Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1904-03-10

The Legislature.

L
least was the keynote to Speaker
Clarke's speech when he was made
speaker at the first of the term. That
thought stands for conservatism. 1t
is somewhat of "stand pat" idea,
though it was not perhaps intended to
be called as such. 1t means that
nearly all the measures introduced
| should 60 into the waste basket and
only a very few be enacted into law.
AS general proposition it is right.
The state should go slow in changes.
and only make those that wisdom
plainly shows should be made. Last
week, as committees were using their
| respective meat axes on the bills and
as the house was one day using its
own instrument of decapitation freely;
some of the members recalled Speaker
Clarke's terse saying, and wondered if
it had not considerably influenced the
general assembly to this heroic work.
Among the bills killed last week was
the child labor bill. 1t was one of
those bills upon which several members
who always honestly desired to do
what is best for the people of the state
were not very clear as to their duty. |
The bill sought to prevent persons un-
der sixteen years of agefrom working |
in factories, shops, mercantile estab-
lishments, etc. The senate passed it. |
The house defeated it by small ma
jority. It's weakness was that it was
an attempt to apply to Iowa law
used in Massachusetts. The cOndi-
tions are too unlike. Some of our
cities need some of its provisions, but
the agricultural sections of the state
might be harmed more than helped by
it.
The factory inspection bill was also
defeated. We can't see why factory
owners should put up objections to the
state inspecting their factories, or II
they do object, why there should be
hesitation on the part of the state in
the matter. Health and. safety of en-
ployees need to be looked after often
by an authority outside of employer
and employee. Selfishness of one and
the desire of the other to retain en-
ployment sometimes makes this neces-
sary. SO far in her history Iowa has
been largely an agricultural state, but
she is gradually becoming a little more
diversified in her industries. Several
of her cities have many factories and
if she keeps abreast with the times she
must treat ali lines fairly and we'll.
But agricultural Iowa, as it was re-
flected in the house, did not seem ready
yet for factory inspection.
The railroad committee killed the
DeLano railroad bill, that is, reported
it to the house for indefnate postpone
ment. The house gave the committee
a severe jolt by almost refusing to
adopt the report, the vote being 30 to
% for adopting the report, several
members being ''absent or not voting"
| However, it seems to be agreed that a
bill or two will be favorably reported
which will embrace separate features
which the DeLano bill included. 1t is
| thought if the DeLanO bill had con-,
tanned two or three of it's main features
and had been Invested of its other
| parts that it would have had much
better show of success. A large por-
| ton of the legislature desire that these
main features shall pass. Whether a
majority so desire will be developed
later.
Watching the progress of business
| in committees and in the house one
soon becomes convinced of the wisdom
that leads to the selection Of legisla-
tors from many different walks OF life.
A composite body brings much more
wisdom to the consideration of ques-
ton than does q body of men all of
one avocation. Suppose one OF these
hard questions should be turned over
to one hundred preachers, or a hun
dred lawyers, or hundred doctors,
or hundred farmers, or a hundred
editors, or a hundred merchants, and
the result would be very liable to be
wrong and contrary to the desires of
the state, but submitted to body made
up of few of all these lines and many
more, it has light thrown on it from
many sides and has good chance of
being we'll decided to say the least.
WANTED-Men or women local rep