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Show THE SEARCHLIGHT O Supreme Court--(Continued from preceding to the Court at the hands of Governor Herbert page) Engineering Commission. It does not provide that the Engineering Commission shall perform the duties of the State Road Commission, but merely makes the same people members of both commissions. It does not abolish or in any substantial way change the State Road Commission except to change its personnel. It is still the same Road Commission, with simply a new membership. If the act before us be viewed as a legislative removal or termination in office of the members of the State sion, in effect ousting them is a legislative usurpation placing it upon the statute islature stepped out of its bounds, and when it does so no validity. Road Commis- from office, it of power. In books the Leeconstitutional its acts are of The attempt of Governor Maw to remove Abbott and Hammond from office without hearing, and without cause, seems to have had only a minor bearing on the ease. It was tacitly agreed that the Governor’s acts in that respect were without legal foundation. The taint of Maw politics appears to have entered the case when District Judge L. A. Wade, sitting in the Road Commission ease in the absence of Justice Pratt, on leave, was given an interim appointment to the Supreme Court by the Governor. Any person over age 15 would have recognized that by inference or directly the status of State recrganization would be invelved in the Road ConCommission case—as it probably then was. sequently it seems to be an act of gross impropriety on the part of Governor Herbert B. Maw to have tendered an interim appointment to Supreme Court to Judge Wade at the very the when time on a case Judge in Wade which scheme was under Supreme Court. its the was sitting validity first direct of temporarily Maw’s scrutiny by pet the Moreover, we question the propriety of Judge interim = appointment an accepting Wade’s B. Maw at such an inapproprate time—a time when he was weighing a question of paramount importance to the Governor’s political scheme. And we question further the propriety oi Judge Wade’s continuing to sit in the Road Commission ease after he had accepted the interim appointment. We do the interim not claim, nor attempt appointment, to claim or the tender that of it, actually influenced Judge Wade to concur in the prevailing opinion, to make that opinion the prevailing opinion. We make no such claim because there is no feasible means establishing it or supporting Nevertheless both at hand otf it adequately. Governor Maw an a Judge Wade are grown up men and are presumed to be aware of the natural implications of their acts. They should realize that Utah’s Supreme Court, like Caesar’s wife, at all times must be above suspicion. Oiling Slack Coal There should be greater flexibility in F'ederal regulation of essential materials. For instance, in this region there is no shortage of petroleum, or petroleum products, even though there may be an acute shortage on the Hastern seaboard and elsewhere. Nevertheless coal producers have been foreed to substitute calcium chloride for oil to make dustless coal. Calcium chloride is decidedly inferior for that purpose. There are more clinkers, and more fly ash. It dries out when the coal is in the bin and leaves slack about as Generally the coal dusty as before treating. Additional burdens burns less satistactorily. are thrown on householders. Of course, if the war effort 1s helped at all by the substitution there is no objection. But here we have abundant oil. Its superior qualities are marked. Under the circumstances it would seem that if transportation equipment is available, the regulations should be relaxed sufficiently to release a few carloads of oil to treat coal for residential use. |