Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-05-07

AAS w d Icmeuy lOT GAc 6ldlAuS uc-
feet. Indeed it looked for time as
though some of the large appropri.
atoms would be cut in half, as might
we'll have been done, a lot of officials,
who have little to do but draw sal
aries be retired to private life, salar-
les of other be reduced, expense of
printing and binding and other sine.
cure pulls reduced, and retrench-
ments made all along the line until
the deficit at the end of the year
would, at any rate, be no larger than
at the beginning of the year. All
this important matter however ap-
pears to have been forgotten in the
effort to do something for the rail-
roads, telephone companies, building
and loan associations and other mo-
nopoly robbing machines, and the
deficit grinds and grows steadily on
ward and upward and will no doubt
reach the million mark before 1898.
While Iowa has made great strides
in an industrial way since 1870 and
has increased in population consider
ably, the improvements in these and
other respects have by no manner of
means kept pace with the increase
In taxation. In 1870 the cost of the
state government was only about
5000, 900 year. Now it is $4,000, 900,
and the population has increased
only about 80 per cent. Taxation has
increased nearly four fold while the
population has increased only 80 per
cent-less than one fold.
Conference committees made up
from members of the two branches
branches have been trying to make a
compromise on several important
measures on which there was dis
agreement. For instance the senate
insists that the basis of taxation of
property be 33s per cent of the actual
valuation, while the house wants to
cut it down to Is per cent. Then the
senate voted one way on the Ches-
hire amendment in relation to the
telephone tax and the house took a
different stand. Also on the Temple
and other amendments, and it is
necessary to get together.
A change made in the corporation
laws is construed by some to have an
indirect and unintentional bearing
upon the new manufacturing law to
such an extent as to make it inoper-
alive, but, if so, the defect will no
doubt be remedied and the bill left as
intended. To a committee OF his
brother churchmen1 Gen. Drake is
said to have stated definitely that he
would sign the manufacturing amend
ment, so there is no doubt it will be-
come a law.
A communication from J. A. Green
to the assembly discloses the fact that
the administr alton is guilty of ignor-
ing the law in a matter not heretofore
specified. He says rock from the
state quarries on which the state
convicts are worked, instead of be-
ing made a source of income to the
state, as provided by law, is given
away to railroads and other corpor.
ations for bridge building and other
purposes, or if not given awsy is
sold by the warden and the receipts
not reported, He calls attention to
the fact that the quarries will soon
be worked out and it will be dead
expense on the state of thousands Of
dollars TO buy more. AS badly al
Iowa needs McAdamized roads it is g
burning shame to allow this materia
to be thrown away for the benefit Of
bloated monopolies.
Il The Sunday law failed to pass til,
House and our people will probabl,
be left with no more restrictions OF
their Sunday movements than the.
have been accustomed to.
Yes, the wave of retrenchment ha
reached another department. Fo
some time the state has been paying
an old soldiers widow go cents doz
en- for washing the state houseItowels
She was recently informed that here
after she would only receive SO cent
+ for that work. AS that department
is under the supervision of the execu
3 tive council. of which Gov. Drake i
! chairman, he was asked why such
move was made, and is reported a
saying the Chinese shops offer to d
it for 35 cts. therefore SO cts. is all tn
. state can afford to pay; that the stat
is getting overwhelmingly into deb
and must cut off some of it's useles
expense. Wonder why the governor
don't begin the wave of economy b.
!, applying cut to his $500 privat
: secretary, or to the 5000 janitors, o
!. to his own salary, or to the hundred
= of other sink holes for the stat
. funds? No, he must first prevent tn
= soldiers widows from depicting tn
the treasury by drawing a reason,
= MslAh - ;++l1