Russell A. Hart. Wayne, Second District-Fred E. Dunn. Wayne, Third District-Milo N. Johnson. Wayne, Fourth District-Ari H. Woodruff. Wexford District-Frank A. Smith. STATE OF MICHIGAN, Department of State. I, Charles J. DeLand, Secretary of State of the State of Michigan do hereby certify that I have compared the annexed and foregoing list of all the members elect of the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, for the years 1921-22, with the original returns as transmitted to me by the clerks of the several counties in the State, and that it is a true and correct list. [Seal.] In witness whereof, I have hereto affixed my signature and the Great Seal of the State, at Lansing, this first day of January in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred twenty-one. CHARLES J. DELAND, Secretary of State by Albert Dunham, Deputy Secretary of State. The roll of the House was called by the Clerk, who announced that all the members-elect were present except Representative Town. The members-elect of the House appeared at the Clerk's desk and took and subscribed the constitutional oath of office, which was administered by Joseph H. Steere, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Mr. Jerome moved that the House take a recess until 2:00 o'clock p. m. After Recess. 2:00 o'clock. p. m. The House was called to order by the Clerk. The Clerk announced that the first business in order was the drawing of seats in accordance with the statute. The statute having been read, and a boy, James Green of Lansing, blindfolded for the purpose, the seats were drawn as follows: Mr. Holland moved that the House take a recess until 3:10 o'clock p. m. After Recess. 3:10 o'clock, p. m. The House was called to order by the Clerk. The Clerk announced that the next business in order was the election of a Speaker. The roll was called by the Clerk and the members voted as follows: The Clerk announced that Fred L. Warner, having received a majority of all the votes cast for the office of Speaker, was duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr. Read moved that a committee of three be appointed to conduct the Speakerelect to the chair. The motion prevailed. The Clerk then named as a committee to conduct the Speaker-elect to the chair, Messrs. Read, Welsh and Moore. The committee performed the duty assigned it and, through its Chairman, introduced the Speaker-elect, who then addressed the House as follows: There are a number of things I would like to say to you regarding the policies to be pursued by me during the coming session but I shall take time now only to outline them and shall enlarge on them from time to time during the session as the occasion may be presented. First, however, I want to express to the membership of the House my deep appreciation of the honor and privilege you have given me of presiding over your deliberations during the coming session. No one with a sense of gratitude could overlook the honor connected with being allowed to preside over the House in this great commonwealth. I feel an added sense of gratitude for the very loyal and efficient support given to me by the members during the last few weeks. Frequently I have learned that members and others were doing work for me whom I did not know were particularly interested and it has been a source of great satisfaction to me. After all, the things we get out of this life that are really worth-while are not the gold and silver we can accumulate; are not the positions of honor to which we may he raised; but the things that are really worth while and from which we get the most good are the friendships we form and the good. we can do our fellow men. Monuments of marble and granite may be created to our memory but they crumble and decay with time, and are seen by only a comparatively few people; but the friendship which is enshrined in the hearts of our fellowmen lives on forever. The more I see of mankind, and the more dealings I have with them, the more I am impressed that most men want to do what is right. The more I deal with men in public and private life the more confidence I have in them. The more I have learned of the composition of the House this session, the more I am impressed with the high character of the membership. I believe it is composed of a body of men of high moral character and of that stable substantial kind that are dependable. It speaks well for the character of legislation to be enacted during the coming weeks. I trust there will be the utmost harmony of feeling among members; not that there will be no differences of opinion on legislation to be enacted but I trust and feel certain that there have been no feelings aroused during the campaign but what will be forgotten now that the contest is over, and that good fellowship will prevail. The pleasure of being elected Speaker would be complete were it not tempered somewhat with the vision of the added responsibilities and burdens that follow the honor. I am not unmindful of the fact that this is not an office to be used solely for the purpose of showing a little honor to one of the members but is an office that can be made a real benefit or an injury to the State. It is my intention to conduct this with only the benefit in mind. We are here in the interests of the State and not to follow our own personal likes or dislikes. With that end in view it is my desire to appoint committees that will be most efficient to deal with the problems that come before them without bias or prejudice. Many serious, perplexing, and bitterly contested questions will undoubtedly be presented at this session. It is one of the most important sessions the State has ever had, if not the most important. The pendulum of State affairs has swung entirely to one side of the arc and must now begin to return to normal, and in that return and reconstruction, new problems will be presented. With that in mind I shall try to appoint each member on