Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-02-27
PRIMARY BILLREADT
SUBCOMMITTEE SETTLES ALL
DIFFERENCES
Measure Will Meet With Opposition
When Taken Up for Consideration
After the Spring Adjournment OF
the Assembly.

After me spring AuIouTnthe"t "
the Assembly.
De4 Moines, Ia, Feb 26.-The pri
mary election bill, which has been
promised the people of Iowa by Gov
ernor Cummins and the present legis
lature. will not be taken up for consid'
Grafton until after the spring adjourn
ment of the assembly, which will be
from the 2Sth of February to the 18th
of March. The subcommittee from
the two houses of the assembly having
the task of preparing committee bill
has been diligently at work for more
than two weeks and is said now TO
have the measure completed. The
bill provides for plurality nominations
and for the nomination of all officers
from United States senator's down. at
the primary. 1t retains the conven
tions. but merely as means OF ratl'
flying the actions of the voters and OF
preparing the platforms of principles
which the parties will go before the
voters on at the general election. The
stumbling block in the way OF the sub
committee during its consideration OF
the bill has been the matter OF decla-
ration of party affiliations. The Dem
ocrats of the house and senate for
long time stood for secret primary
ballot; that a voter might choose his
ticket from all those to be voted on
and which were to be handed him
when he entered the booth, similar to
the Wisconsin method, or for the regu-
lar Australian ballot, but finally the
Republicans. who controlled the com
mittee. decided that it would not do
to leave the gates open that wide for
fear it would demoralize party organ
izations entirely.
When the bill comes up for consider
alton on the floor it will be fought
strenuously by a number of Repub-
licans and by some Democrats, but the
chances are that it will be enacted in
to law as reported. The strongest
fight to be made by the opponents of
the measure will be for the substitu-
ton of a majority vote as requisite
for nomination in place OF a plurality
1t will be pointed out that nominee
under the proposed bill may be made
such with only fraction OF the total
vote to his credit. For instance, it is
said. supposing there are five candi-
dates for stated Office. They are all
rather popular and the vote may be
divided so that man receiving but
POI out of total of 1000 votes cast
may be made the nominee Of the party.
The advocates of the majority nomina-
ton say it would be an injustice to
foist this fractional candidate on the
party. If the majority proposition
fails the opposition will endeavor to
amend the bill by making provision
that the candidate declared as receiv-
ing the nomination for any Office must
have received at least as many votes
at the primary as his two nearest OPP
ponents. 1t will take several days to
thresh the bill out after it is placed
on the floor of the two houses. and
the chances are that it will be close
! to the middle of March before the
measure is disposed of.
No Insurance Department.
AS heretofore indicated in these let
tiers. the opposition to the creation of
an insurance department in the gov
eminent of the state has had its way
and there will be no department Gre
ated by the present assembly. 1t is
| said by the knowing ones that there
| is politics back of this movement, and
that il means that when Governor
| Cummins retires in 1909 he will be
succeeded by present Lieutenant Gov
ernor Garst: that the legislature of
that year will see the necessity of Gre
ating a department for insurance, and
that Governor Garst will appoint to
er present State Auditor Carroll. The
reasons given for this prediction are
that Auditor Carroll is now serving
| his last term in that office and that he
has been mentioned many times as a
| likely candidate for governor. 1t is
claimed his candidacy would some
] what handicap Governor Garst. How
ever, if the insurance department is
STAYED off and Mr.. Carroll is assured
of the position in 1909. when he has
relinquished the auditors Office. it is
said he will not appear as guberna-
torial candidate, thus simplifying
matters for the promotion of the
! present lieutenant governor. OF course.
this is all gossip. but there is corrob-
GRAFTON for a part of it in two bills
which have been put in the legislature
the past week. One OF them takes the
department of banks away from the
state auditor and places ii in the
hands of the state treasurer; the
other does the same thing with the
department for uniform accounting Of
cities and towns, placing it with the
secretary of state. These changes
would give the auditor little 10 do out.
side of handling the life and fire in.
surance companies. and it would be
but a step TO change his title To that
, of commissioner.
Printing and Binding.
The fate of the Lambert bill to abol.
ish the Offices OF state printer and
binder for Iowa and to let the work by
A