Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-03-23
Local Comment

When the Marshalltown Club tackles
the public utilities franchise 1t Will
tackle a large proposition and one as
to which the public utility man has
the best Of the argument so long as
he is the best posted on the subject.
When Jim Good. as attorney for the
city OF Cedar Rapids, tackled his go
cent gas rate he employed the highest
experts in the land to inform him as
to the gas business and finally he en-
tered the employ of q gas company i'll
another city as a laborer so as to fam
iliarize himself with the process of gas
making. When he met the company the
city's steel met the company's steel,
its equal in quality. II the MARSHALL
town Club would tackle the utility
problem in dead earnest let the club
employ such an expert as Professor
Bemis. who makes business Of as
sisting municipalities in their contests
with utility monopolies. When Colonel
Pratt first appeared before a business
mems committee he made gas rate
higher than Jones & Hoveys rate look
like reduction because no one present
understood the technical business of
rate making.
The movement for consolidated
school in Taylor township is good SO
far as 1t goes but the consolidation
of two districts and the erection Of a
two room school is only beginning
In the right direction. a real con-
solidated school should include whole
township and have at least four rooms
II not six. With such a building in
the center of township buses would
need to travel only three miles in each
direction and a graded school in fact
would then be possible. The demand
for graded schools and fer the most
efficient teachers for the children OF
rural homes is the reform IF the hour.
The Marshalltown Club would do
something for it's town if its mem
hers would get busy and have all the
children Of rural homes within five
miles OF the city transported to the
graded schools of the city. It would
be like Installing an interurban service.
e
lama county, adjoining us on the
east has set progressive republicans
an example in the selection of a solid
progressive delegation to the state and.
district conventions instructed for
cuH1mIns for president and for Roose-
Telt for second choice in case Cum
mins can not be nominated Cummins
is more Of progressive than Roose-
Welt even and he is Iowa's candidate
Brins the presidency to Iowa If we can
and 1t appears from the discussion in
the eastern newspapers now that some
compromise candidate other than Taft
OF Roosevelt must be selected in order
to insure party success at the polls.
But IN case the nomination. is to go to
one or the other Of the leading candi-
dates then let there be no mistake
about Iowa. Have it understood that
Iowa is for Roosevelt next to its own
farorite sor. Let the Cummins men
and the Roosevelt men Join hands on
this proposition and work to the COM
mon end as they have done in Tama
county.
There is unusual activity In the
building Of new residences in Mar
shailtown just now but it is not what
it ought to be considering the pressing
need for houses here The Citizens
Lumber Company reports more build
ings in sight right now for this year
than were built during the entire sea-
son lest year T c. Cartwright says
that he has figured more bills of lum-
Der this spring than in the last two
springs put together. c. A. Buchwald
says that every contractor now has all
the work booked that he can handle up
10 July !. and that there is more build
ing in sight. but he explains that part
OF the activity is due to congestion OF
work caused by this unreasonable
weather preventing building operations
to start in March ae they should. Lum-
Der is off at least 10 per cent in price
ard labor conditions are n so much
ac..e- ela ne this spring that there is
Nttle likelihood Of labor troubles start
ing on a job This is a good year IN
which 10 build and the houses are bad
~ needed.
So far as building conditions are
concerned in Marshaltown man
would have to be the retained advocate
of a special interest not to see the SIT
uation as II is.
A new photograph Of "A Dry Town
On a Wet Saturday" was taken last
was so crowded with people on an
ordinary shopping cay that one could
hardly get thru the crowds on the side
walk. 1t has this superiority over the
ether one in that it was witnessed by
P. F. Arney, L. c. Carney and Charles
Breckel. The next time local boosters
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