committees where he can give the most effective service, everything considered. If you are not appointed on a committee that you desired, it is probably not because you are not as well qualified as the men who are appointed but because all of the members requesting, or qualified for, certain appointments cannot be accommodated. Some of the committees have requests several times as many members as there are places to be filled. Naturally someone must be disappointed. It is my desire in arranging the committees, to make a well-balanced committee so that legislative matters coming before it will receive careful consideration and abide by the determination of the majority of the members. I am a firm believer in majority rule and have very little sympathy with efforts of chairmen of committees in trying to usurp the duties and powers of the whole committee. No chairman should try to thwart the wishes of a majority of the committee by refusing to report out bills that have been ordered out in the proper way; neither should he try to force it out at a time when opponents of the measure are or cannot be present. I have no patience with that kind of legislative work and shall do my best to discourage it. As a party we have a grave responsibility placed on us by the electors, both State and National, at the last election. They have stated in unmistakable terms that they not only have had sufficient of the Democratic administration, but that they are disgusted with it, and have given full faith and credit to the Republican Party. The tide of votes not only overwhelmed the National Democratic ticket, but swept into the State government a solid Republican legislature for the second time in the history of the State. This confidence in the party, instead of giving us a free hand to do as we please in State affairs, has, in my opinion, placed us under a greater responsibility to do nothing to betray that trust. The responsibility is now solely on the shoulders of the Republican party and we cannot and will not shirk it. "We have been made the agent of one of the great commonwealths of this Nation, a commonwealth rapidly striding toward the top of the galaxy of States, to transact its public business. Each one of you represents on an average more than thirty-six thousand people; some of you actually represent less, and some represent many more. You represent property values from $50,000,000.00 to a much larger valuation. That is a serious responsibility resting on each one when you stop to consider it; and also when you stop to consider that you are making laws to govern the acts and conduct and to appropriate the money of all the people of this State. The first question we ought to ask ourselves at the opening of the session is how are we going to use that trust; are we going to use it for the best interests of our constituents or are we going to play politics with it? As for myself, and I know for the most of you, that question was answered long ago. You decided before you entered this Capitol Hall that you were going to give your best in time, thought, and judgment to give this State the best legislative session it has ever had. Personally I have no political aspirations for the future, at least none that cannot be furthered by giving to the state my best efforts for a clean, business administration. The people are demanding a safe, sound, constructive administration and my efforts shall be bent to that end. With the object in view of securing good legislation this session, it is desired that you let everyone so far as possible interested in any legislation before a committee have a chance to express his views in a hearing before the committee. There is going to be small place, however, for the professional lobbyist at this session. In my opinion he has not had the influence on legislation that he is sometimes given credit for. I do not believe that many of the members are influenced by the arguments of hired lobbyists, but nevertheless they are a nuisance and of no particular value to legislation. For that reason I shall do what I can to keep the House free from their influence. It may be necessary in the future to hold more strictly to the rules of the House than has been done in some of the past sessions, owing to the importance of the business to be transacted. So far as possible nothing will be allowed to disturb the deliberations of the House or the orderly conduct of its business. I shall expect proper decorum at all times during the session, that they may be conducted in a dignified manner in keeping with the character of the business in which we are engaged. If it becomes necessary in the future to enforce strictly the rules relative to visitors on the floor of the House we will see them enforced. It is also to be hoped that the time of the members will not be taken up with bills of no real merit. We have enough matters of real legislative importance to consider to take up the full time of the House without frittering away our time with freak legislation. Some of your constituents may have some neighborhood quarrel in mind that they want to settle through the legislature but it is no credit to either you or them to take up the time of the House with legislation of that character. The theme of this session ought to be retrenchment. The taxes of this State, if not going beyond the bounds of reason, are at least getting beyond the length of the pocketbook of most of us. Everything is taking a downward trend now, and it is time to cut our State expenses as much as possible without crippling the institutions or depaartments. It is my desire to see the House cooperate in every way possible with all of the constructive policies of the Governor. With all three branches of the State Government working hand in hand, we ought to be able to do some work here that would be a real credit to the State. There will undoubtedly be considerable labor legislation of importance. The |