Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-23
BUILDERS PRICES TOO HIGH
State Unable to Let Contracts for Work
Within the Appropriations
lowANS GOING TO ISLE OF PINES
Governor LRFOIlette Takes Some Les
sons from Iowa in the Matter
of the Regulation of
Railroad Rates.
CFrom a STAFF correspondent)

CFrom a Staff Correspondent)
DES MONIES, March 22-(Special)-
| The high prices prevailing for material and
! labor this year are causing the State Board
Of control no end OF trouble in the mat
! ter Of having the state work done as con-
| templated by the legislature. Appropria-
| tions were made for certain permanent
| improvements at the various institutions
and a great deal of this work was done
last year. This year plans we're laid for
completing the improvements and on the
10th OF the present month the board opened
bids on improvements estimated to cost
about s175,0O0. The contracts have now
been let under this bidding for a two-story
| brick schoolhouse and a workshop at Ell
dora, for a powerhouse and heating station
at Davenport, for a laundry building and
| COW barn at Mount Pleasant, for two cot
! tages a fire station and a COW barn at
! Glenwood. The contracts can be let at any
| time for two smokestacks and some other
| improvements, but the offers made on a
| proposed warehouse for the state hospital
| at Independence and for a pumphouse and
| a brick cottage at Mitchellville were too
high and the prospect is that this work
Will have to go over until the legislature
makes larger appropriation. This is the
first time in the history of the board that
it has been unable to get work done that
was planned, though in a number of in
stances It has been necessary to make
some changes in the specifications. All the
contractors hold of or place their bids very
! high. The work contracted for this year
was all taken by firms located near the
work in hand and the big contractors
| failed to get any of the Jobs.
Excursion to Isle OF Pines.
large number Of Iowa people are in
terested in the Isle OF Pines, off the coast
| of Cuba, having invested in the isle when
1t was supposed the same belonged to the
United States and would be separated from
| Cuba. A few days ago a large excursion
party started from Fairfield, embracing
about forty persons from different parts Of
the state, to make a trip to the almost
unknown isle and to arrange for caring
for their property interests there. They
| are understood to have acquired a large
tract of land on the isle and to be prepar-
| ing to plant an Iowa colony there and en-
gage in farming and gardening. The party
went by way Of New Orleans.
Completing New Burlington Line.
large force of men is at work on what
| is known as the Tracy cutoff of the Bur-
: lington railroad. which will connect the
| OSkdlOOSd line ITOm burlington WIN L0e
Des Moines-Albia line at Tracy. 1t is ex-
pected that the line will be completed In
July next and that as soon as completed
there will be practically a new arrange
ment OF the local trains in Iowa, especially
in the eastern part of the state. The cut
off will enable the Burlington system to
send trains directly to Burlington over
, new route, via Tracy and Oskaloosa.
! Baby TeIephone System.
The telephone report blanks have been
| started out to the 700 or 800 telephone
companies that are required to make re-
ports to the state executive council for
assessment purposes, and few Of the re-
| ports have already turned up in the Office
of the state auditor. One of the first to
| come in is a baby system In Jones county.
| 1t is made out on the extensive blanks
sent out and duly sworn to. 1t is the
Wertz Telephone company owned by o. T.
Wertz, at Morley; length Of line, 100 feet;
one pole; original cost, 81; one instrument
The council will have diffculty in assess
ing this kind of a proposition.
LaFOnette COmmends Iowa.
Iowa people who have lost some of their
loyalty for Iowa might gain something by
perusal OF the annual message Of Governor
! Robert NJ. LaFollette, himself an Iowa edu-
| Gated man, in which he made some sur
prising comparisons between Wisconsin and
| Iowa, especially in the matter OF indus
| trial development and the causes leading
| thereto. Copies OF the message have re-
recently been received by Iowa state Of
fcials and are perused with pleasure. That
! part of Governor LaFollette's message in
which he urges upon the Wisconsin legis-
lators that they adopt for that state
| aF atA - rafo
affords him an opportunity to refer kindly
to Iowa. He does, in fact, take Iowa as
a model and declares that no state has done
better in regulation of freight rates, though
| Iowa people are sometimes heard to COM
| plain bitterly. Anticipating the argument
that Iowa has suffered greatly from the
| operations of a rate law the Wisconsin
people are given a series of statistical
| tables which show how much more Iowa
has grown decade by decade than Wiscon-
| sin, both in agriculture and manufactures
Tables are given to show that freight rates
in Wisconsin are higher than in Iowa on
all classes, very much higher on many Of
the leading classes, in no case less than
is per cent higher, often 20 per cent and
averaging 40 per cent. 1T is shown" said
Governor LaFollette, that the agricultural
! and manufacturing interests in Iowa have
been greatly benefited by the establishment
| of a railway commission controlling rates
That while one OF the greatest financial
panics experienced in a century has oc-
CURED since the enactment of that law,
the progress and prosperity OF the state
of Iowa has continued without Interrupt
tion. When the law was enacted In that
state 1t was denounced as a movement de-
signed to conhscate the property OF the
railway corporations and as certain to
bring Generalization and disaster to the
railroad interests of the state. The law
was enacted, the rates OF the railway COM
mission have been enforced, the railroads
have been prosperous. They have continued
to extend their lines. TO earn fair profits,
to render good service"
The Iowa railroad commission has Just
received high commendation from another
source. The Interstate Commerce commits
sion set out to secure statistics regarding
complaints to the different railway COM
missions, and obtained them from all parts
Of the country, but the reports show that
the best statistical information came from
Iowa and that the work has been better
attended TO here than elsewhere.