Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-16
Some Cities Excited Over a Move
to Abolish Special Privileges.
THE PROJECT WILL Be PUSHED.
Mon Of Influence Take II Up-Hoge,s
Attack ON Governor Shaw IL
Analyzed-The Button
Business,

excitement has been stirred up in some
of the special charter cities by the
report that a renewed and vigorous eff
fort will be made this winter in the
legislature to abolish special charters
and bring all cities ID the state under
the general laws, allowing no special
privileges to any. This is no idle spec
ulation. The men behind it mean bus
mess. They naturally do not want their
names known, but, they are influential
men in the legislature and they will be
heard from in due time and without
doubt they will come very near accom-
plishing what is sure to he done at no
very distant day. The cities that are
interested may be able to prevent the
passage of the bill at the coming ses-
sion, especially if they send men to the
legislature who will have some influ-
! ence with the majority and can de-
mand this concession. A member of
the minority will not be in position to
ask much from the legislature on this
score, for it will be said that the peo-
pie of these cities had fair warning OF
what was coming and chose to send a
democrat to represent them and now
they must be satisfied with what a
democrat can get.
A fellow by the name of Hoge, who
wanted a job under Governor Shaw
and failed to get it, has written false,
abusive letter in regard to Governor
Shaw, which the democratic committee
is giving circulation, after having fall
ed to palm off Hoge on the public as
republican speaker who would, under
pretense of making a republican speech
under republican auspices, attack Gov
ernor Shaw. This fellow roasts Gov
ernor Shaw because he has not remov-
ed lot of clerks in his office and
others over whom he has no control in
order TO appoint certain Scandina-
VANS to places some of them wanted,
not to mention what Hoge wanted. He
says Governor Shaw offered them
places, but they were not good enough.
The placesiwere the only ones open,
The governor has very little patronage
to dispense. Hoge further states that
the governor has appointed "Mr. Gull
lexen, probably meaning z. 4. GulIix-
son, of, Bode, to be oil inspector sin a
district where they inspect lao barrels
u month, for which he receives the
statutory fee of 10 cents barrel. .
The fact is that Inspector Gullixson
has made an average of SITS a month
and expenses and often 500 month.
But what he says amounts to nothing
except to show to what cheap methods
the auti-republicans are reduced. The
Scandinayians have shown before how
they hate a renegade, fellow who
comes around wanting them to desert
their principles to crafty his petty
spite. MI is.
*~x
When S. r. Davis came to Des
Moines from Creston he was hailed as
fair minded man, who would not do
mean or little thing, and as long as
ii. L. Relvel was associated with him
in the Gazette he did not do any such
little, contemplate things as this, from
his last paper: when Fred White
was marching with Sherman to the sea
Leslie NJ. Shaw was ready to hire a
substitute in case he had been draft
ed" AT that time Leslie NJ. Shaw was
poor farmers boy in Vermont, aged
IA years, and the government was not
drafting many 14-year-old boys. 1t is
another efidence of how short of cam
paign thunder the popocrats are.
+9 ~#'&
Everywhere there is rejoicing over
the happy solution of the Iowa college
dissention by the resignation of DR..
Heron and the consent of Mrs. Rand
to let her endowment stand. 1t will
strengthen the college with its friends
and bring it new friends. That is,
provided, that another man just as bad
as Heron is not put in his place, and
if this is really the end OF Herronism.
as well as Heron in Iowa college. If
this true1 if there are no Invrs .uut-
9 breaks Of the sort from any other
man connected with the college, there
E is no other educational institution in
the state that has any better prospects
of growth. The pure moral aud social
atmosphere of iGrinnell, the high stan
dard maintained by the college, the
recognized ability Of the men connect
ed with it and its denominational as
sociations, all combine to make its fut-
ure one of assured progress and sue
cess. 1t can be checked, as ii has been
IN the past, by such as Heron, but the
understanding is. that this is really the
end of it.
&##
AT Vinton they, have button fac
tory, making the blank pearl buttons
for eastern factories, and it is said that
the 100 hands employed therein are
alarmed because the board of control
has gone into the button business, as
they think, with unlimited laborers,
putting machines enough to work to
cut all the blanks the New York fin
ishings factories want" How easy it is,
apparently, to get up labor stampede,
The board of control has not bought a
machine of any kind to engage in the
button business. All it has done is to
hire cat fifty men to button manu-
facturer to cut blanks. This is all that
can be used. Any industry that can be
broken up by the competition Of, fifty
men is not worth much, but the button
industry will not be seriously affected
by it, i.
Zoe Fifer Appointed.
Washington, Nov. To- By Associated
Press THE president has appointed
former Governor Joseph W.. Fifer, oil
Illinois, 4 member of the interstate