Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1919-01-15
iowa LAWMAKERS
HARD AT WORK
STATE LEGISLATURE CONVENES
MONDAY AND IS NOW GET
TING DOWN TO BUSINESS
LOBBIES AND SPECIAL INTERESTS
Governor Harding to be Inangurated
for Second Term Next Thurs.
day, January 23rd.
C. L. Caswell, Special Correspondent

ers of Iowa 1853 legislators are now
gathering in Des Moines, going
through the preliminaries of organiza-
tion-and politics-incident to the
work Of the Thirty-eighth General AS
sembly of the State of Iowa.
Preliminaries Of a legislative ses-
sion are very much like the prelimin-
aries of a political convention, and
the smiling, handshaking, smoking
men filling the hotel lobbies would
very much remind any politician of
! the days before the primary laws
came in when there were real politi-
cal conventions in Iowa. There is
not so much politics going among
the senator's present as among the
House members. The senators have
their presiding officer picked out for
them by the voters when they elect
the lieutenant governor, and there
fore that disturbing and exciting
process is eliminated from the pre-
liminaries seen here just now. But
the House of Representatives has It's
own presiding officer to elect
thereby hangs much contention. Just
| why they call the presiding officer of
| the House the Speaker" we have not
been informed. The fact is that some
times he is anything but . speaker;
oftentimes not even a fair presiding
officer, and usually sort of politi-
| clan with big axe to grind.
It is generally conceded that this
| time there is the cleanest, ablest and
best lot of candidates for the speak
ership that has been seen on the po-
lical slate for many years. Arch
McFarlane, a travelling man from
Waterloo, has seemed to have the
prize sewed up in his vest pocket for
several days. Promises and pledges
| made before the session adjourned
two years ago are said to still hold
good with his friends, though this is
disputed by some Of the opposing can
didates. Harrington an attor-
ney at Algona; F.. s. Finley of Mt.
Pleasant, Henry county, another law.
yer, and John NJ. Wormley of Kings
ley, Plymouth county, have been most
prominently in the opposition to Nc
Farlane, with gradual trend of the
current toward Mr.. Finley, whose
pleasing, calm and confident demean-
or has impressed all.
Committeeships the Big Thing.
When you have sifted the facts and
uncovered the real purpose Of some
candidates for positions of this kind,
you find that they were launched to
begin with the purpose of impressing
somebody with the necessity of nam ,
ing certain gentlemen for certain
prominent committeeships, either OF
influence or fame. Just watch now
the announcements of Committees
named in the House when the regular
session begins. Some men would give
more to be chairman of the judiciary
committee, for instance, than they
would to be acknowledgements OF
Iowa. Others would rather have the
chairmanship of she appropriations
or ways and means committees than
county office with d salary attached.
For certain purposes just now some
men here would fight harder to get the
chairmansaip OF the roads and high
ways committee than they would to
be secretary of state. 1t is up to the
speaker of the House. directly, and to
his friends Indirectly to reward the
deserving ones with such appoint
ments.
Much OF the dissatisfaction and con-
fusion that became notorious in the
last session of the legislature was be-
cause Of the stacked cards sprung on
the members after they had been in
weighed into electing certain man for
speaker. Men deserving of recogni-
ton and men OF great ability were
turned down cold and shunted off the
legislative map, almost, to make way
for some who had been willing tools
of a political machine that aimed at
the control of Iowa. OF which, more.
anon.
Outside of his appointing powers
it does not make much difference to I
anybody or all in the state who is
elected speaker. 1t would be infinitely
better if the speaker were chosen by
the President of the Senate is chosen,
by the vote of the people of the state.
Some Fine Characters Seen.
The preliminary gatherings of these
statesmen as seen about the hotel
lobbies impress the observer with the
fact that there are some splendid men
and fine characters among the men,
bers, and as the different ones arrive
the hum and roar of the lobbies
changes and echoes to the sentiment.
A lot of former House members are
not arriving at all. They never got
anywhere when they did show up, and
will never return. But here is grand
old man coming in, M. L. Temple of
Clarke county. who was in five ses-
sions back twenty years ago and less.
The author of the famous Temple
amendment to the constitution, he suf-
fered defeat for becoming famous Now
he is here again, seventy years old.
retired from active business life, but