GOVERNOR EGAN INAUGURATED AMID COLORFUL FESTIVITIES
Legislature
Opens; House
Deadlocked
By Thomas Snapp
Times Staff Writer
A significant spirit of together
ness and a strong will to solve the
obstacles of development prevail
ed in Juneau the past week as thou
sands of Alaskans converged on the
capital city.
And there was also evidenced a
full measure of the young state’s
indidualistic thinking as the Le
gislature opened and the state
- House of Representatives, with 20
Democrats and 20 Republicans,
could not readily organize.
The large number of Alaskans
who gathered from all parts of the
state for the three-day inaugural
ceremonies surprised Juneauites.
The magnitude of the inagural pro
gram including exhibition of the
plush Malaspina. the first vessel of
the state's marine-highway system,
surprised and thrilled the visitors.
Adding excitement, the favorite
conversation topic during inaugura
tion festivities was the expected
clash and probable deadlock in the
organizing of the state House.
Big tfucstion
Little groups of Democrats and
Republicans unofficially caucassed
here and there and the big, big
questions every one was asking
were: Who will organize the House?
Who will be the speaker of the
House?
As the session opened, all kind of
solutions were proposed, both on
the house floor and behind the
scenes, even to the point of select
ing the speaker of the house by
the flip of the coin.
Another solution proposed was
for the Democrats and Republicans
to take turns controlling the house
for a year apiece.
Hassle Dcvelopes
Opposition was made to this plan
by some who pointed out this plan
was tried once when a tie develop
ed in the Senate during territorial
days. The last session of that le
gisla'ure, they said, was ruled to
be illegal along with all the bills
that were passed.
Some Republicans were strongly
opposed to Warren Taylor, Demo
crat from Fairbanks, again occupy
ing the speaker’s chair, but they
said they might agree to another
Democrat chairing the house if Re
publicans were named to commit
tee chairmanships.
All Tied Up
For the first few days, the hazzle
centered on the selecting of a tem
porary house chairman. Democrats
nominated on various occasions
Taylor and Mrs. Dora Sweeney, of
Juneau, for the chairmanship. Re
publicans steadfastcdly nominated
Jay Hammond, R-Naknek, for the
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chair. Roll call after roll call, the (
result came out the same, a 20-20
tie.
Ordinarily, the permanent speak
er of the House appoints the chair
men and members of committees. !
By a speaker’s selecting chairmen
from his political party and by
placing a majority of his party on
the various committees, in a large
measure he is able to assure his
party of controlling legislation.
Republicans indicated they were
opposing the selection of a tempor
ary Democratic House speaker be
cause they knew the next move
would be to make him the perma
nent chairman.
The First Blink
The stalemate, on a much smaller
scale, of course, was similar to the
cold war between the U. S. and
Russia over Cuba. Both sides held
fast to their position, each looking
at the other “eyeball to eyeball”
and waiting for the other to “blink
first.”
The Republicans on the floor in
sisted that a committee be named
of an equal number of Republicans
and Democrats to work out a so
lution that would be mutually ac
ceptable. John Rader, D-Anchor
age, insisted that the showdown
take place on the floor of the house.
Democrats scoffed at Republican
attempts to bargain for power in
the house, pointing out they had
solid control of the Senate and
could block any piece of legisla
tion.
Republicans came right back,
pointing out that Democrats had
more than they to lose if legisla
tion is blocked since it is chiefly
up to the party in power to get le
gislation passed and things accom
plished.
Another possible way of solving
the dilemma discussed was that an
individual legislator might absent
himself from a session, thus pav
ing the way for a tie-breaking vote.
Back in territorial days, the tie
was broken in this manner as Bill
Belt/, later Senate president, ab
stained from voting and the op
posing party broke the tie and or
ganized.
Absence Feared
Some Republicans and Democrats
expressed concern that one of their
colleagues might become ill or slip
on the ice and sprain an ankle. An
absentia, however caused, with a
tie pending would be disasterous,
they pointed out.
Tardy Tizzy
As the days stretched on, both
Democrats and Republicans were
thrown for tailspins by actions of
individual members. Maury Smith,
R-Fairbanks. had his Republican
colleagues sitting on “pins and
needles” Tuesday afternoon when
he didn’t show up for the 2 p.m.
session.
