The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 28, 1919, Page 8

'South Dakota Legislators Waste 60 Days Lawmakers Increase Taxes, but Show No Way to Pay Them—League Meén Block Plan to Kill Public Ownership | | | i BY TOM AYRES IHE conspicuous feature in the record of the late South Dakota legislature was its radical in- crease in taxation without pro- viding any method for enlarg- ing the ability of the people to pay the enhanced burdens im- posed. 3 Contrasted with North Da- kota’s record, the South Dakota legislature was about the most feeble and venal of any body which has yet consumed 60 days in an alleged law-making effort in the history of the state. g The tax commission obtained passage of a meas- ure imposing a 3-mill levy on moneys and credits, which will yield about $300,000 a year, and another providing for a registration tax on farm mortgages of one-half of 1 per cent. What this will bring nobody appears to know, but it will not be large, as state rural credits mortgages are exempted. An attempt was made by Mr. Hunter, representing the Farmers’ union, to obtain exemption for federal farm loans. Commissioner Henry of the state rural credits department rejected the request with the reply: “To hell with the federal farm loan.” New sources of revenue were not found, as in North Dakota, and it is apparent that a largely in- creased levy must be made for state purposes, al- though the tax commission has not yet had time to reduce the requirements to figures. Thirteen and a half million dollars were appropriated by the legis- lature, including the road bonds, amount- ing to $6,000,000. How these increased taxes were to be paid did not seem to occur to the gentle- men who expended their time mostly framing up jobs for continuing them- selves and their friends in the public service. s A great furor has been Rulining a tractor is one of the tricks students of agriculture are being taught at universities. Here ; ; are a lot of students of Purdue university operating an Avery 8-16 tractor with a plowing outfit. raised by the plutocratic press of the state be- cause North Dakota passed bills involving an 1n- crease of the pubBlic debt by $17,000,000 for enter- prises authorized by the taxpayers. North Dakota will increase its wealth many times as a result of the bond issues. SOUTH DAKOTA DEBT INCREASED $19,000,000 South Dakota has increased its debt $19,000,000 in the last two years. Twelve millions have gone into rural credits bonds, $6,000,000 will go into roads, and $1,000,000 into the cement plant if it is ever established. North Dakota for its money will get institutions which will pay for them- selves. South Dakota’s investments, outside of rural credits bonds and the cement plant (when built, if ever), will be an expense, for the roads be- come a burden, notwithstanding they are a necessity. The important bills passed by the South Dakota legislature may be sum- marized as follows: 1. A general appropriation bill of $7,500,000 for the biennial period, in which official salaries, aside from elected state officials, were generally increased from $250 to $500 a year, although the people at the - last election by a great majority voted against- salary increases. 2. A general road bill, with a bond issue of $6,000,000, and a pork-barrel provision for the ap- pointment of a county supervisor at a salary of - $1,200 per year in each county. : - ‘3. Extended the terms of office of the rural credits commissioners and increased the salary of the chief commissioner from $3,000 to $5,000 a year. This on the anxiously expressed theory of its au- thors that “we may not always have a governor like Norbeck.” 4. A coal development bill appropriating $125,- 000 for the ostensible purpose of furnishing coal campaign promises. to the people. It will not make a beginning. The Scranton (N. D.) mine and briqueting enterprise already has invested $500,000 on a 10-unit plant, and will be able to furnish a carload of-coal a day when it has been finished. South Dakota wanted a start as good as this and was ready to pay the bill, but the politicians “stalled” at the job., 5. A bill appropriating $25,000 “to find out if the Missouri river is still there,” as expressed by Doctor Mills. ' Aside from making a new job for Doane Robinson of the State Historical society,- it is doubtful if power development on the Missouri river will ever be achieved in the lifetime of those who made the law. 6. Passed a free textbook bill providing for | LEARNING THE GAME | county instead of state adoption of textbooks. This was a distinct victory for the book trust. 