The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, March 7, 1931, Page 6

‘HE BISMARCK TRIBUNE, SATURDAY, MARCH 1 eg A AME AN 1931 ne RAR AL OE TTAX ON CIGARETTES { : How North Dakota’s Highway Dollar Is Divided | REMAINS UNCHANGED Effort to Alter Present Law Fails; New ‘Teeth’ Put in Law, However Attempts to increase the cigarette tax from three to four cents a pack- age failed when the North Dakota legislature adopted a conference re- port near the end of the session early ‘Saturday to leave the present tax un- changed. ‘The dealers’ license fee of $12.50 was also permitted to stand without change, while the provisions in the senate bill to “put teeth” in the pre- sent law received legislative approv- al. The measure, as it passed the sen- provided for a three cent tax and 0 license fee. The house, how- ever, amended the proposal to raise the tax to four cents and to restore the $12.50 license fee. ‘Thrown into conference, the bill) ‘was returned to the legislature with the present law relating to the tax «nd llcense fee unchanged. i Another provision stricken out by the confer would have prohibited | the sale of “cellophane” wrapped ci- | gereties. This prohibition was placed | in the bill when the attorney general zuled that the stamp tax could not} be securely affixed to such a wrapper. ‘The atiorney general later, however, held that the stamp could be affixed , securely if the wrapper were properly | treated and the specific prohibition of ; the use of this kind of wrapper was} taken from the bill. “Teeth” were put into the present law to prevent “bootlegging” of cigar- cttes, Proponents claimed that the state loses considerable revenue through purchases of unstamped cigarettes. The bill as passed would make the purchaser of unstamped | cigarettes equally guilty with the sell- | er, Hl Failure of Old I. V. A. Leadership Marked Session’ (Continued from page 1) feeling of relfef manifest in the house | where the major battles were fought. One of the ‘outstanding develop- ments of the session was the chal- Jenge to the old leadership of the I.! V. A. faction and the rise of new men who may usurp the role which the! Cass county man has long played in! his own faction. As long as Twichell remained with-| in the bounds of the party's platform,; as presented’ to the people, he en-! countered no. difficulty,.but when he! attempted to go beyond it—and these} cases were numerous—he invariably! found himself unable to hold his own group in line. These digressions from the an- nounced intentions of the group. coupled with the bitterness of ‘Twichell’s tongue, caused some to grow angry and others to laugh. Whether or not Twichell is immed- iately doomed as the leader of his) Party, even his friends admit that he lost ground at this session and the‘} the reverses which he suffered will hamper his efforts to retain control. One of the most surprising events of the session was the beginning of a breach in the Cass county delega- tion. Ken Fitch, manager of the Ameri- can Legion state band and widely known in the state, was the recalcit- rant member. Sitting in the seat be- side Twichell, he refused to follow the party on several measures and efforts to discipline him failed. Single-handed, Fitch tried to pre- vent cuts in the appropriation for the state agricultural college in his home; town, which Twichell had approved. Twichell’s failure to make “party issues” out of measures on which the party was not definitely on record, ‘was regarded as one of the most in- dicative things of the session. This, more than ai else, cemonstrated that the period of poli- tical fanaticism and of blindly fol- lowing party leadership has vanished with the years. It was apparent that # new sentiment is abroad in the state, regardless of whether a new! political “deal” is in the making. The effort failed, but the fact that | it was made marked the rift between the youngster and the oldster of the | ‘Cass county group more clearly than anything else could have done. Later, Fitch was guilty of political lese majesty. He had wandered into ‘the gallery of the house chamber and had answered several roll calls from that position, apparently weary of NORTH DAKOTAS TOTAL. HIGHWAY COLLECTION : DOLLAR FROM MOTOR VEHICLE FEES AND GAS TAXES AND HOW APPORTIONED THRU LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENT 1930 ® REFUNDS GAS TAX STATE HIGHWAY FUND 36.75¢ COUNTIES \ HIGHWAY FUNDS \ 26.46¢ 1930 ABOVE SHOWS GRAPHICALLY THE TOTAL HIGHWAY COLLECTION DOLLAR FROM MOTOR VEHICLE FEES AND GAS TAXES FOR THE YEAR 1950 AND ITS DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO LAW- THE TOTAL COLLECTIONS AND OISTRIBUTION AMOUNTS FROM THE RECORDS ARE AS FOLLOW 1930 . TOTAL COLLECTIONS MOTOR VEHICLE FEES 958.66 2.05 GAS TAXES 3.38!,656.74 TOTAL 5340.318. 