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Show Uarw Legislative Changes XOriginate in Lower House Prohibition Takes First Place in List of Important Bills Introduced by Representatives in Twelfth Legislature. AMONG the measures of prima ira- portance originating in the honse of representatives and passed by both branches of the legislature axe the Young prohibition bill, the Young resolution for a constitutional con-stitutional amendment for prohibition, McKay's budget system bill, Currie'a anti-injunctioa labor bill, Cazier's irrigation ir-rigation district bill, Fisher's live stock ball, Greenwood 's bill recodifying the fchool laws, and the fish and game act by the fish and game committee. While many other bills of importance impor-tance were enacted, these measures, being be-ing partv measures, arid of far-reaching effect throughout the state, are conceded con-ceded first place on the list of legisla-tion legisla-tion originating in the house. Pre-eminent among these measures was, of course, the prohibition bill, which, as honse bill No. 1, by E. W. Young, Jr., of Salt Lake, was given first oonsiderion by both houses of the legisJT. Sta,tewida prohibition -was cfT among the promises made by the Jjiemoeratic-Projrressivs alliance to the T people of the state, and long before the legislature met it -was agreed that this end should be accomplished through tho medium of a prohibition bill to be Ivnown as house bill No. 1, and Eepre-nentative Eepre-nentative Young, a grandson of Brig-ham Brig-ham Young, was chosen for the honor of fathering this measure. Stringent Dry Law. Immediately upon tho heels of the prohibition bill, which is considered the most stringent prohibition measure yet enacted in any state, came house joint resolution No. 1, toy Mr. Young, providing pro-viding for submission for vote of the people a proposal to amend the constitution consti-tution of Utah to forever prohibit the manufacture, sale or disposal of intoxicating intox-icating liqnor within the state. Both the bill and the resolution, not only place the bar on all beverages containing contain-ing more than one-half of 1 per cent alcohol, but go further to prohibit the manufacture, sale or possession of all malt and brewed drinks containing less than one-half of 1 per cent of alcohol. In some unexplained manner, the words "malt or brewed drinks" were eliminated from the, engrossed copy of the constitutional resolution and discovery dis-covery of this after the measure had been "approved by the governor necessitated neces-sitated action in the closing days of the session repealing house joint resolution resolu-tion No. 1, and passing a substitute resolution in the form of house joint resolution No. 14, by Young, which has been approved by fhe governor. To Vote on Amendment. This resolution provides that at the nejt general election the people of the state shaJVote upon an amendment to the oStitution forever barring liquor fjytC the state of Utah. It was on the prohibition plank that Jo Democratic party waged its eam-1 eam-1 pa-C f election, and it was through I the" .sium of house bill No. 1 that this first and most important party pledge to the people of Utah was fulfilled. ful-filled. It was on January 9, the second day of the twelfth session, before the house had scarcely completed its organization that the prohibition bill was introduced. intro-duced. This was before the legislative reference committee had been created and the original' measure was referred directly to the committee on manufactures manufac-tures and commerce. The bill remained in the hands of this committee for nine days, during which time it was revised "and rearranged rear-ranged util it was practically redrafted to eoform to the ideas of the committee commit-tee members and to embrace suggestions sugges-tions offered by Representatives of the Prohibition and Betterment league. Advances Consideration. On January 18, the bill was reported out from tho committee in printed form and placed on the calendar for consideration. consid-eration. January 19 the bill was made a special order for consideration at 3 p. m., Monday, January 22. To save time, the bill was taken up on January Janu-ary 20 and given its third reading. On January 22, at 3 p. m., the bill was called up for consideration of amendments. amend-ments. The balance of that afternoon and the following morning were given over to this consideration. January 23 the bill pased the house at 2:44 p. ni., by vote of everv member of tho house with the exception of that of J. T. Raleigh of Salt Lake, who voted no. The bill was immediately transmitted to the senate and referred to the judiciary judi-ciary committee, where it underwent revision re-vision to a limited extent, and on January Janu-ary 30 was placed upon the senate calendar. calen-dar. February 1 it was passed by the senate as amended by the committee. The bill was rushed into the house and was passed as amended by the senate at 5:14 p. m. The bill was engrossed and was signed by the speaker February 5 at 2:30 p. m: It was signed by the president of the senate the same dav and was returned to the house on February 6. On that date the bill was transmitted to the governor gov-ernor in the custody of Representative J. H. Mace of Sanpete and E. B. Hawkins, Haw-kins, house messenger. Bill Is Recalled. February 7 the bill was recalled from the governor for consideration of a proposed pro-posed amendment to eliminate from the bill the prohibition against all malt and brewed drinks containing less than half of 1 per cent alcohol. February S the proposed amendment was defeated and the bill was returned to the governor in the custody of Representatives Young, Fisher ana Hecker. At 5 o'clock the same afternoon the bill was signed by the governor and filed with the secretary secre-tary of state. February 13 the house received a communication com-munication from thS governor calling attention at-tention to the fact that the bill had been recalled for consideration on amendment and had not - been repassed after the amendments had failed. A special com mittee wes appointed to determine what shouU be done to correct the defect. February 23 the committee reported recommending that all reference to the recall of the bill be expunged from the journal and that the record of the bill bp cleared in this manner. The report of the committee was adopted unanimously. unani-mously. Budget System Approved. Another party measure and one considered con-sidered of great importance to the state from a finaucial standpoint was house lull No. 35, by Representative D. D. McKay Mc-Kay of Weber, which provides for the establishment