The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, January 18, 1917, Page 24

g R N (70 [ 2 e O B S bl 5 st N s e = = nflflmumwuwz‘@‘ Moo e ?_. Frazier Would Oust -Hanna’s Regent Board That Attempted to Reduce Standing of Agricultural College May Lose Jobs—Up to Senate BISMARCK, Jan. 13. — Governor Lynn J. Frazier this afternoon deliv- ered a broadside when he sent to the senate in a sealed message the names of five new members of the state board of regents. The present state board of regents claims that the terms of only two of the members expire at the present time. The governor, it is said, upon the advice of the attorney general, named five on the ground that the appoint- ments of the members of the present board were not legal. It is said that -the attorney general holds that the -appointments were not legal because made before the act providing for the state board of regents was passed. “Despite the fact that the governor's appointments were sent to the senate in-a sealed message and that the sen- atg acted upon them in executive ses- sion, the action caused so much sur- prise that the matter leaked out and the news spread very rapidly. The members of the present board of regents are Lewis F. Crawford of Sentinel Butte, president; Frank White of Valley City, vice president; Dr. L. J. D. Taylor of Grand Forks; Emil Skow of Bowman, and J. A. Bower of Leonard. The members of the presen\ board hold that President Crawford was appointed for a term extending to 1921 and that the next two named hold until 1919. 'The last two members’ terms expire this year. The law provides that the appoint- ments must be made by the governor before January 15 of the year the terms expire. HANNA NAMED MEN TOO SOON When the act creating the state board of regents was passed in 1915, the terms of officers were provided as follows: the terms of two for two years, of two -for four years and of one for six years. Appointments for the board were made, however, before the act was passed. Governor Hanna, Hanna’s Figures Slightly Mixed BISMARCK N. D, Jan. 13.—North Dakota is today approximately ore-half million dollars behind the obligations which have accumulated to date. The condition has grown worse from year to year and will continue to grow worse until met by increased state revenue. In his farewell message to the as- sembly, Governor L. B. Hanna dwelt at length upon the splendid financial condition in which he left the state after four years as its governor. He stated that on July 1, 1917 there would be a balance of $260,000 in the general fund after paying all bills, It is rather interesting to note the mental process by which Governor Hanna arrived at this conclusion, He prefaced his argument by conceding that the expenditure for the year end- ing July 1, 1917 would be $3,133,568.16. To meet this there was a balance July 1, 1916 of $346,688.26; fees, taxes . upon insurance, interest on public lands and miscellaneous collections for : the year $407,500; uncollected delin- quent taxes of 1915 $297,825, making a total of $1,052, 013 26. = The board of equalization last . August levied $1,840,000 for state ‘' purposes. Governor Hanna arrives at this sur- plus of $260,000 on July next by ‘sub- tracting the cash balancs, miscellan- eous collections and delinquent tax collections enumemted above from thig levy. ACTUAL DEFICIT WILL BE RESULT A little reflection ought bo anyone that every dollar of levy made last August will paid into the treasury by next Instead of $1,340,000 available. at time, there will be at the - seventy-five per cent of that or $1,005,000, It is extremely able that every cent of the 13 linquent taxes will be paid this 5?% gE§ bizEd ie On the contrary not to exceed from ?.% five per cent will be paid. having $297,825 available state - . to meet the demands of the it is stated, sent the appointments to the state senate on March 2, 1915, and the act was not passed until March 4, 1915. The appointments were con- firmed on March 5, 1915. It is for this reason that the appointments of the present members of the board are not considered legal. According to reliable information the - appointments sent to the senate this afternoon by Governor Frazier are: Dr. W. G. Brown of Fargo for a term of six years. Robert Muir of Sarles and Rev. C. E. Vermilya of Valley City for a term of ‘four years each. George Totten of Bowman and Roscoe Deagle of Sawyer for terms of two years each. Governor Frazier and Attorney Gen- eral Langer both refused to comment on the matter of the appointments. BOARD OF REGENTS IMPORTANT BODY The board of regents is one of the most important -bodies of the state government. It has control of the state educational institutions, includ- ing the university at Grand Forks, the Agricultural college at Fargo, the nor- mal schools at Valley City, Mayville and Minot, the school of science at ‘Wahpeton, the industrial school at Ellendale and the school of forestry at Bottineau.. The state library com- mission at Bismarck is also under its control. The message of the governor was referred to the state affairs commit- tee, and a report may be made Monday. So great was the surprise in the sen- ate when the message containing the five appointments was received this _afternoon that a committee was sent -to the governor’s office to confer with him under the impression that, being new in office, he had made a mistake regarding the number to be appointed. The appointment may open a legal battle against the governor’s action tby the members of the acting board of regents. * Senators would not express their opinion regarding the matter tonight :and it is not known what action that body will take when the state affairs League Men Help Lawmakers W. J. Prater, of Bismarck, Sgcretary of Senate Bismarck, N. D, Jan. 13.