Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-07-30
NINE MORE CITIES
D Be EXAMINED
End of First State Investiga-
ton of Municipal Accounts
is in Sight
THE LARGER CITIES ARE NEXT
When Completed, Examiners Will Be-
gin Over Asain-Union Labor Dis
pleased Because Iowa Students Are
Going East to Act as Strike Break
ers-child Labor Fight
Special to Times Republican.

Special to Republican.
Des Moines. July 30---The examin-
alton of the accounts Of the city o1
Fort Dodge have been concluded after
City Inspector Sheets and his assist
ant George Pennel had worked two
weeks on the books. 1t was one OF
the biggest tasks yet. The report OF
the inspectors will not be ready for
publication for some days yet For
this week Pennell will be working or
building and loan association examin-
ations and the coming week or
as soon as possible. Pennell will
begin the inspection of the city ac-
counts of Cedar Rapids. while Mr.
/ Sheets will go to either Dubuque or
Muscatine.
There are now but nine cities re-
| The law passed by the Thirty first
/ general assembly states that every
/ city in the state of 5000 population or
! over must be examined at least once
! dn two years and cities of less than
| 5000 on request. The cities of 5000
or over that remained to be exam
/ ined are:
| Des Moines, Dubuque Sioux City,
/ Muscatine. Cedar Rapids. Council
Bluffs, Davenport. Clinton and Water
| loo. These are the largest cities in
] the state. 1t is likely that Des
| Moines will be examined last and will
| be reached some time about next jan
| uary.
| There have thus far been but two
! requests for examinations from cities
of less than 5000 population. These
are from Mount Pleasant and Forest
/ City. Mount Pleasant has been exam
ined and Forest City will be the next
I examined by Mr. Sheets as soon as he
1 completes his report on Fort Dodge.
| Council Bluffs Will be examined by
1 Mr.. Sheets some time during the
month of September. 1t is expected
/ that it will take a month or more to
make the examination of the accounts
i Of Des Moines and nearly as long to
examine Dubuque. Sioux City and
| Davenport. 1t will be a, good years
work to complete the examination of
| the nine towns remaining and have
any time available to examine smaller
towns. should requests come in. AS
! soon as the list is completed which
! must be by the first of July, 1908, the
| examiners will begin again with the
towns OF Creston and Marshaltown,
which We're among the first examined
under the new law. Subsequent ex-
aminations. it is expected. will not take
nearly so much time as the first exam
/ nations.
| Union labor men Of Iowa have been
| informed by union labor men of the
east that mechanical engineering stu
| dents from the State Agricultural COL
ilege at Ames. Drake university and
Highland Park college and other Iowa
and western institutions are being
! taken east as strike breakers by the
Erie railroad. The mechanical engin-
GERS Of that road are now on the strike
and are asking for 10 per cent in
crease in wages and adjustment Of
piece work. They are now getting, it
is claimed. $3.50 and $3.50 day.
The information is to the effect that
the students are taken east by Stuart
who formerly was with the Chicago,
Minneapolis & Omaha railroad. 1t is
learned that the students are paid SO
a day and their board in the Bull Pen
and are in addition given a bonus of
SIS week. They are being picked
up in all the western colleges in Iowa,
Wisconsin. Minnesota and Nebraska.
, The union labor men are severe In
! their criticism of the students and are
preparing to make a protest against it.
Their position is that the students do
not intend to become "shop men, and
the road has no intention Of retaining
them permanently. But they claim the
students do not realize that they are
displacing men with families who are
trying to get better wages and are as
sisting in winning the strike against
these men. The men claim that $3.50
and $3.50 is not enough for competent
mechanical engineers, that the cost of
living has gone up so that they should
have more and that ten per cent in
crea Sc is a very reasonable request.
That the prosecutions for the viola
ton of the child labor law are on in
earnest is evidenced by the fact that
there were three informations filed
last week in Burlington. seven in Du-
buqle and the week before five in Ce-
dar Rapids
Political pulls and all sorts of other
pulls" have been invoked in the hope
Of getting the state labor commission
er's office quieted down. The position
taken by the state labor commission
er's office is that the law is on the
statute books. that he is sworn to en-
force it and that it will he inforced.
Political pulls don't go.
OF the prosecutions last week SONS
were against employers for employing
children under IA years of age. some
against parents for allowing children
under IA to work in factories and some