The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-03-21

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by the senate during this session.
Judge L. G. Kline is the outgoing
member of the board, and it is under
stood that he will be reappointed and
the appointment will be confirmed by
the senate. j. d. McGarraugh is tho
| present custodian of the statehouse,
position which he has held for four
years, and he is not a candidate for re-
appointment. T. w. McCurdy, of In
dianola; w. H. II. Meyers, of Emmets-
burg; Capt. j. w. Parmalee, of Des
Moines, and n. C. Murphey, of Des
Moines, are candidates for the APP
pointment.
For labor commissioner there are
now five active candidates.
Now a Law.
The legislature passed without any
opposition the measure proposed by
Gov. Shaw and Gov. Cummins and the
state executive council, extending the
time for making the assessment of
railroads from March rs to August 1.
This measure has been signed by the
governor and is now law. Hereto
fore the assessment of railroads has
been made before the assessment of
other property of the state was known,
so that it was impossible to equalize
the value of railroads as related to the
value of other property. The law re-
quires the executive council to equal
ize the assessment of all property ex-
cept railroads during the month of
July, so that it is now possible under
the new law for the council to take in
to consideration the value of all kinds
OF property, including railroads, when
it equalizes values in the month of
July.
The Reformntory Bill.
Much difficulty was experienced by
Senator Emmert, author of the Ana
mosa reformatory bill, in securing it's
favorable consideration by the senate,
and it was only after material changes
had been made in the bill that it was
able to be favorably considered after
it had been passed once and recon-
sidered in order to permit the offering
of amendments which changed it's
form. In its original form it took
away from judges the right to de-
termine the length of sentence under
any circumstances. With the amend
ments offered and adopted the length
OF sentence to which persons commit
ted to the reformatory and the prison
shall be subjected is fixed by the court,
and not upon the motion of the officers
of the institutions. The right to par
don and parole from the reformatory,
as we'll as from the penitentiary, is
lodged specifically in the governor, in
stead of in the board of control.
INDECENT Children.
Representative Calderwood, of
Scott county, has introduced two very
important measures relating to the
care of INDECENT children. He pro-
poses in one measure to prohibit the
caring for children between the ages
of two and 16 years in poorhouses in
this state. 1t is estimated that there
are $50 children of this age confined
in the pauper institutions kept by
counties. Representative Calderwood
also proposes to make the children in
the orphans home at Davenport
charges upon the state, instead of
charges upon the counties from which
they are sent. The board of control
is authority for the statement that in
the case of friendless children coun-
ties more frequently send them to the
reform schools, because the state
pays the expenses of the inmates of
those schools, than it does to the Dav-
EXPORT home, where the counties them
10 4Io
of keeping the children so sent. 1t is
to remedy this condition that it is pro-
posed to make the children in the or
phans' home charges against the state
treasury and not against the treasu-
ries OF the counties. 1t is thought that
this will save a large number of chill
dren from the stigma of having been
inmates of the home for INDECENT chill
dren.
Salaries of OmciaIs.
Considerable juggling with refer
ence to the salaries of public officials
is being INDUCED in in the legislature.
Bills were introduced providing for
the payment of salary of $4,000 to
district judges instead of $2,5oo When
this bill went to the house committee
it cut the salary from 1000 to $4,000.
When the house took the bill up it
raised the figures from $4,000 to So 500.
When the bill went to the senate COM
mittee, this committee cut it from 49,
500 to $4,000. Members have notified
the committee that amendments
would be offered on the floor to re-
store the salary to $4,000. The i'm
preston prevails that in the end the
measure will be SO adjusted as to pay
the judges $4,000 or So, 300 year.
Memorial to Congress.
A matter of greater import has come
to the attention of the legislature in
the form of memorial to congress.
This resolution has been introduced
in the senate by Senator Trewin and
affects the action of congress upon the
interstate commerce law. Senator
Trewin's resolution is as follows:
Whereas, 1t is generally believed that
the effectiveness of the interstate COM
merce law has been seriously impaired
by certain decisions of the federal courts
and that the law in Its present state is
practically imperative in remedying the
evils of the TRANSFORMATION service of the