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Breakers Ahead.
Governor's Salary.
Funds Distributed.
By A. L. LINDBECK
SALEM. Breakers loom dead
ahead for the pood ship House of
Representatives of the Oregon leg
islature even before it sets sail on
its cruise to Salem.
Word from Portland has it that
the Multnomah county delegation
is preparing to take over the com
mand when the legislature meets
to guide its program, control its
patronage and direct its destinies.
Already, the report has it, the boys
from the big town are organizing
to run the show in their own way,
with headquarters to be maintained
in the Senator hotel, where the
plots are to be hatched and the
plans whipped into shape and with
Warren Erwin of the Multnomah
delegation as the chief plotter and
Hoot leader, under the able advice
of such veteran lobbyists and legis
lators as Howard Latourette and
John Beckman.
Nothing could be better calcu
lated to stir the resentment of the
up-state legislators than such a
proposal. Multnomah county has
always had its share of legislative
honors, and naturally, because of
the numerical strength of its dele
gation, wields a big influence in the
legislative halls. The legislators
from the smaller counties have al
ways been willing to join hands
with their colleagues from he me
tropolis in elevating a Multnomah
county lawmaker to the Speaker
ship when that county was entitled
to this office. But to have the
Multnomah delegation attempt to
dictate to the legislature and tell it
what it shall do and when, that is
something else again. The report
from Portland, unless promptly
and successfully refuted can be ex
pected to have about the same
soothing effect on the up-state leg
islators as the waving of a red shirt
does on the temper of a bull.
All of which does not contribute
in any way toward easing the task
of John Cooter, Speaker-designate,
in doling out committee assign
ments anr chairmanships in a man
ner that will make for harmony
and the smooth running of his part
of the legislative machinery.
Over on the other side of the leg
islative hall the liberals of the sen
ate, frustrated in their plot to de
feat Harry Corbett for the presi
dency by joining their forces with
the democratic minority, are said
to be busy with plans whereby they
expect to make their influence felt
as the balance of power between
the conservative republicans on
one side and the democrats on the
other. Senator Zimmerman, erst
while candidate for governor, is un
derstood to have a pocketful of
bills already to dump into the leg
islative hopper, including another
hydro-electric power commission
bill minus the bonding features, a
"unicameral" legislature amend
ment, and a state banking amend
ment. Gradually as the picture begins
to unfold to the gaze of the observ
ing outsider it begins to appear that
the forthcoming session will be just
a repetition of those that have gone
before hoppers overflowing with
bills, lawmakers overflowing with
oratory and argument and the con
stitutional 40 days and nights over
flowing into an extra week or ten
days before the job is finished and
sine die written to adjournment.
There will be no inaugural ball in
honor of Gover nor Martin when he
takes over his new office next
month. Instead there will be an in
formal reception at the capitol with
everybody invited to "come as you
are." The change in plans, it is
said, was made at the request of
the general himself who preferred
the democratic simplicity of an eve
ning of handshaking to the more
exclusive atmosphere of a ball room.
For the past 30 years governors
of Oregon have been drawing salar
ies in excess of the $1000 fixed by
the constitution makers first $0000
and since 1927, $7500 per year.
Now Rodney Alden, Woodburn
publisher, proposes to take the is
sue into the courts for a legal de
termination and is raising a fund
to finance the litigation.
The governor's salary is a good
deal like the weather in this re-
spect that there is a great deal of
talk about it but very little don'j
about it. Four years ago at the
time of Governor Meier's election
the question was being debated pro
and con. Governor Meier who
seemed to have some doubt in his
own mind as to the validity of the
$7500 salary asked Attorney General
Van Winkle about the matter and
was advised that the only way the
issue could be definitely determined
was through a supreme court de
cision. "I have been unabie to find a de
cision by any court of this country
irhich holds that the increase by
the legislature of a salary fixed by
the constitution of a state is valid,"
the attorney general said.
But nothing further was done in
the matter and the governor con
tinued to draw his statutory salary
of $7500 minus the legislative de
duction for the past two years.
Incidentally the secretary of state
and state treasurer would seem to
be in the same boat with the gov
ernor with respect to the validity
of their salaries. The stale consti
tution fixes the pay of the secretary
of state at $1500, the same as that
of the governor, while the salary of
the state treasurer is fixed at only
$800 a year. Both of these olllcials
formerly eked out their1 salaries by
the collection of fees until the flat
salary bill was passed in 1!)05 re
quiring that all fees collected by
state departments be turned into
the treasury. At. the same time the
pay of these two oefliials was in
creased by the lawmakers to $4500
and in 1927 boosted still further to
$5400.
