The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1919-04-03
A LEGISLATURE LETTER
Des Moines, March so. 1919.

al Assembly is now plOWlns along
through this mass OF proposed legls-
lation and looking to an ad9our,n-
most of the bills and resolutions in
Guided in the above thousand are OF
very little or minor Importance, are
simply corrective measures or !lttle
adjustments of the laws that have
no wide-reaching effect.
The rest of this session is gong 10
be a hard application 10 business III
both houses, with the, ,good roads
bill, the auto license bill, the teach
ers' pension bill and several other
big ones to take up days OF the tune.
The road bill reported out this
week is a bill of Sc pages and covers
the scope of road legislation and road
building very definitely. 1t pledges
Iowa to a permanent road program
and will cause more or less opposi-
tion and reimbursement all over the
state. Whether the bill will get
through in the form in which it has
been presented by the committee is
hard to say. The same old opposl-
ton that held the assembly to an
to score two years ago is less aple
and strong this year: but still alive.
Members OF both houses OF the
ing every day or two some circular
or other from James NJ. Pierce OF
the Iowa Homestead in which said
Pierce assumes to give the members
either information or ordeFs-th3
members are beginning to. wonder
which. With the gusto OF king,
this man Pierce sits up, on his throne
hired men reporting to him what
the Legislature is doing; Vita the
wisdom of Solomon the king over
on the west side then decides what
is right and what is rotten, and the
next day circular appears on every
members desk telling him what
is doing or has been done or what
tuitous advice on pending leglsla-
ton.
Now. some of the members are
wondering how much they owe
Pierce for all this service, or what
he thinks they owe him, and they
would like to stop his use OF their
desks for his spiteful propaganda.
For one whose removal from the
state council of defense for alleged
disloyalty and obstruction of the
war loans was demanded by hun
dreds all over the state, Pierce. is
assuming more than most members
POSSIBLY care to stand for in either
advising or ordering them regarding
pending legislation.
Appropriations Loom Up Large.
A list of the new appropriations OF
all kinds excepting the increases in
salaries of state employees has been
made out for the first time this ses7
sion by Senator Foskett OF the sen,
ate authorizations committee, and
REPRESENTATIVE Wickman of the
house appropriations committee. and
all the total amounts to is 81 o,OO0,-
900. :.:..;,
and state legislators are not any
more backward now in asking for
what they want than they were pc
fore people began paying for the
luxury Of a great war.
1t is pointed out to us, however,
that much of the appropriations ask
ed for will never be voted or made.
For instance, in the above tremend-
GUS total is included five million dol,
lars in a house bill for soldiers
building fund "a million year TOR
five Years, to be used as sort OF
loan fund to help soldiers get homes.
It is said none Of this is likely to be
passed at this session. Another big
item is 100000 for establishing a
state Irvine factory at state lnst!tu-
tons. They have been "establ lSn-
ing" Irvine factories in bills OF TINS
kind for twenty years, ana none niso are
hospitals, agricultural and animal
industry ali call for large sums as
matters for progress and improve,
ment and three more state normal
schools for 100000 are proposed
as usual at every session.
Senator roskett states that two
wears ago the new appropriations al
lowed footed ND to 5,6O0,U lie
anticipates that when all that the
r.+n Il fnr
are footed up they will show not SO
many millions more as Indicated by
the askingS above noted. But at
best this will be the most expensive
wear in IOWaS history, owing to
Establishments of all kinds made
necessary by the higher cost Of eV-
erything.
Probing the Pardon Scandal.
Not a word has yet been said in
the Rathbun pardon matter now 60
ing on at the state house to prove
that Governor Harding got any
money or ether consideration for
granting the pardon to Ernest Rath-
bun, except the testimony OF old man
Rathbun himself. and he sWOTe so
contradctorily that the penitentiary
doors will be open for him. .
This much can be stated now with
confidence. for the evidence OF Thad
Smell, Attorney Geo. Clark Of Ida
Grove, of Chas. E. Witt, the govern
or's secretary. and of the governor
himself, and the two Rathbuns, Will
liam, Sr., and William Jr., which is
about all that has been introduced
thus far, fails to bring an admission
or anything else that money was
used in the pardon matter to cor
rupt the governor. Smell and Clark
were grilled and roasted by the judi
ciary committees prosecutor. Web
Byers, and made to disclose social
operations at Ida Grove and their
legal alliances to/a remarkable de-
gree, and also to produce every let
ter, telegram, note, check or other
paper that might connect them with
any money transaction in the case,
but outside of showing that Clark
did get the $4,000 fee for handling
Rathbun's case, their examination
has shown nothing duplicating the
governor.
Governor Harding was himself on
the witness stand Wednesday after
onon, and that night, and those
who heard the examination state
that his combing by ByerS was as