Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1902-02-26


for such q commission.
Important Educational Measures.
The house passed two important ed
! ucational measures. The first is the
Durham bill, providing for compul
sorry education. For years efforts to
enact a measure of this kind have been
unavaiing, but this bill is likely to go
through the senate and become law.
1t applies to children between Z and
Ii years. They are required to at
tend school for at least twelve consec-
utive weeks in the year. Provision
is made for truant schools and truant
| officers. The bill is so guarded as to
| protect the interests of the private and
parochial schools, and in letter Arch
bishop Keane said he was not opposed
to it. The house has also passed a
substitute for Campbell's bill provid-
| ing for the consolidation of school
districts that are contiguous and for
| the uniting of sub-districts and rural
Independent districts adjacent there
| to. Consolidation of districts into
school townships is provided for. In
every instance the majority of the
voters must sanction consolidation.
The educational interests are also
| friendly to pending library legislation.
AT recent joint meeting of the pub
| lie Libraries committees of house and
senate, the bill to transfer the travel
! ing library from the state library trus-
| tees to the state library commission
was recommended for passage. The
| committees were astonished at the
large results accomplished by the Ii
brary commission in the past two
years, as revealed by State Librarian
Brigham, Miss Alice S. Tyler, secre-
tary of the commission, and others.
suffragists Claim Majority.
The equal suffragists have been do
| ing hard work in the last week and
now claim to have twenty-six votes
| assured for their joint resolution in
| the senate. The house is looked upon
as a more pronounced anti-suffrage
body than the senate, and the commit
\ tee on woman suffrage in the house
| is not considered friendly to suf-
| frage amendment. The equal suffrag
| lists are congratulating themselves
over the absence of symptoms of ac-
tivity on the part of their sworn foes,
the anti-suffrag ists of their own sex.
Mrs. Bell Brown, poet, journalist and
! lecturer, who was i'm Des MOines last
| fall to arouse the anti-suffragists to
action, is now in San Francisco, ard
| has written that she is unable to re-
| turn to Iowa, owing to ill-health. Mrs
Brown had promised to be here this
winter to help defeat the suffrage
measure.
Valued Policy Bill Again.
The efforts of the fire insurance
| companies, through campaign of ed
ucation that has been ON for nearly
year, to forestall the Introduction of
a valued policy bill in this assembly,
have come to nothing. Senator
Brighton has introduced the measure
In the senate. 1t is in the same form
as two years ago, when 1t passed
both houses and was only stopped
from becoming a law by Governor
Shaw's veto. 1t applies to realty
only, and provides in case of loss or
damage by fire the insurance com
pany shall pay the full face value of
the policy, regardless of depreciation.
The insurance interests are working
against the bill tooth and nail and
hope to defeat it. Governor Shaw's
message vetOing the bill, i'm which he
set forth at length the objections to it's
principles. is being literally circu-
lated.
Among other bills attracting unusu-
al attention are the Carter 2-cent fare
bill. providing for a general reduction
to 2-cent rate of railroad fare; the
bill to appropriate quarter of a mill
ion to the st. Louis exposition, and
providing for commission of thir-
teen to take charge or the Iowa ex-
libit; q measure to condemn fish
way through the Bonaparte dam The
first two have been introduced In the
house and the last named in the sen
ate. The committee on fish and game
has reported favOrably on the Bona
parte dam bill.
The house committee on public
health has recommended for passage
the bill by Langan of Clinton for
BARRIERS examining board.
Hoar Resolution Creates Excitement.
Turmoil and excitement has been
aroused over the concurrent resOlu-
ton introduced some days ago i'm the
senate, drafted by Hubbard but in
troduced by CrOssley, to request the
Iowa delegation i'm congress to vote for
the HOar bill against injunctiOns in
case of strikes The senate, after one
of the most violent debates of the
session. turned down the federal re
lati0ns committee report on the reso-
luton, and passed it by close vote.
In the house the committee on fed
eral relations, by vote Of to 3,
tabled ii one day, but discovered the
resolution had the same status as
bill and could not be tabled. At
meeting day later the resolution was
recommended for indefinite postpone
ment. A minority, consisting of Jaeg-
er and Cruikshank, both Democrats,
have brought out report recommend
ing passage. This insures in the
house a repetition of the senate fight.
The position taken by many Republic
ans i'm the house, and also I'm the SEN
ate, is that it Is not wise to endeavor
to dictate to the Iowa members of
congress on a national subject, on
which they have opportunities to be
more thoroughly advised than the ma
jority of the members of the legis-
allure of necessity can be.
A number of belated appropriation
bills are coming i'm the house, despite
the fact the time named in the Ken
1an Init Of hn q