Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-04-06
Work of the Thirty-First Gen
eral Assembly Con pIeted
and is Now History
RUSH OF BUSINESS ToDAy
A Number of Important Bills Have
Been Passed and Business of the
Session Compares FavorabIy With
That Of It's edecessors-Review Of
the Session.
[By Ora Williamsl

Special to Times Republlcan.
Des Moines, April 6--The Thirty
first general assembly is done and It's
record Is a part of the history of
Iowa. The end came today.
There was the usual great rush Of
business ut the close and the confusion
and uncertainty attending a hasty fin
ish Of long session. But 1t Is prob
up 1t will be found that the work was
fairly we'll done and that the legisa-
ture will compare favorably with any
OF Its predecessors In the matter of
business like disposition OF all matters
before It,
The record of important bills passed
Is not small one. 1t includes the
child labor law, pure food legislation,
better roads legislation, limiting life
OF mulct petitions, providing fpr insur-
ance investigating commission, the
law against free passes. state eertifica-
tion Of teachers. consolidation of rural
/ schools. calling convention on re-
vision of the United States constitu-
ton, the anti ti-discrimination law. pro-
viding for hospital for consumptiyes
revising the law as to tenure Of office
ana the bill to abrogate the long and
! snort hauls on railroads at competitive
points.
Of course the bills which didn't pass
also include some OF vast Importance,
as the bill to adopt the indeterminate
sentence plan with state reformatory.
/ the bill to consolidate the state educa-
ttonal institutions under one board, the
reciprocal demurrage bill, primary
elections bill, bills to reform the laws
on divorce and desertion, the insur-
ance reform BILL state constabrlary.
woman suffrage and the bill to regulate
embalmers.
Il believe this legislature will 20 in
to history as more penurious than
| WISE" declared one member on the
floor of the house yesterday.
But at least it did not make rec
ord of spending more money than it
had to spend; yet the state education
al and other institutions were all
treated with what most of the mem-
bers regard as liberality
Ine nght between companies as to
who should have the right to construct
a line of electric railway from Ames
to Des Moines and thru the college
grounds took a sudden turn yesterday
and behold the company which had the
whole thing buttoned up was left out
and the company which seemed to have
| lost came out as an easy winner There
We're two companies. A company known
as the Fort Dodge had bought the
Newton and Northwestern and the
Ames and College and wanted to ex-
tend to Des Moines. The other COM
pany was the Central Railway of Iowa,
at the head of which is Thomas j.
Wilcox who promoted and built the
line from Clinton to Davenport. The
house passed the franchise for the Fort
Dodge road and sent 1t to the senate
where yesterday the senate substituted
the bill which Wilcox had been work
I ing for all winter, and in this form it
was sent back to the house and con-
CURED in. Under this bill Wilcox can,
and will go, before the executive coun-
| Gil and enter into contract for right
| OF way across the college grounds par
allel to the Ames and College. His
company is organized, has abundant
capital, has the surveys all made. and
| has long since had contract for en-
try into Des Moines over the present
system here. 1t is believed the bill
sufficiently safeguards all of the inter-
ests of the state at Ames.
The house had a report from a spec
Il ia1 !, tn fxr h,
ervisor question, but turned the board
down and adopted yesterday the bill
of Laird which leaves the terms at
three years and permits five or more
members in large counties.
The pardons reports went in yester-
day and will be acted on today. The
| legislature has no authority of law to
consider the question Of communication.
There is a rumor that the attorneys
| for Busse may take some new tack
| in the case and seek to have the courts
decide whether the legislature has jur-
| isdiction.
A high compliment was paid the
committee on retrenchment ana re-
| form by the passage thru the leglsla-
| ture of the joint resolution hxlng SAL
| aries and allowances about the state
house without change. The com
mittee had done it's work thoroughly
and while there were some increases
in the various offices the committee
was able to convince the members that
in every case there was good reason
for the increase. 1t is recognized that
salaries are as yet none too high.
The house went to work at 8 o'clock
this morning and by noon had passed
fifteen or twenty bills, mainly senate
bills, that were coming over late. An
effort was made early to secure recon
sideration of the vote on the long ana
short haul competition bill, but 1t faii-