Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-10-30
TIE BUTTON |NDUg|l!|
Action Of the Board of Control Nyt
Likely to Materially Affect the
Factories.
Incident Would Hardly Have Been
Noticed in Other Than Cam
paign Times.
Board Simply Carrying Gut Policy
Of Employing Convicts = Get
ting Out the Vote.
Special to Times-Republican.

/ special 10 I1meS-RepuDlical.
| Des Moines, Oct. 3o.-If that pearl
/ button incident had come at any other
! time than the week before election. it
would have excited little attention, and
las it is, no great fuss need be made over
! 1t, for the warden and the board of con-
! troll are but following the settled policy
of the state in letting the labor of the
convicts to the best practical advan-
| tage. They are hiring out the labor of
! nifty convicts at 80 cents per day for
five years to do the rough part of the
work of making pearl buttons. The
/ contractor furnishes all the machinery.
tools, etc, and the state the labor and
| building to work in. These convicts are
/ now idle-a year ago last summer there
We're about seventy-five men in what
was called the idle room place
where they had nothing to do because
the contracts for labor did not call Tor
men enough TO employ all the convicts.
The board resolved to find something
for these men to do as soon as possible
/ to make them sef-supporting to some
extent and to give the men a chance for
4 Improvement. A convict kept in idle
/ ness becomes desperate.
The fifty men doing rough work in the
button industry can net affect it enough
SO it will be noticed by any person now
engaged or employed in that industry
4 1t is such a small matter as to be hard
Ily worth a thought by the most inter-.
l'ested person. But it is the principle of
the thing that some object to, while the
/ republican leaders are fearful lest ii
4 VIII not be understood before election
4 and VIII lose the party votes under a
misunderstanding and gross exaggera-
4 ton of what the board of control and
the warden have done. Chairman
Weaver, of the republican state com
: nittee, was not specially pleased with
the attitude of the board. and in re-
sponse to numerous kilograms and let
ters from points along the Mississippi
river, he telegraphed that the republi-
can party would not endorse any action
Z tending TO injure a state industr,- He
did this after consultation with promi-
nent republicans. who advised hn to
tsay what he did, and that the legisla-
ture would stand by him Ii it ever came
, TO the point.
q Chairman Larrabee of the board and
Judge Kline, the democratic member.
are strongly in favor of the policy that
has heretofore benin force in Iowa of
thiring the convicts out to be worked on
private work. They are opposed TO the
state going into the manufacturing
business to any considerable extent, be-
Iyond what is required for the needs of
. the institution. Judge Kline has just
lreturned from an extensive eastern trip,
:, having given especial attention i'll a
months inspection of the institutions
:. of many states to the employment OF
convicts. He is very pronounced in his
z opposition to yielding TO the sentiment
that opposes convict labor. So there is
no partisanship on the matter. Mr.
!, Cownie is ont of the city, so his person
I'll NieWs could not be ascertained, but
t there was no reason to doubt that he
5 agreed with his associates. The board
of control law was by no means par
tisan measure, having been favored by
both parties. How then, can the re-
publican party be held responsible foi
2 this pearl button contract. supposing il
4 to be wrong TO enter into it? Why
e should Governor Shaw be blamed foi
e something he had nothing whatever Il
E do with? And why should the repub-
r lican legislative nominees. who never
f had the least opportunity 10 incur re.
i sponsibility in the matter he held re-
. sponsible? 1t would seem that the gooe
sense of those who condemn this actor
would prevent them from being led tc
vote any differently than they woult
had it never come up. Indeed II they
! want to make an Impression in the dis
!, cussion of the question, the thing foi
a them to do is to acquire standing witt
the majority of the legislature by send,
i ing republican Representatives who vii
have something to say about how il
shall be settled.
i Get out the vote" is the cry of botf
campaign committees, and he who
nurses the belief that the democrats ar.
Inactive or have no hopes OF accom-
! plishing anything this year will wake
t I'D the morning after election to uncom
; Portable disappointment, if he is re
: publican Chairman Huffman, of tn,
> democratic state committee, is un
!. doubtedly right when he says the demo
> cratic party is in better shape than i
has been for several years in Iowa. II
{ the experienced observer there is ever.
evidence of the existence of hope AM
d real expectation on the part of the dem
n ocratic management. Their headquar
: ters bear witness to the fact that the,
: have money, for there is more life there
Z, more mail going out, than at any tim
IL since the great campaign of 1896. Ma
y tioual Secretary Walsh, representing
\. William j. Bryan, is giving his person
d all attention to the Iowa campaign, an
IS he is no novice or bungler, but on tn
II contrary, he is as smooth a politician
i as the democratic party has now a
: work in the west. He is none of you
II coarse grained abusive, loud -monthe6
e street-corner scrapping democrats, bu
1t is always a gentleman, and alway
e. quietly and effectively at work. Thos
l. best informed are generally of the opin
al ion that the democratic leaders are en-
j. couraged to believe they will cut the re
le publican majority down to $4,000, Q
N even lower. and they are making NOR
of an effort than they have since 1Se
to make this claim good. The republi
can committee has no fears that the
A. will be able to do it If the republican
ID of the state do their duty and po
lie their strength next week. The marke
Improvement in interest in the can