Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-04-27
Our Des Moines letter.
From Our Special Correspondent.

opposition manifested in the Hous,
to the appropriation voted by tn,
Senate for Capitol repairs. The
sum decided on by the Senate was
Sl26,000. This the House voted
to cut down to 100000. The
Senate refused to concur in the
amendment and a Conference Com
mittee was appointed from each
House, which after quite a discussion,
recommended that the full sum be
allowed. After more dicussion, the
recommendation was accepted by
the House.
The Capitol is certainly beauti-
full building. One hardly realizes
how beautiful until he has wandered
around it many times. Its tiled
floors always SO Immediately clean,
its heavily carved pillars. its frescoed
ceilings and its lofty domes, its
various state apartments all richly
furnished, - these make up whole
of which the people of any state may
well feel proud.
1t is said that no prophet is appre-
ciated in his own country. This is
often true also of the men who rep
resent us in Legislative halls both in
State and in National government.
That this may not be the case how
ever in regard to your representatives
perhaps it would not be amiss to say
a few words here.
Senator Durham of Delaware and
Buchanan is one of the strong men
of Iowa's Senate where strong men
have been by no means few. AL
though this is his first term in the
upper house, his service in the House
in the 2Sth and Doth General
Assemblies amply prepared him for
his present duties so that he has
been able to take his place in the
Senate and to rank among the best.
Senator Dunhamis a very bright man.
Though he always speaks with
modest mein, he invariably explains
so that there is no possibility of
doubt as to his meaning, his
knowledge on allimportant questions
being thorough and comprehensive.
Senator Durham championed a
number of bills, but the one which
he considers his greatest victory and
which is admitted to be one of the
greatest pieces of Legislation con-
summated by the Thirtieth General
Assembly, is his Juvenile Court Bill
which provides that the Judge may
use his discretion in the case of
children who have committed crime
and instead of branding them as
criminals by sending them to prison,
he may if he see fit, place them in
a homo where by the influence of
proper surroundings and uplifting
companionship, they may be won
from life Of crime to one of honest
citizenship. His speech in behalf
of the measure was fine one.
Another. bill Of his commonly called
the Will Bill, changes the law so
that a child born after the making
of a will and before the death of the
father may be allowed to inherit his
share of the estateand thus prevent
the necessity of breaking the will as
has been the case for many years.
Senator Durham also secured the
passage Of bill charging the
system for the publication and
preservation of state documents,
making the Secretary of State
Custodian, establishing new
system of bookkeeping and thus
saving the state many thousands of
dollars yearly.
Another bill of his which caused
much discussion but which failed of
passage was Real Estate Mortgage
Bill which provided for an equitable
taxation of money invested in real
estate. Probably for the first time
in the history Of legislation on that
matter did bill known as a
Mortgage Taxation Bill receive
consideration by the Senate. AL
though reported for indefinite post
ponement by the Judiciary Commit
tee. Senator Durham calledit up and
after arguing the matter succeeded
in tying the vote, thereby rejecting
the reports Of the committee. Then
on his own motion, it was referred
to the Ways and Means Committee
but because Of the lateness in the
Session it could not be considered.
Some Of his strong speeches were
made in behalf Of the Child Labor
Bill, and also advocating Board Of
Control for the Educational Institu-
tions of the State. He was one OF
the Committee which Investigated
the school at Ames and which re-
ported in favor Of some system OF
supervision for the State Educational
Institutions, his reason being that nc
legislator can by few visits gain
information sufficient to warrant
the proper handling Of the moneys
Of the state in the equitable interests
of the different educational institu
tions. Therefore he stood for the
Board Of Regents Bill and argued
in favor Of it as an improvement on
the present system though perhaps
not the best that could be devised.
Senator Durham was Chairman
of the Committee on the Suppression
Of incompetence and also member
Of important committees on Judiciary
Appropriations, and Schools and
Text Books. When the Sitting
Committee was appointed, Lieut.
Governor Herriott honorcd him by
choosing him as chairman in which
CAPACITY, when every thing was