Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1919-02-12
ACTIVITIES OF THE
State LEGISLATURE
LAW COMPELLING DESTRUCTION
OF BARBERRY PLANT PASSES
BOTH HOUSES
THE "BLUE LAWS" ARE UP AGAIN

THE "BLUE LAWS" ARE UP AGAIN
News and Comment Concerning the
Activities of Thirty. Eight General
Assembly.
(By G. L. CasweD
Des Moines, February g., 1912.
1t will be interesting toSa great
many people in the state to know that
Code revision is coming. LAWYERS
school men, board of supervisors
and county officers generally viii
come the news. Attempts have been
made at the last two sessS6dST OF ms
General Assembly by Al Few members
to get bill started thfough that
would provide for real rovision Of
the Code of Iowa, but at each attempt
the disagreement over details AZ %
how. it should be done, and by whom,
killed the proposition. Now we can,
say for a certainty that either the'
House or Senate judiciary committee
or both, will, construct committees
bill, and when such a bill has theis
O.. X. It will be reported to the twD
houses and VII get through the long
line of entaxglements and work win
get started OR prediction IS that the
bill will pr0vide that q committee OF
about i've good book and trial law
yerSn possibly . Judge or two, wilf
hay charge Of the work, and that
thalE pay will be merely nominal, with
expenses, OF course. This COMMITTEES
on Code revision will perform sery-
ice to the state that will stand TO.
their credit for generation or morss
and will feel amply paid for their
services in the appreciation OF the
public.
It, will take an extra session Of the
General Assembly to 60 over the work
of the Code revision COMMITTEES. prDb-
ably year or eighteen months from
this time. and put the jurat Of the law
making body on each and every act
written by the committee in the new
book Of laws. Whatever it costs, the
a \ "a ...i tt -
general opinion now is that It will be
worth it to the people, to have their
laws codified so that both lawyers and
laymen can. figure out head or tail to
the various legal problems that are
continually coming up. This is -espe-
cially true of the school laws Of the
state, which. scattered throughout the
Code and Supplemental Codes and
session laws. as they are, battle the
most up-to-date attorneys and make
impossible any guarntee of correct
application or Interpretation OF the
statutes that govern and direct the
thousands Of teachers, boards and Of
flcers who are charged with duties in
connection with our great school sys-
tenn.
Destroy Your Barherry Plants
The second bill of this session to
pass both houses and become law
was Representative Newton's bill to
eradicate the barberry bush and thus
do away with the rust in wheat. The
Cass county representative got his
bill in the house at the same time a
similar bill was offered in the Senate,
but. Chairman Anderson of the House
agricultural committee got action
quicker than the Senate committee
did and within six days the bill was
passed. Rust. it has been proved by
scientists and demonstrated by entom-
ologists, is plant disease that is car
ried from wheat to the barberry bush,
where it winters. From the barberry
bush it goes back to the wheat alive
and VICIOUS to consume the crop. 1t
cannot go from wheat crop to wheat
crop. but must be renewed by this
system of fertilization or rotation
from the bush to the wheat and back,
year after year.
Salary raises are in the very air,
bills for acts to raise salaries Of this
and that official are as Spontaneous
as a smoke cloud sitting through the
streets of Des Moines. Public officials
and their helpers who have existed
the war times on one loaf of
sugar day or kept down to sixteen
dollar hats instead of spending twen-
ty.five dollars for them, suddenly see
that if prices are not going to drop
they must go to the public till for
more money and not be bashful
about it. If prices do drop and times
change for the easier. they will still
have their jobs and salaries.
To Stop Auto Thieves.
In general everybody will applaud
the author of bill that will really
protect car owners from thieves, and
Neff of Pottawattamie
county is trying to get the applause
on a bill introduced the past week to
make liable to Jail sentence any
person convicted of buying an auto
mobile where the engine or license
has been tampered with. All
sales of cars will have to be filed with
the secretary of state. who can in this
way trace the record of car. Simple
Make the buyer liable instead
of the seller of stolen car and they
will be less of legal tender in fu-
ture transactions sand booze excur-
sions.
A dozen important bills affecting
the school laws are in course Of prep
aration and in committees at this
time, and some of them will be re-
ported out for passage shortly. 9th
org will incubate several weeks per-