Supreme court justices, whose
salaries were fixed at $2000 in the
original constitution, had this lim
itation removed by an amendment
in 1910 which authorizes the legis
lature to fix their' salaries. In the
meantime, however, back in 1889,
these oflicials had been the bene
ficiaries of a pay boost of $1500 a
year under the guise of expense for
attending the Pendleton term of
court. This "expense" was in
creased to $2500 In 19i;j and in 1917
the legislature removed the cam
ouflage from around the pay In
crease and fixed the judges' salaries
at $4500. This was increased to
$5250 in 1919 and to $7500 in 1925.
Beer parlors which dot the Ore
gon countryside in great numbers
may disappear from the landscape
entirely if the Liquor Control Com
mission adheres to its proposal to
limit beer licenses to legitimate
eating places. According to Admin
istrator Sammis 6500 licenses were
issued by the commission, 3600 of
which went to places devoted pri
marily to the sale of the amber
brew.
State Treasurer Holman appor
tioned a total of $870,000 among the
various counties this week, $800,0'" i
representing the semi-annual dis
tribution of motor vehicle fund
and $70,000, the annual distributer
of federal forest funds. Morrov
county's share of the first fun 1
amounts to $3,689.82 and of the lat
ter $148.85.
With trees in place in the lobbii -of
the capitol building and the
state oflice building, state ofllcaM
and employees are ready for the
coming of Christmas. The custom
of carol singing, Inaugurated by the
late Hal Hoss, former secretary of
state, will be repeated on the day
before Christmas.
The emergency education pro
gram in Oregon is now providing
jobs for 270 unemployed teachei s.
according to C. A. Howard, stale
superintendent of public Instruc
tion. Approximately 6000 adults
are attending the 374 educational
classes now embraced in this pro
gram. Morrow county has three of
these teachers with an adult en
rollment of 45. Oregon is receiving
$15,000 in federal emergency relief
funds monthly to finance this pro
gram. Property owners are contributing
$2,500,000 less in taxes toward the
suppor t of government state, coun
ty, city, school, etc. - In Oregon this
year than they did in 1931, accord
ing to the state tax commission.
Property taxes have decreased din ¬
ing the four year period from $50,
222,605 to $14,572,394. Personal
property taxes show a slump of
42.79 percent due largely to deplet
ed merchandise stocks, and the
slump in values of manufacturing
and logging machinery, farm imple
ments and livestock due to the de
pression. Real estate taxes show a
decrease of 15.82 percent and utility
taxes are down by 6.23 percent,
t
Secretary of State Stadelman
demonstrated his faith in the work
being done by the anti-tuberculosis
societies by digging down into his
own pockets for $10 worth of the
little Christmas seals. The first 1000
letters mailed by the state depart
ment this week each bore one of
the little seals without cost to the
taxpayers.
Oregon 4-H Clubbers Win
In National Competition
Oregon has once more lived up
to its reputation as one of the most
consistent exhibitors of high qual
ity 4-H club work in the junior di
vision of the International Live
stock exposition at Chicago and the
National Club congress held in con
nection with the show each year.
This is the report of H. C. Seymour,
state club leader, recently returned
from Chicago where the congress
and exposition were held the first
week in December.
Chris Starr of Amity, who re
ceived a trip to Chicago as the west
ern 4-H meat production champion
in the Thomas K. Wilson contest,
placed third In the national compe
tition, winning a $100 agricultural
college scholarship. First place in
their division, with a $100 prize, and
a silver loving cup for national
champion was won by the Gresham
4-H canning club, led by Helen
Clark, a 4-H club girl, in the Hazel
Atlas canning contest. Second place
and $80 in this contest was won by
the Portland canning club, led by
M rs. Faust.
National championship in the Hazel-Atlas
contest was won last, year
by the Portland canning club. Al
together this honor has come to Or
egon four times in the past 10 years
Mr. Seymour says.
Oregon clubbers also made nearly
a clean sweep of the honors in the
junior corn exhibit in their region,
which included nine western states.
