Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-04-10

airy election bill. The bill was pre-
pared and was passed with practically
the vote of the entire membership in
its favor. He told them to pass 2
cent railway fare bill The bill was
passed after hard fight against it on
the part of the railroads, and it was
passed by unanimous vote. The law
goes into effect on July 4.
The governor told the legislators to
regulate the railroads. The roads
have heen regulated by more drastic
legislation, in many particulars, than
three or four years ago. They fought
the regulation in every instance, but
in only three or four cases were they
the victors over the members of the
assembly. Under the executives rec
concentrations, the railroad commits
sioners have been authorized to make
thorough investigation of freight
rates and to readjust the same where
deemed necessary. They have been
given new powers over the common
carriers in many ways, and the only
failure in this line on the recon-.
mendations of the governor is that the
roads succeeded in getting the recip
rocal demurrage bill, which passed
the house, buried in the hands OF the
sitting committee of the senate.
Along with it went the Doran speed
limit bill, which was intended to COM
pei stock trains to keep up an average
speed of eighteen miles an hour while
travelling to market, and the Berry
bill to reduce the fare on Pullman
sleeping cars in the state. The last
two bills were not mentioned by the
governor in his message.
The message alluded to the danger
of inflated and watered stocks of cor.
porations and the governor suggested
a squeezing out process. The stocks
are to be wrung dry as a fish, by
the aid of the Peterson bill prepared
for that purpose.
A direct inheritance tax was sug.
gested by the executive, so that
swollen fortunes in the Hawkeye state
would be punctured and made to col
lapse little in the interests of the
revenues of the commonwealth The
bill frcm the committee on ways and
means attends to this matter nicely
1t provides that inheritances varying
from $4,000 to 100000 shall pay an
annual tax into the state treasury of
from / to 8 per cent of the fortune.
The governor told the members of
the assembly the time had arrived
when the voice of the people should
be more directly heard in the selec-
ton of United States senators, and
declared for resolution to congress
asking a submission to the states of
an amendment to the United States
constitution to effect that result.
The resolution was passed and with
the same unanimity that characterized
the votes on the primary and the 2
cent fare bills.
Corporations doing business in the
state, the governor told the lawmakers
in his message, should be made to
bear their share of the burden Of oper-
dllnB inc government ihS EiiSSoA
franchise tax bill was the result of the
recommendations. 1t provides that
all corporations with capital stock
OF more than $4,000 must pay an an
nual franchise tax into the state treas
ury, varying from $40 to $50. There
are hundreds and hundreds of manu-
featuring corporations which will
come under the provisions OF the law.
Among the other reforms which the
governor spoke for In his message and
all of which have been enacted into
law were these:
The indeterminate sentence and
board of pardons and parole.
Against contributions by corpora
tons to political parties or candidates