Omaha daily bee., 1907-03-18
RAILROAD BILLS IN IOWA
House Committees Have Acted Fs7ora bly,
on Thirteen Important Measures.
FOUR PASS HOUSE AND ONE THE SENATE
Primary Election Law introduced by
Cummins Men is Special order in
senate To-day and House
Tomorrow.


CFrom a Stan Correspondent
DIES MONIES, March 17.-(special)-
Committee work will end in both houses
with the coming week and the bulk OF
it was over with by last night. Whether
there are to be three or four more weeks
Of the session remains to be seen, but 1t is
now apparently agreed that adjournment
cannot be reached before April 6 at least
and probably not till April 10. which would
make the session one Of thirteen weeks
Just as it usually is. At any rate, after
this week the business on hand Will consist
largely OF passing bills. In both houses
most Of the big measures have already
been put out of the hands of the commit
| tees and are on the calendar in one form
! or another
Railroad measures, for which this legis-
| lature Is likely to be known in the future,
| will be- concluded so far as the house com
| mittees are concerned on Monday next
| according TO Chairman Meredith. The big
gest Of the measures have already been
acted upon. Here is a list Of the bills which
the house railroads committee has acted
upon at this session recommending passage;
Two-cent fare bill.
| Anti-pass bill.
| Reciprocal demurrsge bill on live stock
| Bill fixing rates for sleeping car COM
| panies
| BiIi providing that terminal facilities shall
| be open to all roads
| Bin requiring street car terminals be
| Conn bill putting express companies under
| the railroad commission
! White bill, permitting the commission to
| prosecute interstate determinations before
| the Interstate Commerce commission.
Bill providing that railroads must report
| all accidents at once to the railroad COM
! mission and the governor.
| Bill requiring that weeds be killed along
limiting hours Of employment of train
| men.
| bill requiring shelters opposite depots
| where there are double tracks.
The 2-cent fare bill reciprocal demurrage
| bill anti-pass BILL and bill requiring that
! reports be made at once Of accidents to the
commission and the governor, all have
passed the house, and the 2-cent fare bill
has passed the senate. The senate has
passed but one or two minor measures,
among them the bill requiring shelters OPP
| posite depots where there are double tracks.
This has been acted upon by the house
committee. All the other measures are on
the house calendar and 1t is anticipated
will be made special, order and acted upon
early next week.
Primary Law Next.
The primary election law is special order
| I'm the senate for tomorrow and in the house
for Tuesday. The measure, as 1t stands on
the calendar at this time, is a progressive
measure pure and simple, and the question
| is what will become Of It in the discussion
that will ensueD The measure will meet its
fate this week. Though written by the
| Cummins men they do not have enough
votes to pass it In either house without the
aid either OF the democrats or the stand
patters. 1t is probable in its present form
the bill could get the votes of a number Of
the democrats, but there is probably not
one standpatter in the senate aside from
Crossey, who would vote for 1t as it is
now, and in the house there is not more
than three or four The Cummins men
have about twenty votes for II in the senate
, and it must have twenty-sx to pass and be-
come a law. In the house the Cummins
men have forty-six or forty-seven votes,
and they must have hfty-fve in order TO
pass the measure there. 1t therefore be-
comes a question whether the democrats
or the standpatters will assist in the pas
sage of the bill The Cummins men, it is
believed, now must compromise with either
: one or the other to get their bill through.
In view Of the fact that the primary is
} asked for In the platform of the republican
! party It is not believed that the standpat-
} tiers will allow the Cummins men to pass
their measure with the democratic vote In
opposition to the standpatters The demo
cratic platform also declares TOT a primary
and therefore as soon as the Cummins men
have made terms with one, 1t is believed
that the other will come In and vote for
the measure.
The question being discussed is just what
the compromise will be. The Cummins men
want a plurality measure. The standpat-
ters and democrats want majority meas
ure. The compromise will likely be a pu-
rality measure with a minimum of one
third or One-fourth. It is thought that the
standpatters will consent to plurality law
with minimum requirement of one-fourth,
and the Cummins men will treat with the
forces that will make It the lowest.
To Test Matter Soon.
A test OF the question Of whether OF not
there is to be created department OF
insurance or whether the insurance bust
ness will be left with the state auditor
is to come soon in the senate. The bills
removing the banking department TO the
state treasurers Office and the municipal
accounts department to the secretary of
states office, which bills contemplate leav-
ms the insurance business with the state
auc!tor are in direct conflict with the bill
by the insurance commission, backed by the
petitions Of scores OF insurance men to
create separate department OF insurance
with commissioner in charge appointed
by the governor. They are on the calendar
and the opposing forces are TO fight IL out
soon. The bill creating a department OF
insurance must yet be passed upon by the
appropriations committee and II Is not
at all unlikely that It may be handicapped
In the tight by an adverse report from that
committee, which can find many other ways
for using its funds.
Agricultural Schools Likely.
It seems now more than likely that Iowa
is about 10 enter on the Innovation OF pro-
| yrdfng for for1r ogrgc,tIty,ral btgh .choo1,