Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1912-08-21

previously favorably acted upon by
the house, which calls for a compre-
hensive investigation of the patent
Office ard it's administration with a
view to determining whether pres
ent methoGs, personnel and equip
ment and the building now occupied
by the patent office are adequate. The
investigation is to be made by the
commission on economy and efficien-
cy, and $4,000 is appropriated for
the purpose.
Because of provisions abolishing
the Commerce Court and establish
ing seven-year tenure of Office in
the civil serH. e, President Taft has
vetoed the lesS< tive, executive, and
judicial approp, <,'on bill, carrying
the salaries of goo. 'ment employees
from the president e. y and includ-
ing members of con,V 3. An at
tempt by the house toSA rride the
Presidents veto of the b.: >esulted
in vote of 153 to 1O7, tweA> short
of the requisite two-thirds. 81
The Department of Agriculture es-
Inmates that this years corn crop
will aggregate 2,S11 100000 BUSH
els, the largest in the history of the
country with the exception of the
years 1906 and 1910. The wheat
crop, estimated at 6S0,O00,00O BUSH
els will rank fifth in size during the
past twenty years, while the oats
crop will be the largest ever gath
cred, SURPRISING by 21,000,000 BUSH
els the previous record attained in
1910. In barley also the year prom
ises another record, the estimated
yield of 202,000,OO0 bushels being
24,000,000 in excess of the crop of
1906, the previous best year. The
potato crop, with is estimated at 371-
100000 bushels, will rank second,
that of 1909, with 100000 be-
ing the record.
An agreement on the Panama Ca
nal administration bill arrived at
by the conference committee of the
senate and house denies free passage
to American-owned ships in foreign
trade; permits the entrance duty free
of foreign shipbuilding material, and
gives to the Interstate Commerce
Commission t1e power to break up
any combination of competing rail
and water lines which it finds are
not for the public good" AS agreed
on in conference, the principal feat
ures of the bill are: Free passage
for American coastwise ships; Amer
ican registry for American-owned
foreign-built ships engaged in for
eign trade exclusively; no tariff on
shipbuilding material for use in this
country; trust owned ships barred
from use of canal; railroads prohibit
ed from owning competing waterway
lines operating through the canal;
q one-man government for the Canal
and Zone; and Interstate Commerce
Commission control of water lines
owned by railroads.
Acquiesing in the demand of the
house that the outlying agencies be
abolished, the senate has passed the
pension appropriation bill, carrying
$3.50, 100000. This action was the
elimination of a dispute which has
held up the payment of over $4,000
900 in pension installments due Aug
ust and caused the pension Office
considerable embarrassment and con-
fusion. The house proposed that the
outside agencies be abolished Decem-
ber 81, 1912, while the compromise
provides for the abolition January
81, 1913. Under the senate provi-
sion, the payment of all payments
will hereafter be made direct from
the pension bureau of Washington,
which at present has nothing to do
with the actual payment of the vet
erans, the checks going out through
the hands of eighteen district pen
sion agencies. BY this change eigh-
teen $4,000 positions are vacated
and the retirement or removal to
Washington of several hundred dis
trict clerks is made necessary. A
saving of $250,OO0 in administration
of the pension laws is expected to
result from the change.