Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-01-14
Looker-O On In Iona

4Owd OLE, JdU. 11s-xk Sk1C IIlCIAlOCIo
Of the present legislature are as little
Interested in som public questions
likely to come before 1t for discussion
n action as are their constituents,
there will be but few new laws passed.
Perhaps the good roads subject causes
more discussion than any other. Even
therein there is no unity. What trou-
bles the voter more than anything else
is to find some way to spend that $780,
900 automobile >. And there are all
kinds of ways suggested, from fixing
hat culvert east of town." to a thirty
loot macadamized road from Clinton
to Council Bluffs. 1t Is true every
automobile owner favors good roads,
and equally true there is little sentl-
ment among the farmers In favor OF
! permanent good roads II such roads
mean increased taxation. Arguments
favoring a universal statewide expen-
sive permanent good road system fal
as flat as do the arguments In town
favoring pavements, sewerage ana
water works where the majority do not
| want such things. The increased farm
taxes in some localities, this spent for
general purposes, is the cause OF many
bitter words n frequently profane
| language. Owners Of farm land, men
| with fixed incomes from farm rent, or
even if the farms are rented on shares,
find use for every dollar they can get
hold Of without any additional taxes.
Next comes the whisky question. Put
thi down as a fact: The average Iowa
voter is perfectly willing to let 1t
alone. And the average Iowa politician
and o~fficeholder is just as willing TO
let well enough alone. The surprising
thing is to find so many individual
! cases where they favor the repeal OF
the mulct law and the enactment OF a
law along the lines of the Shankland
bill. These individuals give as reasons
the objection to the petition plan no"
in vogue as un-American, the IS per
cent clause as unfair. and a desire with
many is to put constitutional prohtbi-
ton on the law books Of Iowa. These
expressions of opinion have come to
the writer almost entirely from voters
in dry counties. Curiously, too. these
voters that would repeal the mulct la"
are men satisfied to live in prohibition
counties Inc towns, and not one IN a
dozen wants a saloon in our town"
go
Then discussion comes to the action
of the educational board and its pro-
posed changes. The average business
man thinks we'll Of the talked-of
changes, always provided he has not
sent one of his children to Ames. Iowa
City or Cedar Falls. If he has a son
or a daughter a graduate Of II OF
these institutions, look out for your
scalp If you endorse h action OF tho
board. 1t is astonishing what stand
patters these graduates are. They
know each NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. in
stitution is the best on earth, has been
and is run on the best possible plan
and these proposed changes are out
rageous. And the fathers n moth
ers Of these graduates feel sure their
offspring know more abou the work
and needs Of these institutions than
any set Of men in Iowa even If they do
belong to the educational board. To
this can be added that the graduates
and their parents-of other Iowa COL
ieges are inclined more to favor these
talked-of changes, and at the same
time to mention why they did not go
to Ames or Iowa City.
If woman suffrage is a burning
question in Iowa, the writer has not
felt the heat, probably because his
daily work and conversation are
among men folks. Sure it is the bust
ness men Of Iowa are as little inter-
ested in woman suffrage as they are in
foreign missions. and If any great
number of women In Iowa are inter
ested in this question, they a not
succeeded in getting their fathers,
husbands and brothers interested. Even
the talked-of amendment to the Shank
land bill favoring woman suffrage has
to be explained to nearly all we'll
posted men on other subjects. Even
then no interest is expressed in the
rider" or the object of the amend
ment. All of which must be discour-
aging to those intent on working u
these-to them-needed reforms, here
in Iowa. the slowest state in the
union to do things. This last sentence
is the personal opinion Of