They were relieved and he was
somewhat embarrassed by showing
up ten minutes late.
Thrown In Tailspin
Warren Taylor, D-Fairbanks,
threw the Democrats for an un
expected loop by proposing that
Democrats and Republicans each
name members to a committee to
come up with a solution. The pro
posal was essentially what the Re
publicans had been proposing all
along.
After a quickly called causcus, a
roll call was taken and Taylor him
self joined his colleagues in defeat
ing the proposal.
Hardest Jolt
But the biggest, and perhaps the
hardest jolt the Democrats receiv
ed was when Wednesday, Rep. Earl
D. Hillstrand, D-Anchorage, said he
would nominate Republican Bruce
Kendall for the speaker's post if
no action was taken in 48 hours.
Later, however, he refused to tell
newsmen whether or not he would
vote for his own measure and the
shock of his announcement was
somewhat lessened. I
As the days passed, some concern i
was noted by the public for the
mounting price tag of an unorganiz
ed state House of Representatives.
Approximately, $1,800 a day is paid
for salaries and per diem.
Public Opinion
Many questioned what effect would
the weight of public opinion have
on breaking the tie as the price tag
mounted.
One of the significant things
about the opening of the third state
Legislature was the large number
of newsmen on hand. There were
so many the arrangements com
mittee ran out of press buttons
and there were not enough press
seats for all of them in the jam
packed gallery.
IVlany Newsmen
Probably more Alaska newsmen
were on hand for the opening than
for any other in Alaska’s history,
indicating in a large measure that
Alaskans are taking more interest
in affairs of government.
Beehive
Thi'oughout the inauguration
ceremonies, Juneau was a beehive
of activity. Juneauites said they ex
pected a lot of visitors but never
"dreamed there would be so many
of them.”
Hundreds poured into the capital
city on Thursday and on Friday
morning, the weather cooperated
beautifully, and six charter flights
of visitors arrived. From then on
hotels, restaurants, cocktail
lounges, and businesses were filled
to capacity and really booming
with business.
The Governor and Mrs. Egan
alone had 16 house guests, mainly
former Valdez residents w’ho now
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live in the lower states but who |
headed back north to see a man ;
from their hometown inaugurated
as Alaska’s chied executive.
Congested Traffic
Saturday traffic was all tied up
in knots. Cab companies had trou
ble delivering cabs in 30 minutes. |
There were so many people the !
governor’s reception was held in j
four banks and the governor’s ball |
in four places.
Flashbulbs popped continuously
through the governor's inaugural
address in the high school gymnas- I
ium. People filled every seat and I
lined the walls in the high school
auditorium for a pageant, featuring
among other attractions the famous
Chilkat Dancers.
When the hotel space was all
taken up, scores of Juncauites put
up visitors in their homes.
Space Capsule
As part of the Inauguration cere
monies, a replica of the space cap
sule of Colonel John Glenn was
on exhibition. But with all the
other activities going on, the space
capsule didn't receive much atten
tion. It was held over a week so
that Juneauites, particularly school
children, could have an opportun
ity to view it. It will then be ex
hibited in other places including
Fairbanks and Anchorage.
Ferry Thrills
One of the big attractions of the
inauguration ceremonies was the
Malaspina. Thousands filed through
the first of the state's vessels to be
used on the marine-highway sys
tem. A tremendous number boarded
the ferry at Juneau and took a %•
hour trip to Alike Bay. They re*
turned to Juneau by bus.
The Bubble Room in the spacious
Barinof Hotel Saturday night was
really bubbling over with well
dressed gentlemen and ladies in
evening dresses who couldn’t
on to the crowded dance floor.
Bubbling Over
For more than 2 hours the larg®
lobby of the Barinof Hotel was
completely filled with persons who
couldn’t even get in to the Bubble
Room.
As one bedraggled waitress toH
me, “I'll be glad when the e»cite«
ment finally settles down.” And a*
the week drew to a close, activity
finally started simmering down.
Letter to Editor
Wrangell. Alaska
January 18, 1963
Dear Sir:
The children at Wrangell Insti
j tute certainly like your newspaper
1 Please send a 1 year subscription.
Very truly yours,
Robert C. Thayer
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