79 DISTRIBUTION STATE MIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION 185.80000 A VENICE ADMINISTRATION 77.115 00 £ AUDITOR ADMINISTRATION 25,000.00 LEGISLATIVE BRIDGE FUND 13Q 00000 REFUNDS GAS TAX 1613,962 51 STATE HIGHWAY FUND 2.042,873.52 | COUNTIES HIGHWAY FUNDS 1412.873.53 STATE AUDITOR - GAS TAX COLLECTION UNDISTRIBUTED 52,694.23 TOTAL 3540 516.79 ° NOTE. REFUND PERCENTAGE OF 26.48% SHOWN IN GRAPH 15 0N BASIS OF TOTAL COLLECTION OF MOTOR, VEMICLE FEES AND GAS TAXES N 3 THE (AX COLL ECTIONS ALONE ARE 418 ye COMBINED WHEREAS THE REFUNDS ON JHE BASIS OF TOTAL GAS 7) Of the total money collected from; The diagram showing the division | part of the work done on the other ogee cea in the form of of the dollars collected should be of | roads within the county. auto license fees and gax tax, only! great interest to the taxpayer as too " 38.25 per cent goes to the nighway|many of them are of the impression) The other chart shows how the department for maintenance and con-| that all money they pay goes to the|Moneys that the state highway de- struction work on state highways. 'state highway department. It should; partment has supervision over are Gas tax refunds take 41.8 per cent) be of interest to the taxpayer to know|spent. The highway department su- of the gas tax collected which is 26.48 that the large sums that the counties|‘pervises not only the state's portion per cen: of the total revenues, (gas/receive for use on other than state|of the auto licenses and gas tax but tax plus auto license fees) the coun-| highways are a part of his contribu- also supervises the expenditure of the ties receive 26.46 per cent of the total) tion to roads. He is paying not only| federal aid and the moneys that the money collected for use on other than; for the maintenance and construction | counties contribute to the building of state highways. |of state highways but also for a large | state highways. 7 with the vote on the Fowler election | important bearing on future political | session. The amendment is not of- bill, which would have eliminated the | developments. j fered in good grace or with good in- March presidential primary. | There was a feeling among many |tentions. It is offered in an attempt Cracking the whip to drive his. | Younger members of each faction that | to defeat these bills.’ they had more in common with each | group into line, Twichell Stee than iii ther aera ot Claims No Delay clairion call of “party issue. | Murphy replied that the bills came "two years provides nothing bu. ® po- ported the amendment and on. the litical football.” Directing his remarks at Senator A. 8. Marshall, Nonpartisan from Dickey county, Senator Bonzer de- manded to know how he could, if he voted for the bridge, justify his vote with his const{tuents. Charges that “politics are being legislated here” were hurled by Bonzer. Senator Dell Patterson, Renville Nonpartisan, shouted that the bridge fund does not belong to a represent- ative from Cass county, and that he was opposed and objected to having the bridge fund money used for build- ing concrete highways near Fargo. ‘When the Cass representative, L. L. Twichell, was mentioned by name, Lieutenant Governor Carr rapped his gavel and reminded the Renville sen- ator thav the rules of the senate pro- hibited enyone from -imputing motives of a member of the other house. “I object to putting cement high- way in Cass county, so that that county will have nice roads to joyride on,” Senator Patterson continued. “It would be detrimental to the needs of the people who are asking for this bridge across the Missouri. “If they want a filibuster here, I'll ride ‘em straight up.” Lynch Scores Minot Senator W. D. Lynch, La Moure, declared that “Whatever whips may have been cracked in this legislature were cracked by a certain munici- pality,” apparently referring to Mi- not, whicle is the largest city which has been most active in support of the bridge. “Take this municipality and its in- fluence out of the picture and there wouldn't be much demand for this bridge,” Senator Lynch declared. Saying that he resented being singled out in the remarks by Senator Bonzer, Senator Marshall in his first | speech during the legislative session declared that “in the several years I have been in this senate it is the first time I have ever been accused, pub- licly or privately, of legislating poli- tics.” Senator Bonzer’ took the floor again to point out that the road building program must keep pace with the growth and demands of traffic, and cited figures showing that mainten- ance costs of paved highways are much lower than those of gravel roads, ’ “Some aay there has got to be ‘a concrete highway built at Fargo, the metropolis and key city of the state,” Senator Bonzer said. Rapping his gavel, Lieutenant Gov- ernor Carr an1.ounced that the ques- tion of paving was not before the senate and that Senator Bonzer’s re- marks were out of order. Hyland Demands Vote Senator Frank H. Hyland, Ramsey, | remarked that the debate had covered a variety of subjects not kindred to {the topic to which the motion per- tained, and demanded a vote be taken on Senator Cain's motion. However, because Senator Bond had been on his feet before Senator Hyland arose, the senate president permitted him to speak, and the Mi- not man said he, too, felt there had been sufficient debate, and he wished to say he emphatically opposed the motion. i The roll call was then taken on the proposed amendment by Senator Cain, which was rejected 27 to 22, and the ro‘l call immediately fol- lowed on the passage of the bill, the vote on this being 28 to 21. The vote each time found the same lineup, ex- cept that Senator F. T. Grenvold, Rugby, on the first occasion sup- . Sfidant <. ; their own groups. a acon of success, as-| This sentiment may.be the cause | from the house to the insurance com- “It is true that you (the | of considerable political scene-shift- | mittee a week ago and that there was Nonpartisans) have had an sdvan-| ing in the not distant future. | goian tage in this hi i | ng 5 |no unnecessary delay. On aa am ES Lieutenant Governor Carr inter- it no longer. This is a party issue i . and we are going tu put it across.” | Bitterness Marks Tupted the discussion to explain that . \ the senate rules prohibited engaging Closing Hours of - abies eerement about no men- | jin Personalities and that this rule ion of the aving been made in + H ; would be rigidly enforced. the party platform or the governor's | Session_in Senate; “Members must avoid imputing im- message, however, carried enough | Pye oN Proper motives and will be held to weight to win two I. V. A. votes and (Continued from page 1) | this rule strictly,” Carr said Twichell was defeated. His pride and | the attorney general's office regard-| J : again been humbled in the dust. | ing the bills were conflicting. Fira oceatey team Desperate efforts to revive the bill “I no not know why anyone,” Mur- | er were passed they would be held were made in the closing hours of | phy continued, “should make such a! constitutional. the session but opponents of the. bill | statement unless it is to mislead the |“"ZOne NV RO ea that refused to Weaken and it remained senate and to discredit the attorney !1.°0 tne supreme court to dec lead. ' general.” such it F a ory questions, and that is not up te Another interesting development is: Two opinions issued by the attor-| the refusal of the younger members ie" general, Murphy added, held that | eee ect econ ee ase A LORD of the legislature to take the old and | the four passed today are un-j; ‘ s outworn political issues seriously. | constitutional, lets Pane eae ae Personal friendships sprang up among Senator Matthael, in attacking the | Fouiq not oppose the other measures the. 10-cent sales tax on each pound of these men, regardless of party affilia- tion, and close acquaintanceship re- vealed a surprising number of things i, common. ‘This fecting served to tear down | much of the artificiality of political barriers and friendships of these men, formed at this session, may have an amendment offered by Murphy, de- clared the amendment was sought in an effort to defeat the measure... | “These bills were introduced early | in the session,” Matthaei said. “There was ample opportunity to amend! them in committee, but this amend- | |“as I see it is in the cards for them {to pass.” “These bills,” he added, “have proved to me now,.who are my friends, and may they be blessed for being just and true and fair.” The debate on the Garrison bridge, sitting in one place all of the time. Then came a denouncement which “brought down the house.” With a measure up for action, Fitch leaned over the rail and ad- dressed Twichell, sitting directly be- Jow him, in a stage whisper. He said: “Did I vote right on that onc Lafe?” The assembly shouted in glee at this bit of tomfoolery which appar- ently had more behind it than ap- eared on the surface. Twichell, a hardened campaigner, almost blushed. It was the first time that he had been subjected to pub- lic ridicule by a member of his own faction, and to have the offender a Cass county man made the breach more noticeable. As Twichell’s legislative star ap- peared to dim, that of a Nonpartisan rival brightened appreciably. Named as assistant floor leader as rivals. © Quick of wit and with an agile tongue, Swett directed most of to him went most of the credit for | tl defeats which’ ment comes on the last day of the | before it passed by a 28 to 21 vote, de- ‘veloped considerable bitterness, and | Carr admonished members again. AS PRESIDENT PASSED MID-TERM | Chair Halts Patterson ny Senator Dell Patterson, McHenry county Nonpartisan, launched into an ettack on Representative L. L. Twich- ell, Cass county, Independent leader, | but was sharply interrupted by Carr, , Who stated that it was improper to attack mempers of the senate or of the other house. “I will hold the senator is out of or- der,” Carr said. “Senators must avoid engaging