(Special) ° —A. E._ Bowen of Fargo, chief clerk . of the house and W. J. Prater, secre- tary of the senate of the Fxfteenth as- sembly are Lea.gue men. = Mr. Bowen was the first person to speak of the Nonpa.rtisa,n League idea. giving an address - in Bisma.rck two years ago. Mr. Bowen wasg born in . Dickey county North Dakota in 1885. - He attended the common schools and taught in the rural schools for three years. He has.lectured considerably and is an organizg_r f_or the 1eggug. He : Photos by Holmboe, Bismarck A. E. Bowen, of Fargo, Chief Clerk of House is married and has two children, aged eight and five years. Mr. Prater, who is secretary of ‘the senate, was treasurer of Burleigh . county. He was first elected to this office in 1912. Mr. Prater was born in Des Moines, Ia., in 1871.° He moved to North Dakota in, 1902 and filed on a homestead in 1902. He farmed this “homestead until 1911, ‘when - he came to Bismarck. He is married and has three children, aged 14, eight a.nfl seven. ; _______________—._—_————-—————————_ source during the year, there wm be $223,360 or less, making $1,228,360 from these two sources, “ Adding to i this the $407,600 available from fees, etc., there will only be available cash state treasury for the year, a sum of $1,635,- ° 860. .In other words, if all of the ob- ligations of the state for the current . year, $2,133,568.1¢ were met by July nrst.themwonldbeudefldtmtho general fund of $497,708. . However, the bills will not all be ~ met by July first and the obligations of the state will drag over until rev- enue 1s found to meet them. This has . been the system for many years, but each year the difficulty of staving. off fhe inevitable deficit is harder. The " gituation will sortly become impossible and will have to be met and the state ' put on a sound financial basis. MANY UNPAID BILLS HAVE ACCUMULATED There is another way in which this matter of surplus or deficit can be checked. Wiile the state was obligated ! mfiw@mfiwr%wmr%‘vi)f»-»fl»,;fl:«-.‘»;?:-w.-—‘—»iw e _ to the amount of 32,183,568.16 for the current ' fiscal yea_r. during the six months ending December 31, there was paid on these obligations $878,9717,34, leamng the new administration the last six months $1,254,590.82, or nearly ° $400,000 more than paid by the last administration. This is not the entire story of the condition. There was an actual ae- - cumulation of unpaid bills in the hands of State Anditor Kositsky when he took offics, January first, amounting to nearly $50,000 and the’ general fund was overdrawn several hundred dol- lars. According to a statement by Governor Hanna no levy was made for the six months period from July first to December 31 of this year. Last year : the collections during that period were . $569,007.59, while the obHgations of the state were considerable in excess of ° one million dollars. Conceding that the increase In ' expenditures keeps - pace with the increase in revenue, the same condition will prevafl this year and the state will be short, in round numbers, $500,000 in meeting its ob- Hgations for that period. committee makes its report. What- ever action is taken will take place in executive session. Bills Passed By Solons BISMARCK, Jan. 13.—Six bills were passed by the house and one by the senate of the Fifteenth assembly this afternoon. One bill, prohibiting desecration of Memorial Day, was defeated in the house. The bills passed in the house were as follows: House, 5, MéManus.—Providing that the rates of interest on all indebted- ness be the same after maturity as before maturity; 94 for and 8 against. The emergency clause of this bill was defeated. House, 6, Fraser.—Relating to call~ ing in and payment of expenses of judges of another district for trial of civil action in district court om grounds of prejudice; 89 for, 13 against and 12 not voting. Emergency clause defeated. House, 10, Lageson.—Making it man= “ - _datory upon part of court to reduce excessive special assessments to level of benefits; 104 for and 9 not voting. Emergency clause passed. - House, 16, Speaker Wood.—Provid- ing for:lien for repairs uponsperson= - alty; 104 for, 1 against and 8 not vot- ing. House 25, Dettler.—Fixing situs of credits mthm _state for purposes of taxatxon out of business transacted within’ state; 101 for and 12 not vot- WANT LADD'S TESTS IN FEDERAL GRADES House 26, Ward.—Concurrent reso- lution urging secretary of agriculture -_to consider findings of Dr. Ladd in its - determination of standards of grkd- ing grain and to.base standards of quality thereof prifiarily on milling and baking tests. * . Representative O’Connor’s bill pro- : viding against desecration of Memorial Day and prohibiting baseball games, other sports and other entertainments -on that' day was defeated. The bill secured 53 for, 51 agamst and 9 not voting. It lacked a majority vota. The bill was urged by members of the * Grand “‘Army of the Republic. - A large number- - of - representatives voted against the bill because they were of the opi.nlon that it wonld not be en= forced. _In’the ‘senate, Senator Carey’s bill rela.ting to _receipt and filing by regis- “ter of deeds of deeds, mortgages and assxgnments gt mortgages, was passed, - securing the votes of the 49 genators. ' The ‘house met at 10 o'clock this > bl £l o { : mornlng. a.l;d ‘the readl.ng of the DIo= "~ }‘-w ¢ posed eonstitution Submitted yester- day as house bfll No. 44, was come pleted. The bfll was. re!en'edmt.h. 3 ra- commi Elgh_ totfldalsctuetcer county sube -mittedareeolufinntothahousemg\- ing that‘a census be taken of that county. Tt.is: alleged that the census hgreatertha.nmportedbytheameo- ~sormdthattheoflicia.lammfltld to larger salary.- 5 House bill No. 20, relating to regis- tration rees of xnomr Vehicles and the urged = against adjournment saying ppstponemeutotmhmmmm- troduced by Senator Martin and which provided that three of the fiye judged of the supreme court must be bomg fide farmer= :