Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1919-04-16
Only Eleven Votes Cast Against 1t.
Counties to Wore CpOn Whether
or Not Provisions Are to bc
Made Effective
THE BILL HAS
PASSED BOTH HOUSES
Each County i'm the !;:ate VII Have
the Power TO Detaraiua Whether
Hard Surfaced Roads Are
to be Constructed

After a compromise amendment
which places in the hands Of the
voters of each county in the state
the power to determine whether OF
not hard surfaced roads are to be
constructed in their district, the
road bill passed the senate of the
! Thirty-eighth general assembly or
! Thursday.
The final vote was 3S to II, Sen.
ator Newberry of Clayton county be.
ing absent on account of illness
He was listed among those favoring
passage of the measure.
Supporters of the measure as il
came over from the house agreed to
compromise when it became ap-
parent that the measure without the
county option feature could not be
adopted with more than one or two
votes to spare With such a narrow
margin in view, they consented to a
compromise on the Price amendment
His amendment provided for a strict
ly county option provision putting
the question of hardsurfacing up to
each individual county for consider
alton before the county could be
compelled to come under the pro-
Visions of the act.
When. the bill came up for con-
sideration Thursday morning amend.
ments had been filed by Senators
Frailey and Buser and one by Smith
, and Kimball. All dealt, as did the
Price amendment, with the county
option feature.
Moves Special Committee.
Senator Arney of Marshall county
moved the appointment of a special
committee of six, to which all
amendments, including those OF
! Senator Price, which had been pre-
viously offered, would be given with
directions that the committee re-
port out an amendment at 2 O'Clock
The amendment committee struck
out of-the bill the house amendment
providing for negative option, that
Is, that the provisions of the act
, should be operative in all counties
in the state unless the voters of a
county decided otherwise at an elec,
! tion to be held on a petition of 20
per cent of the voters.
The amendment now provides that
an election may be held at the direct
ion of the county board of supervis-
ors having so decided by resolution
and Of their own volition, or by pc
tition of 10 per cent of the voters
voting for governor at the previous
general election. The voters Of any
county may by this election may de-
eide on whether the primary road
system Of the county shall be i'm
proved under the provisions of the
act or any part of the primary sys-
tenn.
Had No Direct Voice.
Opponents of the measure as ii
come from the house decried the fact
the voters of the county had no di-
rect voice in the matter.
Supporters of the bill maintained
that to insert the option provision
would work against a uniform de-
velopment Of the hard surfacing
program.
The twenty-nine senator's who
voted against the Buser amendment
as presented Wednesday, with the
exception of Senator White, voted
for the adoption of the committee
amendment creating the option
clause.
On the final passage the following
senators voted against the bill:
Ball, Brookhart, Buser, Cessna, Lee
Compile, Mitchell, Nelson, Price,
Ratcliff and Shane, the final vote
being SS to IL against, Senator New
berry being absent.
Bill TO House.
The bill in it's present form as
amended by the senate doubtless
will receive the approval of the house
with a few if any amendments.
1t is considered fifty-fifty vic
tory for both sides. Those favoring
hard road legislation believe the
measure will aid in obtaining a
start on the hard surface project
all over the state, while those op-
posing the measure are satisfied to
leave further decision in the matter
to those directly affected by the new
law.