in personalities and the chair will enforce this rule strict- Senator Bonzer, during the debate on the bridge bill, pointed to Senator ; A. 8. Marshall, Dickey county, to in- quire why the Dickey county senator was favoring the bridge. Marshall arose to repay that “in the several years I have been in this senate it is the first time I have ever been accused, publicly or privately, of legislating politics.” He stated that he was in the legis- | lature to legislate for all the people ia the state, and that “I resent being singled out as playing politics.” Garrison Bridge Bill | Is Passed by Senate building program greater than Min- | nesota, wa; the -contention of the | Richland senator who shouted “You | (Continued from pdge 1) ‘ Associated Press Phote Dakota that With @ rush of tegisiation demanding attention as ress. built at Elvowoads. ans adjourned, President Hoover passed halfway mark of his term in Senator Bonzer said that if he had office. Here he Is with Secretary Adam: and Vice Presidént Curtis his way, the bridge fund of the state (right) at the. capitol to.recalye official notification that the seventy. ve that. firet congress, which went into office with him two years ace, had ended, goes into it every aThe new Willys Six is the speediest car in its price It also excels in pick-up, hill climbing and long life .. . You must drive the Willys Six to appreciate fully the speed and power capabilities of such a low-priced car ' ... All the new Willys cars are notable for brilliance of action, economy of operation . . . They bring you a high order of riding comfort and driving safety . . . Prices are impressively lower; some models are $700 less than last year’s similar types .. . And the new six-cylinder trucks ance ‘to the field of commercial transportation. class . po eee /SAFETY GLASS IN ALL WINDOWS AT SLIGHT EXTRA COST V ‘Ph last voted for the bill. Both Factions Are Satisfied With 60 Days’ Legislation bridges at Elbowoods and at the Big Bend, south of Garrison; passage of a state dog tax law; reorganization of the state highway department by the Bonzer bill; creation of commis- sions to manage the state mill and elevator, to make industrial and gov- ernment surveys and to promote interest in Missouri river de- velopment; passage of a bill putting oleomargarine and redistricting the state for legislative purposes, = One of the major issues before the session was decided when th® assem- bly failed to act. This was the pro- posal to reapportion the state for congressional purposes, made neces- sary by the fact that the state will lose one of its present three congress- men under the national reapportion- ment enactment. Because of the last-minute legisla- {tive rush, most of the measures wera |before the governor Saturday and he is expected to act on them within the jmext 10 days as required by the con- ;Stitution. ‘Few, if any, vetoes are ex- ' pected. | Although labeled as an “economy jsession” the legislature found this end hard to achieve and the reduc- | tion in the cost of operating the state | government will be negligible. | Some slight relief to the taxpayer was indicated, however, by the trans- fer to the general fund of $350,000 which had been collected to pay state soldiers’ bonus claims. This money was collected during the Sorlie ad- ministration but a large balance re- mained after all approved claims had been paid. Its transfer will reduce by that amount the money to be raised from taxation to pay the state’s expenses. Pay Four-Cent Tax Affecting the people most directly, is the increased gasoline tax. Start- ing July 1, motorists will pay four cents instead of three cents on each ;@allon of gasoline, so that additional revenue may be provided for road | building purposes. u Out of this tax, 2's cents from each gallon will go to the state, and 113 to | the county for county road and bridge |construction, ; Under the Bonzer-Atkins bill, by which the state highway commission {is reorganized, a chief highway com- missioner, assisted by two other com- jmissioners, is given the task of ad- ministering highway affairs. The governor, now a member of the com- mission, is taken from the board. Taxation of motor vehicles by ‘weight and class is provided in an- jother measure, while several bills by ‘Senator A. F. Bonzer, Jr., Richland county, providing for stricter regula- ition and increased taxation of com- mercial bus and truck transportation |companies, were enacted. The hail insurance laws were jamended to expedite payment of claims, to permit voluntary insurance, and placing the department on a ‘budget. Sheriff's mileage fees were reduced from 20 cents to 16 cents for jauto travel, and 10 cents to 8 cents jfor travel by train. Sounds War Cry Associated Press Photr Gov. Henry H. Horton of Tennes- known he would never the bitter end to clear his adminis- tration of accusations brought out In a probe ‘into state affairs. Nye Says Work of