Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1921-03-31
1T WILL SOON BE
OVER In DES MONIES
ADJOURNMENT TO BE APRIL 8,
AND SOLONS ARE WORKING
HARD AND FAST.
(By G.. L. Caswell)

| HARD AND FAST.
(By G.. L. Caswel)
Adjournment of this General AS
sembly on April Sth seems to be the
program now. The advance dope
given out in this correspondence last
week holds good. The House pass
ed the resolution to adjourn on that
date and the motion to reconsider
the vote has been withdrawn. How
ever, there Is still some guess re-
garding the time for the special ses-
sion for Code revision. While the
| embattled farmers of the House
| prefer late in November for such
special session, most Of the other
! members want it earlier, and it is
! said the governor is taking advice
| looking to October as the time for
| reconvening. 1t is all up to the
governor as to calling a special ses-
sion, and the Code Revision Com
mission say they must have at least
three months to get the work in
shape for the legislators to handle
Important matters have finally
been forced to the fore during the
past week. Shunting these things
off from time to time while only
small matters and legalizing acts
were taken up, had to end sometime,
and now days it Is much pleasanter
to be an observer of legislation than
it is to be a member of the General
Assembly and have to tackle the buzz
saw. Committee and other meet
ings have been the order lately, even
till past midnight often, and the
nf hn
grind.
Turned Down a Million
For instance, the corporation tax
bill by Senator Newberry. This bill,
considered in committees for weeks,
amended and paved over all that
time, finally came out and on the
calendar. 1t was called up for ac-
tion in the Senate Monday last, and
everybody tore into it. Manufac-
turers and corporation people were
against it. 1t hurt. The banks
came near bein tangled up. in it, and
their friends did some neat acroba-
tic stunts in landing on their feet.
Even the national banks came near
being included in the provisions Of
the state law, regardless of Uncle
Sans claim to exclusive Jurisdiction
And then the bill was killed on a
vote of 22 to IS. The bill called for
tax of $40 per year on all corpora
| lions doing business in this state.
On amendment cooperative organi-
| cations were exempted and then the
banks and insurance companies.
| Net incomes of corporations were to
| be taxed at the rate of one dollar
per thousand. Thus a million dol
| lars, more or less, was in sight for
the state treasury-till the Senators
| killed the bill. Senator Newberry
| made a splendid fight for his bill,
and got a good showing at that.
The next day the Senate grabbed
at three millions in the way of a
head tax for school purposes, pass
ing the bill of Senator Olson of
Boone county by a vote of 40 to s..
This bill is one of the most impor-
tant handled at this session, and yet
less has been said about 1t than the
state flag bill. If it becomes a law
by passage in the House, it will levy
tax of three dollars on every adult
! person in the state for school pur-
poses, the tax to be due in July and
collected by October. Employers of
labor are to collect the tax from
their employees and turn ii in. 9th
ers will pay it as other taxes. The
essence of the measure is that it will
require some thousands of persons
who enjoy free education of their
children in this state to pay little
something into the school fund
Foreigners who do not hold either
citizenship or property will be in
cluded, and others who vote but own
no property will have the privilege
of contributing to education in the
public schools. At the same time,
general taxpayers VIII De relieved to
the extent the funds applied in this
way take up the burden of school
expenses. There are over a million
adults in Iowa, and it is estimated
the law will raise three million dol
lars and more without hurting any
body.
State Highway Law Stands
All assaults against the state high
way law have come to naugnt. Sew
eral House bills calculated to alter
and amend the law have gone by the
board, with the result that authors
Of other House measures of that kind
have given up the fight and told the
committee in charge to pocket the
bills and let them rest
But in the Senate on Wednesday
the 23rd. the fight went to finish
on the Mead bill, which provided
for adjustment of the state highway
commission and the substitution of
state highway engineer with power
20 direct the road work of the state,
and to maintain headquarters in Des
Moines instead of Ames. 1t was a
spectacular fight, and was staged in