Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-02-13
INCREASE MEMBERSHIP
Iowa Senate Passes Resolution
for Amendment to Increase
House Membership.
Makes the Total Number OF
Representatives in the
House ITO.
Bill Regulating Speed Of Auto.
mobiles Passed the House..
Legislative News.
,pecial to Times-Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, Feb. 13.-The senate this
morning passed the resolution calling
for a constitutional amendment en-
larging the membership of the. house to
110. The resolution was championed by
Hartman who amended it from 1l5 and
showed that 110 would be better
number The plan was attacked by
| Blanchard who said 1t had been voted
on once before and defeated by the peo-
pie and 1t was only q scheme of the
smaller counties TO gain an undue
amount of authority. He tried TO get
it amended in such way as to give
Wapello, Mahaska and Des MONIES
counties two members each. but was
unsuccessful. There were only two
votes against the resolution, those of
Bishop and Craig.
The house today finally passed the
bill to regulate automobiles. after diS-
cussion for an hour and half ana a
| strong effort to defeat the Bill py
amending it. Twenty-Five amendments
were offered, all having the purpose OF
defeating the bill or Gripping 1t ana
1 nearly all were beaten. The younger
/ members of the house tried to have the
bill so changed that it would practical
i,y hermit running automobiles at any
| speed in the country. 1t limits the
speed to eight miles an hour in cities,
five over bridges and fifteen on country
roads and requires brakes, signals and
/ that the machine must stop when sig
nailed to do so.
The house today passed the bill to
| provide for code editor and the pub
ilication of the codified laws and 1t now
goes to the governor. The senate passed
the bill to permit savings banks to re-
ceive deposits to twenty times the CAPT
tal stock. instead of ten as now. The
! house passed the bill to provide pay
for settoineys appointed to defend in
misae1i,eanor cases, also bill to pun
lish for kidnapping by life imprison-
ment.
| New bills were introduced today:
Seven bills from the municipal code
commission. including bill to provide
| Row smallpox hospitals may be located
in case of controversies and requiring
counties to pay all expenses of quaran-
tines: Hartman, to define interurban
railways; Smith. to allow credit insur-
lance: Harper, to prevent fraud In sales
| of merchandise: Wilson, to prohibit
sales of convictmade goods in compe-
t,ttion with free-labor goods; Teach
cut for construction of viaducts Kerr,
limiting campaign expenses
The house met at q: 80 this afternoon
for the benefit of members OF the Pio-
neer Law Makers Association and the
senate for the same purpose at p. m.
| The house judiciary committee took
a whack at the tax ferret law ana this
morning deported back to the house a
bill to repeal section 1874 of the code,
which looks innocent enough on paper
but which carries with it the repeal for
| that section of the tax ferret law which
provides for the making of contracts
with persons to hunt UP hidden prop
erty for q percentage of the tax COLI
| lected. The repeal of this section would
leave the law to the tender mercies of
the county officials who would not be
able to get anything for themselves out
of the stirring up of the back tax mat
ter and thus would never do anything.
In effect the whode tax ferret law might
as we'll be repealed as to have this sec
| ton extracted. There is q strong SEN
| timent in both houses in favor of get
| ting rid of the tax ferret matter. The
only way it can be saved is by someone
branding the tax ferret repeal measure
| as one by the bankers and wealthy men
| of the legislature and thus stirring up
a factional fight which would result In
retaining the law as it is.
| The telegraph and telephone lobby
won a victory again in the house judi
ciary committee yesterday. The bill to
require that either the Burlington rail-
road or the Western Union Telegraph
Company should pay taxes on certain
stretch of wire in the southern part of
the state alleged to be owned by the
railroad company and operated by the
telegraph company was reported back
for indefinite postponement.
The Furry bill lessening the punish-
ment for perjury was approved by the
house judiciary committee. This bill
makes it possible for a court to give
very light fine or short sentence for
perjury, and is in the interest of bet
ter enforcement of the law inasmuch
as it has been found in practice that
juries are reluctant to convict for per-
Jury because the judge has so little dis
cretion in the matter of punishment.
The claims committee. in view of the
probability of the state of Iowa secur-
ing a large slice from the United States
government in war claims, has decided
that Iowa can afford to pay up some old
war claims, accordingly has reported
favorably on the bill to give Lewis Case
of Waverly S11S, being repayment of
S55 and interest, of money advanced
during war times to equip Iowa SOL
diers. 1t appears that at the recruiting
time certain recruits We're not properly
clothed Mr. Case guaranteed payment
of the bin for goods at store and the
women made the clothes. He has never
GO. his money back.