Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1906-04-11


George D. Perkins, his strongest op
ponent, that he may be given the
nomination as compromise.
Fight for Board of Control.
1t is already determined that the
defeat by the house of the bill pro-
viding for a board of regents of fif.
teen members to controI the three
great educational institutions of the
state. does not mean the end of that
proposed measure. Senator Whipple,
Senator Lambert and Senator Warren,
the three strong friends Of the BILL
will be in the assembly next winter.
Senator COPYRIGHT, its boldest and
strongest opponent, will not return to
the legislature. The friends of the
measure say the fight has just begun
and that the coming nine months be.
fore the converting of the Thirty-sec-
ond assembly will be months of edu-
cation. They think when the people
of the state fully understand what the
bill intends and what its effect Will
be they will see to it that their mem
bers of the house are disposed in its
favor.
The same kind of a fight will be
waged next winter for the indetermi
nate sentence and board of pardons
bill. The belief of Senator Saunders
and others who espoused this meas
ure is that it is bound to come. The
only question is as to how soon the
public demand will be strong enough
to force its lawmakers to act.
Kill state Marshal Bill.
Among the closing acts of the as
sembly were the slaughter of the
state marshal bill and the new wom-
an suffrage measure, which was In
tended to give women the right to
vote for presidential electors only. A.
c. Rankin, who is in the employ OF
the temperance forces OF the state,
working for the marshal law, lays the
defeat of his bill to the interference
of Governor Cummins and to the in
trigues of the Anti-Saloon league,
rival organization of temperance
workers, with Rev. DR.. McCash of Des
Moines at it's head. II is said the gov
ernor openly declared his opposition
to the bill, and that he drew a meas
ure which DR.. McCash attempted to
get introduced on Thursday, the day
before final adjournment of the legis-
lature, and which would give the chief
executive power to remove from ONCE
any county attorney or other official
who refused or neglected to do his
duty in enforcing the mulct law. Mr..
Rankin's marshal bill was taken up
in the house and considered on a
minority report from the committee
favoring it's adoption. 1t was lost by
a vote of "a against to 33 for. The
Democrats voted solidly against the
measure and it was their votes which
killed it. OF the Republicans who
voted on the question, thirty-three
were for and thirty-four against the
adoption of the bill. Mr.. Rankin says
the bill will be brought out again at
the next session of the legislature,
and he believes it will then carry.
The bill puts the entire enforcement
of the liquor laws in the hands OF
special officers, created for that pur-
pose and having the powers Of sher-
IFS and county attorneys.
The woman suffragists were not in
the least discouraged when they saw
their last bill go down to defeat in
the house. Mrs. Dame, who has had
charge of the work during the session
of the assembly, says it only means
coming back next year and trying all
over again. But, the strange part OF
the suffrage question this year is that
the bill did not meet with the favor
which has usually attended it in pre-
vious legislatures. 1t has been the
custom for many years for one branch
OF the assembly to adopt the amend
ment resolution, relying on the other
house to kill it. This year no open
action was taken in the senate. the
members of that body being content
to let the house do the work.
The senate defeated the house bill
appropriating $4,000 for a building
at the jamestown exposition.
Two Murderers to Hang.
The joint committee of the legis-
lature on penitentiaries and pardons
closed it's labors on Thursday even.
ing OF last week and made its report
a few hours before the adjournment
of the legislature. The committee
considered the applications of nearly
a dozen inmates Of the penitentiaries
for clemency. but refused to take &C.
ton in any case. The most import
ant cases before the committee were
those of Joseph Smith OF Buxton and
Louis Busse of Butler county. Both
men are condemned to death for MUIR
der and Governor Cummins several
months ago fixed the date for their
execution as April 20, but later. in his
message to the legislature, referred
the whole question to that body. The
pardons committee declared In its re-
port that it had no jurisdiction. The
matter is now back TO the governor,
with scarcely a chance that he will
interfere further, though friends OF
both the men are working hard for
communication of sentence to life i'm
prisonment. 1t has been many years
since public execution took place in
Iowa, parties who have been SEN