7. A bill for cement development, authorizing the expenditure of $50,000 on an investigation of the feasibility of the scheme. The commission may expend $1,000,000 in bonds, if it finds for the proj- ect. This measure is regarded as tentative and “experimental.” The public has a right, therefore, to regard it as a bluff. : 8. A hail insurance bill providing for an in- demnity of $10 an acre, and an assessment to pay This is the first of a series of articles showing what has been done by legislatures in states where the Nonpartisan league is organized. Readers of the Leader already know the record of the North Daketa legislature, which has passed more con- structive legislation in a shorter time than any other law- making body in the country. On the other hand, in states where the machine is still in control, legislatures fiddle their time away, accomplishing little and disregarding utterly their The South Dakota record is typ- ical of the machine-controlled state legislatures. ; losses of 35 to 45 cents an acre. This is an optional measure, from which farmers may withdraw by filing an affidavit with the county auditor not later than June 1 next. Land held by speculators is not affected. The law is very unpopular. It was made by lawyers, abstracters and real estate spec- ulators, and based upon hearsay knowledge of in- surance. - 9. A soldiers’ settlement bill obligating the beneficiary to pay down $600 to get the benefit of the act. The bill is condemned as a speculator’s bill, since there is no provision for the condemna- tion of the land to be bought by the state, although there is a provision for the condemnation of ditches and roadways. A measure is also provided for building soldiers’ memorial halls, with the expec- PAGE EIGHT ] T R T R T A T SO R T DT " rangements with the interests. tation that returned soldiers are to be satisfied with monuments and cheap applause. The promise of the Republican state machine to pass legislation for state-owned elevators, mills and packing houses was ignored. The packed com- mittee appointed by Governor Norbeck two years ago to “investigate” these matters did not file its adverse report until the 52nd day of the session, and the committees of the house and senate were not called to consider these reports till the 56th day, although repeatedly urged to do so by League members. ' The truth is that the machine had made its ar- If the power trust were a factor in South Dakota, as it is in Idaho and Montana, there would not have been so much as a bunk investigation of Missouri river power development authorized. Y The state administration and its controlled leg- islature stands branded with the trade mark of the railroads, the telephone and telegraph com- panies, the packers and millers, as well as the entire group of exploiting interests. These brands are recorded in the measures passed and in the house and senate journals. The session began with a 'drive of the railroads and other public utility interests to obtain pas- sage of resolutions urging con- gress to return these properties to private management. The rail- road resolution was- put through; the telegraph and telephone. resolution was buried when the sit- uation began to look dan- gerous. 3 HOME BUILDING MEASURE KILLED A home building bill, modified from the North Dakota law and intended to give cities and towns the power to build and sell homes to working people, was killed in the senate after it passed the house by the vote of Senator Lincoln of Brown county, who first voted for the measure and then changed his vote to “no.” Mr. Lincoln runs a bank. To cap the climax of this most unsavory rec- ord, a resolution was promoted by the machine to amend the constitution by ¢utting the vitals out of the public ownership amendments adopt- ed by overwhelming majorities by the people at the last €lection. It was proposed to “put on the lid” so that future legislatures might be prohibited from going into pub- lic ownership enterprises and al- so that the power to furnish money for enterprises already au- thorized would be withdrawn from the legislature. It failed, due to the vigilance of the League rep- resentatives. 7 In the next campaign the Norbeck machine will be stripped naked of the hypocritical pretenses of friendship to popular measures intended to meet the demands for social and economic legislation. It can not again make the pretense that it is a better League ] organization than the League itself. Iti will be compelled to stand for what it is—the hired tool of every special interest in South Dakota. . THE FARMERS' WIVES There is a great army of women already on the land, and they are doing a man’s share of agri- cultu;al production and conservation. I speak of the six or seven millions of farmers’ wives. Most of our' publicists and our leaders have forgotten t.hem. Most of them are in the kitchen before day- hgh!: and long after dark; they cook, sew and wash; cultivate gardens, care for the poultry, make the butter and often work in the fields. They are truly and to the limit of their strength and their mar- _velous patience the helpmates of their husbands.—- WOMEN ON THE FARM. r »"'—w"- oy ,