Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-03-31
COUNSEL Bill PASSES
BILL TO EMPLOY STATE ArToR.
NEY FINALLY GETS THRU
BOTH HOUSES.
ThoRNE MAY BE ASKED
TO TAKE NEW POSITION
Salary Fixed at 5000 Per Year-No
Secret Ballot on Saloon Pstitions-
Taxing Moneys and Credit. and Bank
Stock at Flat Rate to Be Raised.

SISSN TIat HaSe 10 DO nAiSO0s
Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines. March 31.-The fierce
fight on the commerce counsel bill
all fizzled out at the end and the bill
was passed by 4 vote IF IS to 6. The
debate had several warm passages and
Adams especially made a hard and
mean fight to defeat the bill the last
effort being to have it sent to the APP
preparations committee because it in
senate refused to interfere with the
mark Set by the house of $4,000 a year
salary for the commerce counsel but
did place the control Of the office with
the executive council The task of
picking a lawyer will begin al once and
II would not be at all surprising if
Clifford Thorne should be asked 10 re-
sign as railroad commissioner in or
der to accept this place and carry on
the work which he has so long and
ably carried on for a number of years
The house refused to countenan nee
the plan of having saloon consent mat
tiers decided by secret nalot instead
of by petition. The bill was introduced
by Representative Shankland on behalf
Of the temperance forces of the state
and as a measure of removing some
Of the friction which follows every
time Il petition is secured ana can
vassed There seemed to be little oo-
-.
il was attacked otherwise. Mr. Barber
the anti-saloon league mana ger sent
to every member a circular in which he
pointed out that many other changes
We're involved in the bill which would
materially affect the number Of Cry
places in the state ard il was prob-
ably this attack which defeated the
bill
The debate on The insurance bill the
committee bill Fl F. 4sa, developed
nothing especially new in the measure
or different from that which was shown
when the bill was discussed a week
or so ago. TIE real defense Of the
bin by O'Conner and Harding was that
by preventing rate cutting the effect
would be 70 give the Insurance COM
panies larger revenue. which is greatly
needed 10 save them. and that in the
prevention of this rate cutting true
competition would be encouraged. But
it was pointed out that if there was
10 he q law 10 compel uniform rates
! there ought also 10 he some author
Ivy somewhere 10 decide what are fair
rates and there is nothing in the bill
TO provide for this. Very little was
| said in the discussion Yesterday a about
/! the effect Of the bill being to nulify
the anti-compacr law. but that fea-
ture was perfectly understood by every
one. The claim was made that the
Iowa insurance companies fifteen Of
them lost over 1924 600 last year on
/ their insurance business: but il was
also shown by the printed reports that
al least some Of them have proved i'm
nensely profitable. The bill received
only 81 votes This will probably end
the effort to have the Blanchard law
repealed. Il was tried two years ago
and four years ago without success and
the movement has been backed by a
strong organization at work almost the
year round
Il do not believe the bill is consti-
tutional" So declared ex-Congress-
man Joe r. Lane in the house, as that
body was discussing the bill to tax
moneys and credits. II doubt very
I much if the courts will sustain that
f; feature OF the bill which provides that
| bank stock shall be assessed on basis
entirely different from other forms OF
! personal property. II is a discrirnin-
alton that will be hard TO get around
Still I do nat know what the court.
will do and 1t may stand the test
| That is a question which bothered
a great many of the legislators when
! they came up TO the bill But SEN
ators had given the bill much consid-
Grafton and the house members were
disposed. at the finish, to accept the
Judgment Of the senate and give the
bill a trial
But the feature relating to taxation
of bank stocks was purp5sely made
separate from the feature pertaining
to taxing moneys and credits so that
the courts might consider the two
separately. Inasmuch as the courts
have had abundant trouble with the
bank taxing laws already they vii
hesitate to upset this new statute, and
some members think that this alone
will weigh heavily for the bill should
not he attacked in the courts.
1t Is stated that the Investigate or
into the whole situation disclosed tina
the banks of Des Moines have beer
taxed comparatively low and tina
bank stock here has almost escaped
taxation. 1t is stated that one banl
in another city Of Iowa pays a grea
deal more taxes than all the Des Nome
banks together. The banks of De
Moines under the new law will hav,
their assessment increased FIVE or 81,
times and pay correspondingy.
The new bills still come in bu
rather slowly. One of the latest is
bill to raise the salaries Of the rail
road commissioners from $4,000 L
$4,000 and that OF the secretary from
81, 800 to $500.
A bill just introduced makes tn
qualification for county superinten,l
ent to be not the holder of first grad
certificate but the holder OF a "regu
lar certificate.
The house has passed the commute
bill to regulate fishing and SEEMING
~txyn~ 30 Ill