Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-31
-Four Committees
To Report in Week
Primary, T,, ssssst Fare,
Pure 81 "a and In
Is Measure to
as Acted on Soon

Des Moines Bureau of
The Ottumwa Courier,
Des Moines, Jan. 80.
Within week, according to present
plans and intentions, four committees
will be ready to report four important
bills If not more. Though the idea has
been hooted at there IS no denying but
a large number of members of the leg
islature have the idea that the busi-
ness can all be completed ready for
adjournment by the middle of March
Older heads look wise and say it is
impossible, but at the same time they
are proposing to expedite business as
rapidly as possible.
Four Of the leading committees of
both house and senate have deter
mined to press forward important
Of the two houses will meet together
and If possible decide upon the basis
Of the primary election law They will
then work with the idea of getting bills
reported on the floors of both houses
as soon as possible. The committees
will endeavor to work in harmony and
have the bills as nearly as like as pos
sible and after they pass both houses
there will be little left for conference
committee to arrange. Neither house
will wait on the other as the house
did on the senate at the last session
for the primary law or any other meas
ure.
The railroad committees believe
there will be little difficulty in getting
two-cent fare bill reported out. A
joint meeting of the agricultural com
mittees will be held with the view to
hurrying the pure stock food bill and
the insurance committees have decided
to advance first number Of the insur-
ance measures on which 1t is believed
there will be substantial agreement.
With these out Of the way the deferred
dividend Ellis, insurance department
bill and other like measures can be
given more time.
Two soldiers roster bills have been
introduced and there seems every like
lihood that the same old fight will be
up this session as at former sessions.
There are a large number who object
to the state appropriating any money
for the purpose Of preserving the rec
ords of the old soldiers in printed
volume that can be had by the general
public. In fact the old soldiers them
selves defeated the proposition at the
last session. Politics played some part
in it. There were those who did not
wish to make another job under the
adjutant general This year there, is
the same bill providing for the adju-
tant generals office to prepare and
publish a roster. Is is estimated by
some that this will cost $4,000 or
$4,000. Weeks of Guthrie has intro
duced a bill providing for the judges
Of the district court to appoint a COM
mission in each county to prepare a
list of all the old soldiers who enlisted
from that county and file them for rec
ord with the county recorder. This
would cost quite as much as the other
and possibly more, but each county
would pay for its own and position Of
several days employment will be FUR
nished commission Of three old SOL
diers in each county The lists will
then be available and the state later
could, If it Desires publish these lists
at very small expense in one volume
Perhaps the largest and most import
ant measure that the judiciary COM
mittees will have to handle this session
is the question of amending the law
so that the jury system will be less
subject to corruption. Following the
question of taxation of mortgages, the
jury question will be the first taken up
by the house judiciary committee.
Some little delay will be occasioned by
the decision to wait until the supreme
court acts on the Polk county case now
before it and which will be advanced
and heard the first week in February.
Since the Polk county situation arose
lawyers have disclosed that the objec-
tions to the present jury system are
quite common over the state and there
is a disposition everywhere to have
the method changed. Chairman Weeks
of the Judiciary committee of the
house yesterday introduced bill pro-
viding that the judges of election shall
as each man votes determine his quail
| fications to act as juror. If he is
qualified his name shall be written on
a slip of paper and dropped in a sealed
box and from this box the jury panels
/ and talesmen shall be drawn.