A Missing Clause Stalls the Road Through the Cascades

Whatcom, May 24.—Special.—The passage of the Hutchinson-Harper bill for the construction of a trans-Cascade road, and its approval by the governor, was hailed with great satisfaction in Whatcom and Skagit counties, and as there was an emergency clause attached to it, it was supposed that the governor would promptly appoint the road commission, in order that work might be commenced early in the season. The fact that he has not yet done so has given rise to much unfavorable comment, and a statement of the facts showing how 'some one has blundered,' and that the governor is in no wise responsible for the delay, will be of interest to hundreds of people. An examination of the records at Olympia shows that the emergency clause was omitted from the enrolled bill, and, the supreme court having declared that a bill as enrolled is law, in spite of possible errors and omissions, the bill is not yet in effect, and until it is he cannot legally appoint the commission. It appears from letters received by Senator Dorr and Secretary Nicklin, of the Senate, that they are being subjected to considerable harsh criticism in Skagit county by persons who have seen fit to assume that they are in some measure responsible for the omission of the emergency clause. Not liking to rest quietly under such an unjust imputation, Mr. Nicklin sent to Assistant Secretary Bowles, at Olympia, and obtained from him the original bill as passed both houses on the 15th of March, the day before adjournment. It is considerably patched up, having been made up of sections taken here and there from the two original bills introduced by Senators Hutchinson and Harper, with some amendments, and there was no time to have it engrossed before enrolled, but it shows the emergency clause was there when the bill passed and is still there. In fact it constitutes section 8 and is as follows: 'An emergency is hereby declared to exist and this act shall take effect immediately.' The remainder was stricken out in the enrolled bill, and Mr. Nicklin drew his pen through those lines and made the section read as above stated. It is clear, therefore, that the responsibility for the error rests upon the enrolling clerk who had charge of the bill and the committee on enrolled bills, whose duty it was to compare them and certify to their correctness. The chairman of this committee was Senator Foss, now a resident of Mount Vernon, and the chief enrolling and comparing clerks were Will Clogston and another clerk. Mr. Nicklin is not disposed to censure anyone, but since the error, which has made a three months' delay unavoidable, was undoubtedly due to the rush of work in the closing hours of the session. The committee must have gone through it without making anything more than a superficial comparison of the enrolled bill with the original.