George Shamhrook of Douglas
county placed first; Carson Adams,
Lane county, second; Walter Marks,
Douglas county, fifth; Leonard
Freeman, Lane county, seventh,
Amos Bierly, Washington county,
eighth, and Ralph Hone, Lane
county, ninth. Oregon's state ex
hibit in corn placed ninth nation
ally. In the Netted Gem division of the
potato exhibit, Charles Seman of
Klamath Falls placed first nation
ally. June Clark of Multnomah
county won second place on a com
plete costume; Myrna Laird of
Lane county placed fifth in the cot
ton school dress class, and Jay Mc
Donald of Multnomah placed sev
enth on window curtains. Dorothy
Wheeler of Multnomah county plac
ed first on her exhibit of five jars
of meat.
Oregon winnings in the individual
jar division of the Hazel-Atlas con
test were as follows: Helen Clark,
first on asparagus; Patsy Childer,
Portland, third on carrots; Melba
Andrews, Lane, fourth on tomatoes
and first on loganberries; Rosa
Reichle, Portland, second on pick
les, second on peaches and second
on fish; Marian Welbes, Multnomah
county, third on apricots; Kathryn
Parks. Portland, fifth on peaches:
Jean Hulbert, Multnomah county,
second on raspberries and first on
fish; Jane McFarland, Multnomah
county, second on salads; Marie
Meyer, Portland, third on vegetable
salad.
New Wheat Tried in Deschutes
Redmond - A new winter wheat
variety, known as Hybrid No. 63, is
being given a trial in Deschutes
county this year by M. A. King of
Redmond, cooperating with County
Agent Gus Hagglund. Seed for this
trial was obtained from the branch
experiment station at Burns, where
it has a record of 99.7 bushels per
acre. A total of 400 pounds of seed
was used in the trial, planted at the
rate of about 75 pounds per acre.
Clackamas Hants More Vetch
Oregon City ' Continuing the ten
dency of the past two years to plant
more hairy vetch, Clackamas coun
ty farmers this year will have the
largest acreage of this crop ever
planted in the county, reports Coun
ty Agent J. J. Inskeep. While it is
difficult to estimate the acreage
accurately, it will run close to 3500
acres this year, Mr. Inskeep says.
The plantings have shifted from the
river bottom soils to the red hill
soils, which, Mr. Inskeep believes,
it where the crop really belongs.
Dwight Misner, the Auctioneer
who pleases both seller and buyer
Address, Thornton, Wash. 40tf
The Greatest Gift
Governor Meier Endorses
Register IJaby Campaign
Endorsement by Governor Meier
of Oregon's Register-Your Baby
campaign and an appeal by the
state board of health for all citi
zens to aid in seeing that every
family with a child less than a year
old has a card on which to report
the birth to the Census Bureau wer e
developments this week.
"Ponrpt and otlicial recording of
iiis birth is a child's first right as
an American citizen," Governor
Meier declared at Salem Wednes
day. "In reality a birth certificate
is an infant's citizenship papers.
Moreover, otlicial birth records are
becoming increasingly necessary as
demands for proof of age and na
tionality grow. A properly record
ed birth certificate proves age, in
heritability and legitimacy, among
other things."
"The Postoltice department has
distributed cards all over Oregon in
the drive we are making with the
Census Bureau and the State Emer
gency Relief." said Dr. F. D. Striek
er, secretary of the board, "but
families were probably missed here
and there. We request everybody
to inform us of any case in which a
family with a child under one year
of age has no card, and we will im
mediately supply as many as are
needed," The board's oflice is 816
Oregon building, Portland.
Backing the campaign, which
aims to see that every one of Ore
gon's baby citizens gets his or her
"first papers" for this Christmas,
Mrs. William Kletzer, state presi
dent of the Congress of Parents and
Teachers, asked 300 branch organi
zations to be sure that all parents
in their communities with children
to whom the card applies fill it out
immediately and mail it to the Cen
sus Bureau. The card goes post-free.
Fungus Killing Walnut Trees
Roseburg Mushroom root is
causing the death of walnut trees
from 10 to 20 years old on the Joery
farm at Kdenbower, acocrding to
County Agent Roland Parker, who
when asked to examine the orchard
sent samples of a root fungus found
there to the state college for iden
tification. The trees are seedlings
on their own roots and are so ser
iously infected wtih the mushroom
root rot that there is little hope of
saving the orchard, Mr. Parker re
ports. Livestock Shipments Ijirgest
Enterprise November proved to
be the biggest month of the year
for the Wallowa Livestock Market
ing association, County Agent Gar
net Best reports. During that
month the association shipped 15
cars of hogs, 7 cars of cattle and 2'
cars of sheep, netting the producers
a total of $29,524.64.