651 Bills, 13 Laws: Inside Olympia's Frantic Last Two Weeks

OLYMPIA, Feb. 23. — If it is conceded that the fewer laws passed the better for the state, then the present session may be considered a success, for thus far but 13 bills have passed the legislature, although 651 have been introduced. Six weeks of the session have gone by and practically no important measures have been passed. This condition is due largely to the absorbing character of the local option fight, the tendency to adjourn on slight provocation and the disposition to engage in lengthy debates over minor measures.

Adjournment has been taken nearly every Friday of the session until Monday. With an immense amount of business stacked up, adjournment was taken last Friday until today, on account of Washington's birthday anniversary Monday.

The local option bill is in deadlock between the house and the senate. The equal suffrage bill has not been reported out of committee, the new school code has not been considered, although presented two weeks ago, the new criminal code has not been introduced, the appropriation bill is still hidden by the committee in process of preparation, the eight-hour law for women workers has passed the house and gone to the senate, where it will languish until the close of the session unless an earthquake shakes it down, and a new code for the regulation of doctors and osteopaths is in process of passage.

Today is the last day in which bills can be introduced. Originally the date was fixed for Monday, but that being a holiday, the order prevails over the following day. The appropriation bill is one of the measures which will come in at the twelfth hour, and it is expected that numerous other important measures will be given a place at the very bottom of the calendar. As but two weeks remain in which the legislature will be able to draw salaries and make laws, it is expected that double quick action will be taken from now on.

Fight Over Local Option. The most important event of the past week was the local option fight in the senate. The interest was so keen that the house adjourned to go over and see the fireworks. After two days of incessant roll calls and acrimonious debate, the Falconer, or Anti-Saloon League bill, which by the way, with a few minor amendments, is a duplicate of the McMasters bill which passed the house, was defeated by a vote of 22 to 20. Fully a score of amendments were offered by friends of the bill with a view of overcoming some of the objections to it, but they were all voted down.

After defeating the Anti-Saloon League bill the senate passed a substitute local option bill which provides that the units will be cities and incorporated towns and election precincts in rural districts; that before the question of whether saloons shall be permitted in any city, town or precinct shall be submitted, a petition signed by 45 per cent of the voters of the unit must be filed with the county commissioners; that voting on the saloon question will occur only at general elections. The petition for submitting the saloon question to the electors must be filed at least ninety days before general election, and the petition may be added to or withdrawn from at any time before the county commissioners or the council order the question submitted.

House Opposed to Senate Bill. When the senate local option bill reached the house it was referred to the public morals committee. There is a strong sentiment against the senate bill in the house, not only among the supporters of the McMasters bill but among the men who have been classed as liberals. The heading of the bill is said to show that it bristles with jokers. There are no accumulative penalties in the measure, and the penalties which are provided are so light, legislators say, that they hardly amount to the license fee the liquor dealer has to pay under the present system. It also provides that a majority of all voters at an election must vote to make a territory dry. This is said to be a provision that almost makes a vote against saloons impossible.

It is expected that there will be a conference between the leaders of the two opposing forces and a compromise bill drafted.

A New Criminal Code. The new criminal code will be reported in a revised form by the committee appointed by the joint judiciary committees of the senate and house to go over the code. The revised code will be printed and placed on the general file for consideration this week.

The joint committee has stricken out the provision which prohibits newspapers from giving circumstantial accounts of homicides and attempted homicides. Under the code provision as first proposed it was unlawful for a newspaper to give an account of any crime wherein criminal homicide had a part, until after the trial of the person accused. The provision was so restrictive that circumstantial accounts of train robberies where murder was attempted or the shooting of any person, no matter what the public interest, was prohibited. The section relating to maiming and prescribing the penalty has been rewritten. The provisions relating to libel have also been modified slightly. Although several changes in the subject matter have been made, the general provisions of the new code remain the same.

Insurance Fees Bill in Senate. A bill has been introduced in the senate providing that fees charged insurance companies for examination of their books of record by the insurance commissioner shall be paid into the state treasury. Under the proposed law the money paid for the traveling expenses of the commissioner will go to the state and the actual expenses of the commissioner will be paid on vouchers. The purpose of the bill is to prevent the insurance commissioner from collecting traveling expenses from insurance companies without actually incurring expenses. The bill provides the manner in which the insurance companies must pay for the examinations by the insurance commissioner and does not lessen the responsibility of the companies. The plan, however, gives the state treasurer and the state auditor absolute check on the money actually expended in carrying on this branch of the insurance work.

Nurses' Bill Passes House. In spite of a hard fight made against the measure authorizing the governor to appoint a nurses' examining board of five members, it passed the house. The bill provides that nurses before they are registered must pass an examination in the fundamentals of medicine and graduate from a school that gives not less than two years' training in the profession. Applicants for examination must pay a fee of $5 and registered nurses must pay a yearly license fee of $1. The examining board may revoke the license of a nurse found guilty of improper conduct.

Matrimonial Bill Passed. A bill regulating marriages has passed the house. It provides that common drunkards, habitual criminals, people afflicted with hereditary insanity and feeble-minded persons under the age of 45 years may not be married in the state. County auditors, before issuing licenses, are required to have the affidavits of two creditable persons that the contracting parties are not seeking to evade the provisions of the act. A clergyman who unites persons in marriage in violation of the act is liable to a fine of $1,000. Auditors or deputies who issue false certificates are liable to a fine of $500.

House Passes Eight-Hour Bill. After considerable discussion the house finally passed the eight-hour bill for female employees. The fight on this bill was so warm that two members came to blows in the corridors of the capitol. The bill applies to female employees of all mechanical and mercantile establishments, hotels, restaurants and laundries. To meet the objections of the cannerymen an exemption was made of temporary employees; also employees engaged on piece work.

Douglas County Divided. The legislature has passed an act dividing Douglas county. The bill retains the name Douglas for the northern half. As originally introduced and passed by the house, the southern half was named Big Bend county, but the senate changed it to Grant, which will be the name of the new county.

Will Not Abolish Board of Control. Senator Hutchinson lost his fight to abolish the state board of control and return to the old system of local boards of management for the state institutions. His bill, founded upon investigations he had made at the Medical Lake asylum, was indefinitely postponed, Hutchinson alone voting in the negative.

Reduce Hours of Railway Keymen. Railway telegraphers will have their hours reduced if a bill submitted in the house becomes a law. The measure provides that operators employed in railway work shall not be kept at work for more than nine hours in twenty-four in offices that are open in the daytime and night. In offices open in the daytime only, keymen may work more than 13 hours a day.