Probing Committee Was Not Pleasant (Continued from page 1) senate resolution and the investiga- tions and findings made under it ‘The progressive conference ning a ‘Washington next Wednes- day will cause him to return ime mediately to Washington, Nye said. ‘The conference was termed by Nye as the “first positive effort to bring together progressive thought and to give it such backing and strength as only united action can bring. “I feel that the Washington pro- gressive conference of next week has much in store for the great masses of people who have suffered such ter- rible reverses during more recent years. The economic . breakdown which has settled upon the country was inevitable. Agriculture could not be bankrupt, without ultimately decaying and bankrupting business generally. Big business is today pay- irig for its years of refusal to do sdme- thing other than bleed agriculture.’ Farm Act Deficient ‘The farm marketing act, Nye de- clared, “has helped but it has not af- forded that direct help which a great national emergency calls for.” “More adequate legislation will come when there can be concerted , ~ we effort made in two positive direc- . tions. To aid in the accomplish ment of these purposes has been the after considerable controversy. | Such measures included the Fowler | bill to change the primary election | system; creation of a state police; | and a bill to permit private firms to | heed workmen's compensation poll- | Ss. | An effort to increase the cigarette tax from three to four cents was de- feated. > © | Wachters Endure | | An Enforced Fast | Unable to eat the stale meat and the hard corn bread that is the daily diet of the rural Mexican peon, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Wachter were forced to go without food for three days while motoring overland to Mexico City according to a letter recently re- celved by Mrs. Henry Anderson, moth- | er of Mrs. Wachter. | Although they passed through many | villages on their way south, Mrs. Wachter writes, sanitary conditions were so bad that they were forced not only to sleep in their car but to go without food. Some of the roads in Mexico are | excellent, according to Mrs. Wachter but where they encountered heavy rains and there was no paving, they had to hire mules and a caterpillar tractor to pull them through the mud and even across streams and they were unable to make more than 100 miles a day. The Wachters spent a number of days in Mexico City, sailing from there to Havana, They expect to return to Bismarck early in April, . ASSOCIATION LAUDED i) St. Paul, March 7.()—Officials of Hamline university, St. Paul, have been commended by the North Cen- tral Association of Colleges for their manner of conducting the institu- Several measures of far-reaching tion's athletic affairs. effect were killed by the legislature, | & eatest contributing factor in the calling of the progressive conference in Washington.” Says Power Fxposed ‘Asserting his knowledge that per- sons “whose toes have been stepped on” will attempt to “play even.” Nye said persons of great power and in- | fluence had been exposed by the work of the committee. By connecting Victor Seymour, an employe of the senatorial campaign committee headed by Senator George H. Moses of New Hampshire, Nye said, the trial of the Norris investiga- tion in Nebraska led to high places. In its effort to find out who paid for the “nasty literature” circulated against Norris, Nye said, “We went straight to the door of the director of the Republican national committee and proved that he, Mr. Lucas, was responsible for it... . I don’t think that party leaders Fess and Moses felt so antagonistic to Lucas as they did to those responsible for showing up the ugly truth to the everlasting discredit of party leaders.” Commenting on the expenditures of the committee, Nye said, “The trou- ble with the committee scems to be that it spent its money too truly to the purpose to which it was appropri- ated to satisfy some folks.” Gladstone Quint and St. Joseph Five Win (Tribune Special Service) Dickinson, N. D., March 7.—In an early round of the grade class of the Stark county basketball tournament, Gladstone defeated St. Patrick of Dickinson 7-6 in the best game so far ia the meet. E. Agnew and F. Curn were outstanding for the Irish while W. Fieter and Waberg were the big guns for Gladstone. St. Joseph outclassed South Heart 28-5 in a slotv game in the second round of the high school class tour- ney, Weisengaber of S8t. Joseph’s scored 24 points to take high scoring honors. oo than ALL other low-priced cars! A BIG SIX Priced like afour WILLYS A Peows A BRILLIANT KNIGHT 2 NEW WILLYs TRUCKS Sandin-Wilde Motors, Inc. Lahr Building one 1500 Bismarck, N. Dak. BE THRIFTY— . BUY QUALITY °495 end up, f. @. b. Toledo, O. ‘Willys Siz. . 9495 to 9850 ‘Willys Eight . 995 to 1695 ight 1095 te 1198 ton + 38 Willys 1%-tom chassis. 595 UL RIGET _ 304 Fourth Street