Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1922-09-27
POLITICS BEGIN
TO BOIL, ELECTION
DRAWING NEAR
A General Demand for Retrenchment
Will Tone Legislative Action,
Reduction Expenses etc.
THE TAX QUESTION
WILL BE BIG PROBLEM
Hard Times and High Cost of Paw
ing Will be Weapon Used to
Defeat Highway Com
mission Road
Law.

In a short time Iowa voters will b,
choosing the members of the fort;et
general assembly along with othe
state and district officers as well a
county officials and ten weeks late
the fortieth general assembly wil
convene.
A goodly per cent of the former
members of the legislature are can.
didates for reelection and will un.
/ doubtedly be chosen so that the
coming session viii find a consid-
cradle number of experienced law
makers on hand to help steer the
ship of state.
The experiences of the past two
or three years since defation hit
the state have created the out
standing issues before the legisla-
ture and the general demand for
retrenchment will make the coming
legislature conservative and pos
sibly reactionary. Reduction OF
public expenses and lower taxes are
being demanded on every hand.
Hence the tax question is the one
big problem which the legislators
will face.
Along with that will come the
agitation for a consolidation of
state departments, which will pro-
badly be one of governors chief re-
concentrations, the matter of
whether or not code revision, inau-
gurated by the Thirty-eight general
ASSEMBLY but never completed, is
to be undertaken and finished at
this session, changes in the method
of conducting the state department
OF agriculture as mentioned in the
state republican platform, the
o. sTting to " 2 the right to sit
81 = - - Ga-ssa and .other big
The attac on the state highway
commission wnich has been con-
tinued from session to session since
the enactment of the state highway
law by the Thirty-ffth general as
sembly will be renewed. Hard times
and the high cost of paving and
road building will be the particular
weapon used at the coming session
to defeat the highway commission
and road law which authorizes coun-
ties to pave their primary roads on
vote of the people.
The high cost of the state insti-
tutions of learning will also be pro
vocative of opposition to appropra-
tions to be asked for by the state
board of education, as was the case
two years ago. 1t is. recognized that
! much of the state tax levy goes ia
! the support of the three state
schools, just as city and county
taxes are largely made up of the
expense of conducting the schools.
The report of the legislative com.
mittee on taxes, appointed two
years ago, will form the basis OF
measures on tax revision. After
wrestling most of the session with
the problems of increased expendi
lures over against the depleted in
come of the large majority of the
property owners who pay the taxes
the last legislature decided to turn
this tax matter over to a commits
sion, four members appointed by
the president Of the senate ant
four by the speaker of the house
This commission is just now com
pleting the draft of its bill to b,
presented to the Legislature. TIL,
committee will recommend that +;
permanent board of 'aSsessmen
and review of three members b.
named by the governor. That
county board of assessment be ere
ated made up of the board of sup
ervisors, county auditor and coun
ty assessor, the bill making provis
ion for the office of county assesso
and doing away with the presen
system of township assessors.
1t is anticipated that much of tn
time of this next session will b.
taken up in the discussion of thi
measure. The criticism against i
will be that it creates a new boar
of officials whereas there is a de
mand for a reduction in stat
boards. Its promoters, however
declare that it will save to the ia.
payers many times its costs.
The state board of control ha
been able TO reduce its expenditure
somewhat now that food costs ar
lower than during the war. How
ever, the biggest single item in thei
expenditures is for coal, the institu
tions requiring practically 10000
tons in a season, and the cost o
coal remains much higher than
few years ago altho about the sam
as last year.
There are former legislators wh
are predicting that the coming lee
islature will not only be conserve
tive but it will be reactionary. NJ
r because of the Individual legisls
: tors but because of the temper {
the times and because of the hig
taxes, particularly on the fam
where the income has been so mi