The Leon reporter., 1901-02-07
TITUS AMENDMENT DEAD
Supreme Court Afflrr1s Dewey's
Decision.

Decision.
Des Moines, Feb. 2.-The supreme
court handed down an opinion in the
lltus amendment case yesterday,
holding that the amendment is in.
valid because of the failure to record
1t in full in the journal of the house
OF the Twenty-seventh general as
sembly.
Owing to this slight technical error
the people of Iowa cannot have bien-
NAL elections for at least four years,
i'll spite of the fact that an amend
ment to the constitution to secure
them passed by an overwhelming ma
jcrity in November.
The supreme court follows the de-
cision in the case of Koehler VS..
I.ange, holding that the issue was
clearly raised then and that in it, the
| prohibitory amendment case, it was
held that an amendment must be
recorded in full in the journals Of
both houses.
| Owing to this conclusion the ques-
tion of the Interpretation of the
amendment is not considered.
4 "The conclusion, therefore, ex-
pressed by this court in the Koehler
case is not dictum, but is decision"
concludes the court, "and we must
/ either follow it or overrule it. We
consider that nasmuch as it involves
| the construction of our own consti-
tuition and has been recognized for
| many years as making definite and
certain the method to be pursued in
amending the constitution, it should
be followed. And in conclusion, with
reference to that case, we consider
that it is not for us to determine
that of the two questions involved,
relating to the method of amending
the constitution, one only was re-
| garded as decided, while the other
was simply discussed. The conclus-
ion of the court as to either one of
| these two questions would have de-
termined the case, and one con-
clusion is as binding upon us as the
other.
Therefore, following the decision
of the court in the Koehler case, we
hold that the proposed amendment
not having been entered upon the
journal of the house of the Twenty
seventh general assembly was not
proposed and adopted as required by
our constitution and has not become
n part thereof.
"This conclusion makes it unneccs-
sary to discuss the Interpretation of
the language of the amendment, and
leads to the result that relator is en-
titled to the Office which he claims"
ex rel Marsh w. Baily VS.. S. w.
| The action was brought in Washing
ton county by Marsh w. Baily, coun-.
ty attorney-elect, to oust his prede-
| cessor, S. w. Brookhart, who held
that by the terms of the Titus
amendment all state offices not ex-
piring before January were extend
ed one year. Baily attacked the val
idity of the amendment. Judge A.
II. Dewey, the trial judge, held the
law invalid. On appeal this opinion is
! sustained.
It has developed since the death of
Frances Cliff, the 1i-year-old girl who
was supposed to have been acci-
dentally shot at Elkader several days
ago, that she threatened to take her
own life several times. Tt will be re-
| membered that the little girl was
shot, as it was supposed, accidentally
by revolver which lay upon her
dressing table. A note since her
death, penned to schoolmate, bade
the latter good bye. Besides this, on
| the hy-leaf of several books were
written the date of her birth and the
date upon which she died. The child
| was said to have been one of the
brightest in school, and there is not
known to have been any cause for
her happiness. The case is consid-
cred one of the strangest on record,
where child as young as II years
takes her own life premeditately.
Hon. L. S. Coffin, known through
out the United States by his efforts
TO improve the conditions of railway
employees, has just announced a gift
OF $4,000 to establish home for
prisoners discharged from the state
penitentiary. Part of Mr.. Coffin's
beautiful country home, "Willow-
edge" near Fort Dodge, will be used
as the basis of this new reform move
| ment. A society known as the Iowa
Benevolent association has been
formed by leading citizens of that
city, headed by Judge Kenyon, to sup
| port and sustain the movement in
augurated by Mr.. Coffin. Articles of
incorporation provide that: "The OBJ
| ject of this association shall be to as
sist those worthy thereof who have
been inmates of either of the Iowa
| penitentiaries, and been discharged
or paroled therefrom, in securing
them employment or in otherwise
aiding them, and more particularly
in maintaining the L.. S. Coffin home,
an institution to be located at or near
Fort Dodge, Iowa, for the purpose of
providing a temporary home for dis
charged or paroled prisoners for a
limited time This corporation shall
have full power to purchase or re-
ceive gifts or bequests of real or per-
sonal property, and assumes to itself
all rights, duties and privileges Incl
dent to and conferred by law upon
| benevolent and charitable institu-
tions by the statutes of Iowa." The
board of trustees of the association
consists of Hon. S. T. Meservey, Webb
| Vincent, i. S. Coffin, Geo. w. Mason,
7. II. Wright, A r. Wright, Rev. H.
ID. Ward and Judge w. S. Kenyon.
Plans of the association thus far out
lined consist in setting aside eighty
acres of "Willowedge" farm as the
location for the home, and the erec-
ton of buildings thereon. All pris-
oners, Immediately upon leaving the
penitentiary, will be welcomed here
and provided with home and helped
to secure positions beyond the in
fuence of their former record.
George Miner was instantly killed
by an engine on the Minneapolis &
st. Louis track at Britt. He was
walking on the track and was deaf.
He leaves a family.