two other tax measures in the hopper thus far. One would increase the tax on motor fuel from one to three cents a gallon. Under the former one cent tax it yielded to the Ter ritory 5000 last year, or about $400,000 a biennium. Whether .he three-centa would triple it remain ed to be seen, if the bill passes. The other revenue measure was the Gill income tax bill to levy one half of one cent on personal in- comes. Its yield was unestimated, but unless the levy was increased it was a good guess it would not solve the financial problem if bud get requests were to be met. In fact, there was no particular req son to suppose it would get legis- lative approval The last three leg islative sessions have turned down an income tax bill.
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 Controversial measures con- tinued to dominate the legislative picture and highlighting them this week was the Administrator Gen eral bill which passed the Senate and is now before the House. This is the measure which would create the office of Administrator Gener- al at $7,500 which would take over the duties nov prescribed for the Governor under territorial law The issue is an old one of 20 years standing. A bill along this line first hit the legislative hopper in 1927, and has been before the leg iSlature at other sessions with lots of talk but little action until this session. This year it was No. 1 bill in both houses. The House has now tabled it's bill in favor of the Sen ate-passed measure but it is very much of a question whether the House will finally pass it.
 One of the provisions of the measure which is likely to spen its doom in the House is that the Auditor actually would act as Ad- ministrator General until the next general election when such an cf- ficer would be elected. What it a. mounts to is taking duties from the Governor and giving them to the Auditor for the next two years, and of course, is directed by the anti Gruening forces in the Senate. Sen ator Doc Walker, one of it's strong est proponents, labeled the mea- sure a step toward preparing lor statehood. Senator Brownell of Seward, an equally strong opponent declared 'it stinks.' All of which gives you an idea of it's talk po- tential. Whether or not the oilI stinks, it was easy to detect the political odor during it's discus sion.
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 Effort to repeal the anti-dis- crimination bill passed two years ago came to an abrupt end in the House this week as that body voted tc indefinitely postpone the repeal bill, thus preventing it being brought up again at this session. The bill has been authored byI Rep. Hoopes of Fairbanks, who contended that he believed the Federal government would make more adequate appropriations toI care for the native population if the statute weren't on the books It was the age old controversy of whether the native people should be regarded solely as wards of the Federal government or as the equal of whites in sharing in Territorial benefits.