Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1920 — SECOND SESSION ENDS IN FAILURE [ARTICLE]

SECOND SESSION ENDS IN FAILURE

Machine Club la Necessary to Fore* Adjournment When Deadlocked Legislator* Imperil Party Harmony. CAMOUFLAGE USED IN . TAXATION MEASURES Indianapolis, Ind.—After beinp in session seventeen days it required the combined efforts of Governor Goodrich, Warren T. McCray and the Republican state organization to break the legislative deadlock over the tax bills and to force an adjournment. It ta worthy of note that th* determined effort to bring about th* end of th* session did not become apparent until after Senator James Nejdl, Republican of Lake county, had exposed th* administration's “big stick* tactics in a speech in the senate and it is declared that it was a fear of further disclosures that resulted in the machine taking direct action. The end come as a result of a conference held at Crawfordsville Thursday night by Goodrich, McCray, Senator New and State Chairman E. M. Wasmuth. It was decided then that the legislature must bo gotten out of the way at once. The net result of the second sp* cial session of the Goodrich regime may be weighed in the balance of political expediency. It was called primarily to patch up the legislative bungling of the Seventy-first assembly, but after convening practically every move of the lawmakers waa dictated by the Republican machine, Goodrich, McCray, Watson, et al. Legislation by Caucus. The legislators wore not allowed to discuss measures on the floor, but were forced into inumorable caucuses where the administration supporters bent them to their will. It is said that no other session of the legislature has ever witnessed a* many caucuses as the one just ended. The session appropriated approximately 11,500,000, part of this being used to refund money Illegally transferred from other sources by Auditor of State Otto L. Klauss to keep th* state Institutions operating. In fact, the assembly was convened in th* first place to avert a threatened scandal in the auditor’s office. It 1* charged, and has never been denied, that if the Seventy-first assembly had not been bent on making a parsimonious economy record, the state would

not have been bankrupt by the middle of 1920. Called as it was to rectify the mistakes of Goodrichism, it cost the state more than $20,000. This figure includes $6 a day to the members, many of whom were not present during the last two weeks. In fact had it not been for the constancy of the Democratic members no quorum would have been present during the last week. Fall to Clear Tax Muddle. The salient feature of the entire session was the utter failure of the Goodrich administration to clarify the taxation situation. The Johnson so-called home-rule bill is declared by legal experts.to be a clever camouflage designed to bridge the Republican party over until after the election. While it vests the control of bond issues and levies in the county councils, it is a patent fact that the legislators have little faith in its operation, otherwise they would not have made it operative beginning with January 1, 1921. It is pointed out by critics of the measure that if its makers had been at all convinced of its worthiness they would have made it effective at once. The Kiper-Tuthill measure, over which the deadlock resulted, is another piece of political trickery, it is charged. To all intents and purposes It legalizes the horizontal Increases declared invalid by the state supreme court. By a clever bit of manipulation it does not employ the word “legalize,” which the house advocated, but instead used the term "validate." Taxation experts declare that the compromise bill is in effect a legalization measure. Senator Edward P. Elsner of Seymour, Democratic floor leader, voiced the opinions of many opponents of the curative measure when he charged that It would not stand the tests in the courts. "Now you have this bill, which is about as clear as mud,” he said. "Mark my words. This bill will pot

■tafia tne test of the courts, ft is a good thing there will be a regular session of the legislature in five months and It wll) not be necessary to call another special session of the legislature to straighten out the law. But this bill will carfy you past the next election and that is all it Is Intended to do. . “The governor has used his hickory club and applied the party lash. He Is not satisfied to take the hickory club back with him to Winchester, but is turning it over to Mr. McCray. As a result of this conference we have this scrap of paper (the TuthillKk?er bill) aud that is all it will an cunt to.” Contains Many Jokers. The senator criticised the use of the word “validate” and charged the majority with wilful evasion of the word “legalize.” He warned the aenate that it was vicious and contained many jokers. In a statement given put just before the session concluded Governor Goodrich declared that McCray had been the chief proponent of the legalization of the horizontal Increases. He said that the Republican state candidates bad endorsed legalization as the easiest way out of the muddle. This confirmed reports that McCray, touted as the farmers’ candidate, had rejected the bill offered by the Indiana Farmers’ Federation. One of the outstanding results of the session was the manner In which Governor Goodrich engineered himself into a commanding position in the state coal industries. Under the provisions of the coal control bill, which vests authority in the State Board of Accounts to Investigate every mine and wholesale and retail coal business in Indiana, the governor has access to all the inside trade facts of the business, due to his being the dominating member of the state board. Inasmuch as Goodrich has publicly admitted that he is extensively interested in mining projects opponents of the bill profess to see how the measure will redound to his advantage when he retires to private life on January L Lieutenant Governor Edgar D. Bush and Senator Nedjl, who lone-handed, dared to Invoke the wrath of the mighty by refusing to bow to machine orders, are being made the target of bitter attacks by the state candidates now. The office seekers charge that Bush and Nejdl, by their obstructionist tactics, did Irreparable

harm to the cause of, Republicanism. The state war memorial was another bone of contention among the Republicans and as It stands means but little to the state. The bouse, in the final hours, refused to adopt the bills enabling Marion county and the cjty of Indianapolis to co-operate with the state in the erection of the building, although these two units had pledged themselves to contribute $5,000,000 to the undertaking. Under the present status the state will have to spend $2,000,%00 for the edifice without any assistance whatever from Marion county. Failure of the bill to meet the expectations of former service men is attributed to Governor Goodrich and McCray, who, after advocating the adoption of memorial legislation, worked secretly against it In all about fifty-five bills were passed, most of them designed to raise the salaries of certain public officials. More than a hundred bills were introduced, but all that might have had a detrimental effect on Republican chances this fall were killed either in committee, or by adverse votes on the floor.