Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1911-04-14

procreatlon by those on whom the
operation is performed, An antitoxih
department for cheap antitoxin has
been created.
One thing stands out prominently,
and that Is that at no time has any
measure been passed or defeated on
strictly party vote except the cleo
ton Of United States senator. Part
isan legislation, so far as the two
major parties are concerned, has
been entirely eliminated from the
Thirty.fourth general assembly.
The five big events in the Thirty
fourth general assembly were namely,
the Dolliver memorial, March 10th,
with Robert G. Cousins as the chief
orator; the lecture by Sylvia Pank-
hurst, the noted English suffragist.
on February I'd; the veto of the Ore
gon plan bill by the governor which
he had read, and the election of q
state printer and binder and the cleo
ton of United States senator on
the 9th ballot on April 18th.
The Insurance Field.
In the insurance field very little
was accomplished. The big bill in this
department. was the anti-rebating and
nti-discrimination bill. 1t was claim
ed by the opponents of the bill that
| it was a vicious measure intended to
repeal in part the Blanchard law. 1t
| aroused much heated debate but was
| finally killed in the house. The bill
| was the most important insurance
mear ire before the legislature. Anoth-
| er insurance measure to meet death
in the house was the automobile liza
bility insurance bill. 1t was killed az
ter heated debate. The most i'm
portant insurance bill passed was the
| fire marshal bill. This bill has been
| before several preceding legislatures,
but never passed until the Thirty
| fourth general assembly got hold Of
1t. 1t has been signed by the govern
or. 1t will tend to lower fire risks
in Iowa, in the opinion of competent
insurance men. .-.as
AntLLiqIor Legislation.
Antiliquor legislation received
some hard knocks. The daylight sa-
loon bill was killed, as were several
| other bills. The house killed liquor
| bill which provided that general con-
| sents to sell liquors should be OBJ
| tanned by secret ballot instead of by
! petition. The tive-mile limit bill was
also killed. This liquor bill attracted
more attention than any other anti
| liquor bill, except, possibly, consti-
tutional prohibition.
One other important bill passed
was that creating commerce coun-
sci for the railroad commission. This
means much to the shipping interests
Of Iowa. The bulk sales bill also
passed, as did the uniform bill of
lading act. These are important to
shippers and merchants alike and
MAN much for the development of
the state. improvements were made
to the state antitrust law which will
be material in preventing monopol
les from getting tighter hold on
the state.
Law Enforcement.
A radical move was made in law
enforcement measures. This was the
bill giving to the county attorneys
the power, with the consent of the
district Judge to return indictments
while the grand jury is on a vaca
ton. This is an unusual power and
! when not abused will, in the opinion
of its friends, do much to mitigate
the cry against the slowness Of
American justice.
Constitutional Propositions.
Four constitutional propositions, in
volving either an amendment to the
federal or the state constitution
came before the legislature. Three
J were killed and one passed. The one
to pass was resolution giving
1oWa's sanction to a resolution oil
the Sixty-first congress proposing tC
amend the federal constitution 80 as
! to provide for a national income ia,
law. Three other propositions fell by
the wayside. Two of these are bien
NAL visitors, the woman suffrage
proposition and constitutional pro
|hibition. Both brought out lively
fights, and both received their death
blow. The senate acted as execu
toner for this legislature. The fourth
of the quartet of constitutional pro
positions was the initiative and ref
erendum, proposition to submit to
the people for ratification all bills
passed by the legislature, and tc
have the people initiate Legislation
of a state character. They were
Utopian dreams which We're badly
shattered when the legislature finish
ed grilling them. @g
One of the big events of the sess
ion was the veto by Governor Car
roll of the Oregon plan bill for elect
ing United States senators. The sen
atorial fight and its resulting dead
lock has brought primary legislation
to the fore. Both HOUSES passed the
Oregon plan bill, but Governor Car.
roll departing from the precedents
set by governors of other states, at.
! tackled the constitutionality of the
measure and vetoed it. The house.
where the bill originated, failed to
pass the bill over the veto by the
narrow margin of three votes. Pri
mary election day was changed from
Tuesday to Monday. An effort to
have the judges of the supreme, dis.
trict and superior courts nominated
| at the June primaries failed. The
amendment to the primary law so as
to provide for future vacancies in
the states representation in both
branches Of congress is tied up at
this writing with little hope of pass.
age. A special primary to fill the
senatorial vacancy met an early
| death. T.#