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Show Hinder ike 1 By WILLIAM T. INGLEHEART Utah State Press Association The wishes and swashes of contending currents mighty near swamued the state legislature this last week as they dunked into the troubled liquids of the state liquor control laws; nigh overheaded themselves in school financing; tested out deep waters of election law changes, tentatively tenta-tively waded the shallows of old age assistance and actually made no declarations of a positive posi-tive character that will either beach or submerge any voter of Utah. Clifton Kerr, the beligerent bishop from Tremonton and Ward Holbrook the quietly intent senator sen-ator from Davis had the fireworks of an intended blowup of the liquor commission stolen from them by Governor Maw's release of an attorney general's opinion that every, or almost every, law on the books had been bent if not busted by whole sale soles of intoxicating beverages. The longitudinous Adams of Pleasant Grove chairmaned a house liquor committee with Ken-as Ken-as ranking Republican. Senator Holbrook chairmaned a less regular reg-ular but more pugnacious anti-commission anti-commission clique in the senate. Both wanted to and did vocally castigate alleged sins of commission, com-mission, favoritism, omission and downright malfeasance by the state's dispensers of drinking liquor. That gnufire hasn't subsided sub-sided and probably won't for another an-other twenty days. Everybody thought when this twenty-sixth session started that the main idea was going to be to "pass some laws that will provide a better place in which to live for the hoped-soon-to be returned G. I. Joe and Jennies. To date, it is regretfully reported, only two or three inconsequential measures meas-ures out of the 500 total of bills put in have been passed to even let the men and women in the service know where Utah is. True, there are quite a number of proposals pro-posals pending for post war planning plan-ning and the hoped-for construction construc-tion deriving theretrom that will furnish the hoped-for employment. employ-ment. But at the end of the two-thirds two-thirds mark of this session, none of them have been put into law. For the past number of years the school people and all those concerned with the education of "tah's best crop have been determinedly de-terminedly trying to solve the question of financing Utah's fine educational program in a way compatible with both the educational educa-tional desires of the people and the ability to pay of the taxpayers. tax-payers. None of the measures calculated to accomplish those desirebale ends have even gotten beyond committee consideration. And as the twenty-sixth session ses-sion got into its forty-third day Monday, both houses had sifting committees to tell the lawmakers which bills they could or could not further consider and act upon. up-on. Seven senators and seventeen seven-teen representatives, or better, the majority of either, can tell from now on out what laws the lawmakers will have a chance to pass upon. Moot questions of civil service, retirement privileges, tax ceilings ceil-ings post war aviation, highways, appointments to various state commissions, salaries, sale of liquor by the drink or otherwise, control of livestock on the public domain, fishing and hunting opportunities, op-portunities, the care of inmates . in public institutions, these and a lot more of equal interest are out on the limb which the sifting committees can decide to saw off or leave dangling. Of course, if the legislature decides de-cides to get at all of this business, busi-ness, they can make some mighty worthwhile determinations. But so far the record now shows the possibilities have far out-distanced accomplishments. Governor Maw finds himself in a not enviable position because even the joint oppropriations committee gave his money bill, last week presented, scant courtesy. cour-tesy. What the senate will do with his recommendation of appointments ap-pointments seems destined for equally impolite considerations. Partisan politics again last i week jumped into law making consideration. In talking about liquor legislation, fiery young Senator Mitchell Melich of Moab j declared that the story now should be "Morals and the Gov-1 ernor," rather than as during the late campaign "Morals and the Mayor." Representative Tom Rees, loquacious Salt Laker put in a bill that would do away with all political parties by simply sim-ply forbidding any and all state or county or municipal employees from holding office in partisan organizations. Friday was the last day for the introduction of new bills without either getting the consent of either house or suspending the rules and few bills can be ex-pr-ted to get such favored treatment treat-ment with the result that the 500 bills, thus far presented will have to be about enough, if not more so! But the spade committee work has been done on most of them with the result that both houses are now in a position to dispose of bills just about as rapidly as the sifting committees release them to the floor for consideration. |