The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-06-25
SATURDAY MORNING, JUNE rs.

the best school houses in our eastern towns of
equal size.
Iowa has no towns larger than from fifteen
to twenty thousand inhabitants, and not many
of them so large; but they are all prosperous,
and growing rapidly in population and wealth.
Des Moines-the capitals very pretty town
with a large and growing business, and has al
ready many streets of large, handsome shops,
rivalling almost those of larger eastern cities.
A new State House is now in process OF COM
pletion that will be one of the handsomest and
best in the country. Everything about 1t is
on a large scale and very we'll arranged for
convenience and comfort as we'll as for beauty.
Its cost will be, when finished, about three
millions of dollars.
A stranger travelling about the State, is
very much struck with the large number of its
railways and with the enormous amount of
business they transact. Night and day trains
innumeraDle are constantly passing over
them, loaded with corn, wheat, lumber, cattle,
pigs and humans-all crowded, and the won-
der is, where all comes from, the State being
only thirty-fiveyears old. The people are from
the East and from the old countries, and the
larger part of the produce is going across the
Atlantic, to be paid for in gold and not in
manufactures, because we now do our own
work and save the money at home that we
formerly sent abroad in payment for cottons
and woolens and the thousand other things
requisite for the necessities or comforts of the
people.
Manufactures of various kinds are springing
up in the State, which will give to the people
and its great coal fields will always afford
steam power at a very cheap rate. These coal
fields as already ascertained, are very
large, and they are really of I'M
known extent, while the quality of
their products is excellent for steam pur-
ha had tho curfapo Of
the ground, so the cost of mining is very small
Many Of the pits are on the leading lines Of
railway. and the coal is dumped from the
elevators" directly into the cars standing up
on the side track; and in every direction we
see branch roads, running off right and left
from the great lines of railway to other Mines
all OF which are in constant work, atfording to
the people excellent fuel, abundant and cheap
delivered in any part of the State
A striking feature of an Iowa country land
scape are the great herds of fine cattle feeding
in rich pastures, where the grass tender and
juicy, is everywhere three or five inches high
and more. The abundance of the feed is such
that the cattle speedily satisfy themselves and
they are seen lying in the shade of the young
trees, their attitude expressive of perfect con-
tent. All the fruits of the temperate zone
may be easily and abundantly produced here,
and the means of a comfortable subsistence
are so easily produced and are SO cheap that
the people have been led into habits of un-
economy very unlike those of New England.
Iowa will certainly become one OF tho most
populous and wealthy States of the Union at
no distant day.
AT present there is no question that so much
attracts the attention of the people of the
State as the Constitutional prohibition of the
Liquor Traffic. A proposition to that effect
has already passed one legislature, and must
pass another in order to come before the peo-
pie for popular vote. Ex-Governor Stone
ane the present Governor assured me that the
resolve will certainly pass the next Legisla-
ture as the Republican party has adopted the
proposition as party measure, and its approx
al by the people is beyond a doubt The Re-
publicans are in great majority in the State,
and they understand that the suppression of
the grog shops is in the interest of law and
order and of the prosperity and progress of the
State.
Iowa had a law of absolute prohibition,
which was passed in 1855, and was approved
by the people by popular vote at special
election by great majority. But in 1858 the
legislature reversed the will of the people, SO
far as malt liquors and wines were concerned,
so that these might be sold, unless the people
of each locality should decide otherwise by
their vote. This has been done, however,
pretty generally through the State, SO that
practically absolute prohibition prevails. At
Ames is the State Agricultural College, having
about four hundred students, and by special
law, the sale of alcoholics is forbidden within
three miles of it; as in Tennessee, there is alb
solute prohibition within four miles of any
educational institution in the State
This morning met gentleman from Mich
igan, resident of Detroit. He said, there
has just been a vote of the Legislature of that
State on a proposition for constitutional pro-
hibition, and the measure was lost by tie
vote, one member from Detroit, who was
pledged in its favor, having been largely paid
TO absent himself He said the State through
its whole extent is more occupied by this ques-
tion than by all other political questions,
whether State or national, and the general in
terest in it, will continue, he added, until it
shall be finally decided in accordance with the
will of the people. NEAL Dow.