Omaha daily bee., 1915-01-04
IOWA TAKES OYER GROUND
Land Needed for Extension of Cap
itol Site Now Property of State.
OFFICIALS MUST OBEY LAWS
Auditors office IL Clearing Up
Matters In Connection with
Loose Methods OF Keep
tina Accounts.


ina Accounts.
DIES MONIES, Jan. S-(special. The
last OF the deals whereby the state OF
Iowa comes into possession OF the prop
erty about the state house desired for an
extension Of the capitol grounds has been
completed. The area purchased, OF actual
lots Ia about thlrty-five acres. tract of
five acres Ia TO be sold. Several other
acres which the legislature authorized 10
be purchased. were not taken over and Il
will be left for the legislature to decide
whether this additional tract IL really
needed When completed, Including the
streets which are already public property,
and tho areas already owned by the
state, there will be a tract OF nearly
seventy-five acres extent, on which will
DO not only the state house but the his
torical building. the state library. the law
courts and library. the office building. the
heating plant, the soldiers and sailors
monument the Allison memorial and
other things. The whole will make a
comprehensive and beautiful setting for
the group OF state buildings. equal in
quality to the setting for the group OF
city and federal buildings now provided
now is in the nature OF clearing up the
old shaeks and getting rid OF buildings
that have been unslghtly for years. The
better class OF buildings. and those that
are rented for good sums. will he left for
the last. as the income from these will
go far toward effectlng the clearing of
the entire tract, A number OF the build
ings are being removed en- bloc. Some
M f1aN hat
are being used for state offices while the
state IL temporizing. Tho work OF effect
ing the purchase was made In about a
year and helfs time and at
moderate expense. One real estate agent
was employed to handle the business and
the rest was done by state officials
VIII Make Officials obey the Laws.
Early this month date will be set
for the commencement OF the trial in
Hardin county OF Charles Marks. mem
Der of the board OF supervisors, accused
OF malfeasance In office and failure OF
duty and to be removed under the gen.
erai statutes OF the state. The county
attorney and someone from the office
OF the attorney general will have charge
OF the case. The evidence on which the
action IL taken was compiled and pre-
pared by the county examining depart
fnent Of the state auditors office In con-
junction with local accountants, who were
also at work on the case The main fea-
ture Of the case is that in regard to the
county engineer and his office. things
were run contrary TO law and In such n
loose manner that there was vast
waste OF funds. The county examining
department has made great start in
the direction OF clearing up as 20 the
various counties OF che state. in many
instances county officials have paid back
large sums 10 the counties after the
Investigations. a computation made In
dlcates that In the last year and a half
this department OF the state uncovered
Ieakages aggregating over $4,000. not all
In any one year. but back a number OF
years as covered by the investigation.
The purpose OF the department was to
j require uniformity in county account
Ing and county methods and strict COM
pliance with the law In everything
Hardly a county OF the state was found
but that the examiners reported some
thing OF other that needed attention
from the outside. The coming year the
examinations will be more rigid and It
is believed that in the end the county
officials will have their offices on a
basis OF absolute observance OF the laws
OF the state.
! Carrying on billy Sunday Work.
! In a number OF the leading churches
OF Des Moines, whose membership aided
in the Billy Sunday eVangellEtic cam
paign OF 'ast year, special Servlees were
commenced today with view to carry
ing on the work he so we'll commenced.
In some instances the pastors will be
assisted by some outsiders, and meetings
will be held each evening and continu-
ing for several weeks. In some instances
pastors OF the city will exchange pulpits
and a number OF teams OF organized
workers will start out 10 do personal
work on behalf OF the churches The
song books used at the Sunday meet
ings will be made use OF and every
thing will be done 20 make this work
/ ONE Of continuing that which was COM
menced IN the big tabernacle. The
churches report many hundreds OF access
slons 10 their ranks since the close OF
the meetings and II Is expected they will
gain many more by this work,
NO New Policy.
1t is regarded as certain that the re-
! tirement OF senator ]. II. Trewin from
the State Board OF Education. clears the
way for the governor 70 reappolnt the
other retiring members ana TO continue
the general policy OF the board az ex-
pressed through the present membership
Of the finsnee committee. The actual
management OF the three state educa-
tional institutions is In the hands OF
the three members OF the finance COM
mittee. Because OF having been presi-
dent Of the board and therefore in a
conspicuous position during the period