Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-02-19
Des Moines News Letter.

Des Moines News Letter.
There is no probability That this
extra session of the legislature will
complete the code revision. Nearly
all of the last regular session was
spent in quibbling and sqabbling
over how it should be done and now
the extra assembly has been in ses-
sion month and still there is moth.
ing done. At this rate of progress it
will take three or four years and cost
the state hundreds, of thousands of
dollars to complete the job and then
we will have no improvement over
the present code. There is no doubt
but that the laws need to be rear
ranged and printed in a more COM
pact and convenient form, as they
exist up to date, with all the amend
ments included and repealed parts
omitted, but we do not need new
code. That is, we do not need all the
laws changed and made over all at
once. Let them stand just as they
are, for the present, recompile them
and then let future assemblies make
such amendments as seem necessary
and are demanded by the people. If
the committee that was appointed to
compile the laws in shape for the
legislature to act upon had done its
duty and attempted to make no
changes in the laws the whole thing
could have been done at the last ses-
sion and all this extra expense and
trouble have been obviated. But in
stead of this it put in a year doing
nothing, consumed about 100000 of
the state funds. and reframed all the
laws, or such of them as the corpora
tons, railroads and monopolists
wanted changed and thus made it
necessary tor the legislature to ignore
all its work and proceed to do what
the committee had already been paid
thousands of dollars to do. Then in
stead of the legislature going on and
doing it right it proceeds to make ex-
actly the same blunder that the CON-
mittee made. 1t wants to make laws
instead of compile laws. Year after
year has been spent in making, I'M
making and remaking the laws in
that code and now these wiseacres
think they are so much smarter than
all previous legislative bodies that
they can do it all over in one short,
extra session. But they can't. There
is always too much red tape; too
much quibbling, too many axes to
grind and interests to serve, and too
many members with ideas to explode,
for Legislature to be able to formu-
late, amend and enact whole code
of laws in two or three months time.
When State Secretary Mcfarland
was compiling the last state census
there was considerable talk afioat to
the effect that too many assistants
were employed at too much salary
and that those in charge gave out
the jobs to those who would "divy
up" by turning a large per cent of
their pay back to the boss. Then the
state house custodian, Metzgar, has
been charged with drawing out of
the treasury about four times as
much money as he paid for certain
jobs of work, and rumors that other
state officials have found means to
surreptitiously and Systematically
loot the treasury of large sums of
money have come to the ears of GER
tain members of the assembly such
rs will not be healthy for the repub-
lican party if let circulcte among the
voters, SO in order to head off any
deleterious results move is made to
anticipate the effects of general ex-
position by appointing a committee
to make pretended investigation
and declare the accusations false and
without foundation. Whitewashing
committee is the proper term for it,
and it is safe to say that when it gets
through there will be no black stains
left around the state house. The
committee is composed of three from
each branch and is instructed to
make a thorough examination as to
whether or not the trustees and Of
ficers of the state institutions have &C
counted for moneys received; been
paid any salary or expense money il
legally; if they have purchased sup
plies from any other state inetitu-
lions when possible and if not, why
not, and whether or not any changes