Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-09-23
DEs MONIES LETTER

MONIES LETTER
Des Moines, Ia, Sept. 19.-Within
the next two years the Iowa state
house will become one of the artistic
attractions Of the United States. Its
interior will be decorated as well as
any building in the country, except,
perhaps, the congressional library at
Washington and the Boston public Ii
brasy, where q great number of ex-
pensive paintings and mosaics nave
been used. The capitol improvement
commission has contracted with Elmer
3. Garnsey, Of New York, for the dec
Grafton Of the state house for $61, 500.
This includes the decoration of all Of
the corridors and the great central
dome, with the exception of the paint
ing at the head of the grand stairway
and the paintings in the panels about
the interior of the rotunda, which will
cost $4,000 more. The ceiling decora-
tions and other mural paintings n the
hall of the house of representatives
and in the supreme court room, which
were destroyed by the fire of a year
ago, will be replaced, but the arrange
ments for doing SO have not yet been
completed. Mr.. Garnsey has made q
careful examination of the interior Of
the building and has suggested in q
general way what could be done to
bring the work within the limit which
the commission was obliged to put
upon 1t. The contract is regarded as
q very favorable one, since it secures
to the state the services of the best
artistic talent the country affords, and
It means that the decorations will be
Of the best character possible to OBJ
tain. Mr.. Garnsey does not do the
work himself, but he directs 1t and Sc
to carry out his designs. He is now
engaged In decorating the Minnesota
state house, for which an appropria-
ton of $250,000 has been made. Mr..
Garnsey expects to begin his work
about November /. He will be in Des
Moines on the 9Th Of October, when he
hopes to have some preliminary plans
and designs to submit to the commits
sion. The decoration OF the basement
vas more than the commission really
hoped could be done with mean at
its command, but the artist suggested
. way in which the desired end could
be secured very satisfactorily. The
the general repairs of the state house,
the contract for which a. let for $685.
407. This is for the restoration of the
house Of representatives and the rooms
back Of 1t, which were damaged by
IRE. These repairs will be completed
and most Of the d~ecsfati9as will be
done by the time the Legislature meets
IN January. 1906. The paintings may
not be ready by that time, as the cons
mission is finding 1t difficult to secure
the services Of the celebrated artists
whose work Is desired for these places
Holds Soldiers Law Unconstitutional.
Judge Caswell, OF Marshalitown, has
held In the district court of Marshall
county that the soldiers preference
law, passed by the last general assem-
bly,. is unconstitutional. It arosSs In
the case Of c. A. Shaw against the city
OF Marshalltown. Shaw sued for a writ
Of mandamus to compel the city
council to appoint him city clerk il
the place ef 4. Rerhy, the present in.
cumbent. under the pr8VisfoRs 81 thhe
law which gives the preference to hon:
orably discharged soldiers Of the civil
war for appointment to public posi-.
tons. The court held that the law Il
clearly class legislation and as such
u unconstitutional.
AnethsF Enactment Imperative.
Another state law that has been de-
clared unconstitutional Is that Which
imposes a heavy tax upon all persons
selling goods by sample in the state,
otherwise known "a the peddlers' law.
The Jaw requires that persons doing
this businssi must pay a county IL
cense tax. A man named Chester A.
Hodge wal arrested in Benton county
for peddling without a license; he
| claimed that he was not peddling, but