Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-03-03
LIBRARY Bill LIKED
Measure to Consolidate Travel.
ing Library With State Com.
mission Is Approved.
No Partisanship in Bruce.Em.
inert Contest, But Legal
Questions Are Involved.
Plans to Better Care for Orphans
Of the State..Leeisla.
tive News.

iSlature Is kindly QlSpoSeo toWaiu sAe
great library movement which is
q spreading over Iowa at rapid rate
J. under the encouragement of the small
band of enthusiastic library encourag-
crs who have been laboring the past ten
wears for this result. At first there
was some disposition to hold back In
regard to library matters. One inf1u-
jence usually very strong for library
Legislation was not as active as usual
THAT of the state library board. The
! reason is that the members OF the
board, especially the judges of the SUI
preme court, We're not disposed to ask
very much of the legislature at time
/ when the question of increasing their
/ own salaries was under consideration.
But the library committees of the two
houses finally got together and gave
consideration to the bill for consoli-
dation of the travelling library business
with the state library commission. This
/ bill provides that the travelling nbraf-
lies shall be placed under control OF the
library commission. that instead OF linn
liting the employment of help the COM
mission will be with free hands, ana
increases the appropriation by S2,OoV.
i 1t would perhaps have been in the or
liginal bill that the travelling library
business would be under control of a
commission but for the fact that there
was no commission at that time. The
Estete librarian was entrusted with the
sItrayeling libraries. Within the past
three or four years this travelling Ii
Fbrary business has been greatly en-
llarged and greatly changed. Originally
the libraries were sent out in sets only.
If books were wanted it must be thru
a club or society," and g full set had to
be taken. This was found to hamper
the work Now library of a dozen
| books will be sent out not only to a
/ club or society, but to an individual or
a school or group of students. care be-
ling taken to guard against loss. This
3 found to be n satisfactory change
and brings the travelling libraries with
in the needs of hundreds more. But
there are now $50 full sets of the trav-
cling Libraries going about the state,
end this method of sending out selected
/ lists of books in small numbers is found
to entail a great deal more work.
There has been so much drawing on
| the library commission for advice and
assistance that it was thought best to
place the whole work under the COM
mission, at the head of which stands
the state librarian and back of which is
/ the state library board. The senate
and house committees have met and
| approved the bill. The bill has been
sent to the appropria tions committees
of the two houses and assurances have
been given that it will be allowed. This
will place the library work of the state
| in the best possible condition for the
future.
The new railway assessment bill was
reported to the senate this afternoon
and made a special order for Thursday
morning next.
| A false impression has gone out in
Iregard to the decision of the contest
committee in the Bruce Emmert con-
test case The controversy between
the majority and minority of the COM
mittee is one having to do only with the
n legal phases of the recount, and Moth
ing whatever to do with the actual re-
suit of the election in the Eighteenth
senatorial district. The recount of bal
lots demonstrated beyond any doubt
district, intended to and did vote the
district intended to and did voet the
republican ticket and elected Bruce.
The giving of the certificate to Emmert
was due entirely to an inexcusable err
ror on the part of the judges in pre-
cinct in Shelby county. They failed to
count all the votes that We're cast for
Bruce or counted some of them for
Emmert 1t was not a question as to
whether they voted one way or an
other but blunder on the part of the
Judges and clerks. All members of the
contest committee, republicans and
democrats alike, agreed that the re-
count showed Bruce elected. But the
democrats on the committee raised
purely technical questions as to the
right of the committee to count certain
ballots from Pleasant township, Cass
county. There was no question as to
how the vote stood in that township,
and tho it was strongly for Bruce. but
they contended that the committee
should not accept the count of votes in
tnaJ lOWnSDlD us llIstue Dy lIle JuhSesS,
nor the count as made by the commit
tee, because the ballots might have
been tampered with at some time, mas
much as they had not been kept as con-
templated by law. This is q legal ques
tion on which opinions may differ hon
4estly. The majority of the committee
did not deem 1t necessary to join issues
with the minority on the legal ques-
tions invoked, hence the confusion.
There is no partisan question involved,
either, because there is in truth no
partisanship in the legislature, and un
less one looks up the record 1T is next
to impossible to determine the politics
of members.
Mr. Calderwood, of Scott county, is
fathering a movement to give the Iowa
Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home
at Davenport better standing in the
state. 1t is found that a great many |
orphan children who ought to be in that |
worthy institution are not there be-
cause when sent there their mainte-
nance is charged up to the county |
from whence they come. He would
make all of the orphans there. those OIL