Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-01-19

ture passed our resolution by the next
legislature refused to pass it which
forced us to begin all over again. We
have been trying to get started ever
since. We must get it thru both
houses of two successive legislatures
and then merely get to a place where
the people can vote on it. The trouble
is just as one senator said. He said
he was afraid to let the people vote
on it for fear it would pass
BY some strange fate the chairman
and three OF the members of the COM
mittee in the house of woman suffrage
are bachelors. There are only eleven
single men in the house and four Of
them are on this one committee. More
than that the chairman of the house
committee, Bascom, is very much op-
posed to woman suffrage.
The committee clerkship problem
again came before the house yesterday
as it has ever session for many moons,
and in the end the old members got
the committee clerks and the new
members got left. There is good
deal of feeling about the matter among
members. The new members scored
one triumph. however, by requiring
that the persons named as clerks must
be competent stenogra piers, and this
will cut out good many very COM
petent clerks and give more work for
Des Moines clerks. An effort was
made to defeat this by suggesting that
competent stenographers could not be
secured for the salaries paid.
The senate provided for clerk for
each senator. and at least two have
named their wives and a half dozen
have named their relatives. Some Of
the senators feel that the system they
follow is indefensible, but hardly
avoidable.
The question came up in the house
on a report fixing the number In the
house at thirty-six, and minority
report for fifty-one. Doran was in
favor of larger number than the ma
iority report Meredith savagely at
tackled the whole system. Lister and
Jones were for economy. Kelley insist
ed on a larger number and denounced
1t as a scheme to cut out the new
members. Doran declared it poor
economy. to have too few. clerks. In
the end the majority report was adop-
ted. after it was amended on motion
of Lee so that they must be stenog-
raphers. 1t was brought out, however,
that these are not so much committee
clerks as they are clerks to the chair
men of the committees, and most OF
the work is personal to them. The
notion that because a clerk did not
make a voluminous record she was
guilty of graft was resented by several
members.
The Des Moines boosters" were per-
mitted to say few words to the leg
islature this morning. Harvey Ing
ham, Lafs Young, Jr., and others. ap-
peared for the committee.
Representative DeMar, OF Davis
county, is very superstitious Of the
| number 49, In the drawing Of seats
the other day he had chance to take
No. 13, one of the best seats in the
house. He refused to select 1t and
| instead took one in the rear OF the
house and one of the least advantage
Gus. Yesterday the roll was called for
the introduction Of bills and as they
were numbered in the order introduc-
ed DeMar's two-cent fare bin was
numbered Is. He obtained consent OF
the house to have 1t attached to Tet-
er's two-cent fare bill as an amend
ment in order that 1t would not oe
! number Is.