of a budget system of expenditures ex-penditures by the state. Under the terms of this act tho governor gov-ernor prepares tho biennial budget upon estimates submitted bv the heads of various departments and figures supplied by the state auditor relative to expenditures expendi-tures and revenues. The legislature is authorized to exercise its discretion in reducing or eliminating entirely any item of the budget, but it cannot increase in-crease the amount of any item over the figures submitted by the governor. Provision Pro-vision is made, however. foT taking care of emergencies by special legislative appropriations. ap-propriations. This act is designed io place the finances of the state on a strict- business basis whereby deficits may be overcome and appropriations beyond be-yond the limit of revenues may be avoided. Anti-Injunction Act. Of special import to tho laboring man and laboring organizations of the state j is the anti-injunction act known as house bill No. 10, bv Representative B. Currie of Salt Lake. This act in effect ef-fect embraces in a. state law the main provisions of the Clayton anti-trust act of-the federal government. Tt provides first that it shall be lawful law-ful for laboring men and women to organize or-ganize for the purpose of securing better hours, wages and conditions in connection connec-tion with their work. It prohibits the courts from issuing injunctions against labor strikes except in cases where life or property is in imminent danger through such strikes. Tt also- prohibits the courts from enjoining labor organizations organi-zations from " picketing" places where strikes are in progress except in cases, where such picketing may place life or property in imminent dauger. The act further provides that iu cases of contempt con-tempt for violation of strike injunctions the accused shall have the right of jury trial unless the act of contempt is committed com-mitted in the presence of the court. Irrigation Districts Act. Of prime importance probably from a standpoint of development of the state reclamation of the arid lands of Utah is the irrigation districts act by Representative Repre-sentative Orson Cazier of Jnab. This act is an amendment to the former irrigation irri-gation laws eliminating the ineffective features of that law and providing for the organization of irrigation districts on a basis where by federal aid and federal fed-eral money may be secured iu the construction con-struction and operation of big reclamation reclama-tion projects throughout the state. This act provides that irrigation districts dis-tricts may be organized through the county commissioners upon initiation, bv the governor direct or through petition peti-tion of the property owners to tho. county coun-ty commissioners. Provision is made for the issuance of bonds by such districts on a basis which makes the bonds acceptable by the government gov-ernment as collateral - security, upon which the government will furnis-h funds for the construction of irrigation canals and reservoirs for reclamation purposes. This is considered the most important legislation in relation to irrigation and 1 reclamation that has been enacted by the state of Utah. Industrial Development, Another measure of vital importance to the industrial development of the state is the livestock act, known as house bill No. 120, by Fisher, which consolidated the present sheep board, the livestock board and the state veterinarian's veteri-narian's department into one general livestock board, with general supervision supervi-sion and control over the livestock interests in-terests of the state. The act provides for a livestock commissioner, who will have supervision over and will handle the work formerly done by three state departments. The act provides for cooperation co-operation between tho state livestock board in the -matter of handling contagious con-tagious and infectious diseases, among stock, inspection of interstate shipments and the general protection and improvement improve-ment of the livestock industry throughout through-out Utah. The fish and game act, 'as incorporated in house bill So. 156, by the fish and game committee, is a complete revision and readjustment of the fish and game laws of the state, designed to give greater protection to tho game fish and to the wild animals and birds of Utah. Long and careful attention to the measure meas-ure was given by the members of the committee. One of the features of this act is that it gives to the fish and game commissioner authority to declare open season on beavers when these animals ani-mals become so numerous in any section sec-tion of the state as to cause damage to property. Heretofore nothing could be done to place a check on the destruction destruc-tion of these animals and several sections sec-tions of the state have suffered thereby. School Law Codification. The school law codification act, bv Representative Alma Greenwood of Utah county, known as house bill No. 73, is a complete revision of the laws of the state relating to public education educa-tion and schools as prepared by the edu- cational code commission authorized by the previous legislature. The laws were brought up to date and revised so as to insure a closer co-operation between the school districts and to apportion the school revenues more evenly and equitably. equi-tably. . . The state highwav commission act, known as house bill No. 1C7, by Raleigh, which changes the personnel of the state highway commission, is considered an important one and is one in which the governor was interessted in having enacted. enact-ed. This act eliminates from the membership mem-bership of the commission two representatives represen-tatives from the Agricultural college and the University of Utah, and in their place makes the secretary of state and the state auditor members of the board. This change is designed to facilitate the matter of board meetings, which, under un-der the old oreaniz.ation, frequently could not be held when desired, owing to inability of the school members to be present. Court Procedure. The act relating to punishment of habitual criminals is designed to straighten out a tangle in criminal court procedure that has caused considerable consid-erable troublo to the peace authorities of the state in the past. The bill, which is by Wynn L. Eddy of Boxelder, provides that w-here a person per-son is convicted of more than one offense of-fense the sentence imposed for each offense of-fense shall become effective upon the expiration of the sentence for the offense of-fense preceding it, thus making the penalties pen-alties cumulative, instead of co-eiten-sive. |