Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-03-01

of the senate, TO protest against the
Cheshire bill for taxing telephone
companies. President Raney, of Fair
field, and Secretary j. s. Bellamy, of
Knoxville, appeared and told the COM
mittee that such a law would greatly
increase the difficulties of the indepen-
dent companies getting connections
outside the state. The telegraph and
express people have practically with
drawn from this fight now, and the
telenhone men are relied on to defeat
the bills. Senator Cheshire, author OF
the measures, appeared and argued
for them.
Election of Senator'S.
The house resolution calling on con-
gress to take measures looking to the
election of senators by direct vote of
the people, was recommended for pas
sage by the senate committe, only
Senator Blanchard voting against it.
I'D rather try to buy a nomination
for senator in state,convention, than
to buy an election in Legislature"
said Senator Blanchard in explanation
of his opposition.
Senator Emmert this morning intro
duced bill to convert the Anamosa
penitentiary into reformatory for
young men. it provides that older
convicts shall be kept at the Fort Mad
ison institution, and all under 25 at
Anamosa; first offenders may be kept
at Anamosa up to 35 years of age The
reformatory prisoners shall be graded
according to their conduct, and the in
determinate sentence plan will be used.
BY good conduct, a prisoner may adj
vance from grade to grade, till at
length he will be entitled to be pa
rolled; that is, given his liberty on
good behaviour. In Connecticut no pa
rolled prisoner has ever been returned
to the institution; in New York 80 per
cent have been permanently reformed.
Schools, workshops, industrial train
ing, etc, will be features of the refor-
matory. Sentiment is decidedly in fa-
vor Of the bill and it will likely pass.
Representative Durham, of Della
ware, introduced this morning bill to
adopt the township district system of
managing rural schools. The measure
was prepared by State Superintendent
Barrett. 1t does away with all sub
districts; makes the civil township the
smallest school district in the country;
and provides that township districts
may consolidate their schools and
transport pupils to central school if
they choose.
Ottumwa's Library Bill Reported.
The senate committee reported for
wa to levy tax to sustain a public
library whichis to be donated to the
city by Andrew Carnegie. There is no
a ~, l,x l:ll 5000
Representative Theophilus says the
BARRIERS board bill, of which he is the
author, will doubtless be killed in the
senate; but he has been reading with
much interest. and showing to his
friends, late decision of the Minneso-
ia supreme court fully sustaining a
like law in that state.
Des Moines, Feb. 2S.-(Special Cor
respondence.) 1.-The fight in the house
over the anti-pass bill by Representa-
tive Hughes was easily one of the most
notable contests of the session. The
bill, after carrying everything before
1T up to the last minute was defeated
for want of a constitutional ma jority;
that is a majority of the entire mem.
bership of the house. There are 100
members of the house; fifty-one must
vote for bill to pass it, and only fifty
could be mustered for the Hughes
measure on the last roll call; only
thirty-one voted against it, but the re-
suit would have been the same if only
one had been recorded in the negative.
Pardoned After Many Years.
The Joint committees on pardons
have acted favorably on the application
of Christian Moelshen for pardon.
Moelshen has been in the penitentiary
at Anamosa for twenty-one years. His
case is quite remarkable one. He
was sent up on purely circumstantial
evidence. He had recently come to
this country from Germany, and when
his uncle, with whom he lived, was
found dead, Moelshen was arrested I'M
der most suspicious circumstances. He
was poorly defended, being poor, and
convicted. j. w. Farmer, now of
Montezuma, and prominent business
man, was fifteen years ago guard
at Anamosa, and became acquainted
with Moelshen, who has always been
a model prisoner, and always protested
his innocence. Farmer has always be-,
lieved him an innocent man, and has
latterly made investigations which add
ed to the conviction. He came to Des
Moines, appeared before the joint COM
mittee, and urged that the man ought
to be given his freedom; that he was
probably innocent, and if guilty has
been well punished. The committee
took this view and recommended the
pardon.
Des Moines, Feb. 2s.-(special.)-
Tho state printing and binding ques-
ton was discussed at length in both
houses today. In the lower branch the
bill by Clark of Dallas, to abolish the
Offices and provide a contract system,
was a special order. Glars and Tenn
pie spoke for and against the bill re-
spectively. An amendment requiring
the union scale of wages to be paid for
state printing was adopted. The bill
did not get to vote and was taken
up again at the afternoon session.
At the opening Of the house, Head
of Green called up his resolution, Of
tered Monday, requiring the state of
ficers to explain their relations to the
insurance and building and loan COM
panies. 1t passed without dissenting