The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-03-01
p..dIction Is Made That Heaviest
work Of Sessions viii Come
in the Second Period
Of Season.
MANY ISSUES UNSETTLED
some Important Measures Have Been
disposed Of But Others Are
Left Until After
Recess.

when the legislators locked up their
desks last Thursday and went home
for a weeks rest, they had finished
a. least half the work OF the thirty
e;xth session. It was the earlier hall,
however, consisting chiefly of propos-
inc legislation. The amount of legis-
1atiye work actually ended was small
compared with what remains to be
finished. -
What is probably the biggest sin
gle niece of legislation that will be
accomplished, however, was ended on
Thursday when Governor Clarke
signed the Clarkson bill to repeal the
mulct law. 1t has passed both houses.
and by his nnal act, prohibition in
Iowa after January / 1916, was as
sured.
The house finished up two other
big pieces Of reform legislation when
it passed on Tuesday the bill to sub
NIT the constitutional amendment for
prohibition and the bill to submit the
equal suffrage question to a vote OF
the people. Both had passed the
senate and now require only the APP
prevail CT the governor, which they
will doubtless get The constitution
al prohibition matter will have to go
through another general. assembly.
but the suffrage amendment has been
approved by one general assembly
heretofore and can go now to the peo-
pie for decision.
House Reversed Itself.
Only seventeen bills were passed
by the house and eighth by the senate,
and less than half a dozen Of these
are of more than ordinary interest.
The house did the unusual by recon
sidering the Anderson bill to provide
for employment by the state Of spe.
cial agents to aid local officers in law
enforcement and passing 1t by a good
ly majority. The strong urging OF
the attorney general in addition to
work by interested members succeed
ed in reversing the decision the
week before. 1t was amended to put
the agents in control of the governor
instead Of the attorney general.
The Perkins bill to provide a way
for giving free surgical and medical
treatment to sick and MANNED chill
dren of the poor was passed by the
house. 1t had already passed the
senate. 1t is perhaps the most Inn
portant piece Of humanitarian legisla-
ton which has come up.
The good roads programme was
forwarded by passage in the senate
OF two bills by Balkema of Sioux.
One would allow supervisors to con-
denim land for highways to be built
IN order to avoid railroad crossings.
The other would require the poll tax
TO be paid in cash. The senate ap-
proved also the house bill to appro.
Pirate $4,000 to pay the cost to Iowa
farmers of the hoof and mouth
plague
With only four days in the weeks
session. the record on bills introduced
fell below that Of any previous week
The total was 81, of which SO were
filed In the house Several joint reso-
buttons proposing constitutional
amendments were filed in the two
houses.
Nearly Up to 1913 Record.
The total was 81, of which So were
the senate so far is $50 and in the
house 433, a total for both houses Of
us. That is only Is behind the rec
ord OF the thirty-fifth general assem-
ply, which. to the corresponding date.
had on file SAT bills, 5O4 Of them In
the house and 343 in the senate. The
mouse of this general assembly has
been slightly more conservative in
proposing new legislation, but the SEN
ate this time has been more active
than the senate Of two years ago
Among the bills proposed during
me week were several Of new inter
est. clear cut law to permit cities
70 adopt the city manager plan of
government was presented by Repre-
sentative McFarlane and Senator
Erout of Waterloo. Senator Perkins
introduced at the request of the rail
roads but without undertaking to
back 1t, their bill to allow an in
crease CT passenger fares to 21s
cents. Senator Thomas proposed a