444 



IOWA. 



building, and other improvements at the Mount 

 Pleasant Hospital ; $28,750 for improvements 

 at the Independence Hospital ; $30,000 for the 

 State Normal School; $17,034.80 for the Col- 

 lege for the Blind; $21,850 for the Boys' In- 

 dustrial School ; $17.400 for the Girls' Indus- 

 trial School ; $24,300 for the Soldiers' Orphans' 

 Home; $44,000 for the Institution for the 

 Feeble-Minded ; $52,000 for the State Univer- 

 sity ; $32,900 to the two State Penitentiaries. 

 Other acts of the session are as follow : 



Creating in cities of over 30,000 inhabitants a board 

 of public works. 



Empowering cities of certain grades to fund their 

 indebtedness. 



Authorizing incorporated towns to refund their out- 

 standing bonded debt. 



Providing for the reassessment and relevy of spe- 

 cial taxes and assessments when the first assessment 

 or levy is for any cause invalid. 



Amending the law relative to registration of voters 

 in cities. 



Providing a court for the trial of contested cases 

 arising out of the election of presidential electors. 



Creating a State board of examiners for mine in- 

 spectors, and requiring an examination of such board 

 of all candidates for the office of mine inspector. 



To establish a uniform system of weighing coal at 

 the mines of the State, and to punish certain irregu- 

 larities connected therewith. 



To provide for the payment of wages of working- 

 men employed in mines in lawful money of the United 

 States, and to forbid any dictation on the part of any 

 person, firm, or corporation, as to where any employe" 

 shall purchase his goods or supplies. 



To punish blacklisting of employe's, or any attempt 

 on the part of a former employer to prevent a dis- 

 charged employ^ from obtaining employment other 

 than by furnishing on request a truthful statement 

 concerning such discharge. 



To provide for the formation of independent school 

 districts, and authorizing changes of boundaries in the 

 same. 



To prevent diseased swine from running at large. 



Imposing a penalty on the sale of grain, seed, or 

 other cereals at a fictitious price, and prohibiting any 

 bond or other contract to sell at such price, or the 

 procuring of any valuable consideration for such bond 

 or contract. 



To prevent fraud in the sale of lard by requiring 

 all adulterations thereof to be labeled " compound 

 lard." 



To prevent fraud in the weight of flour and other 

 mill-products. 



To punish bribe-taking by State, county, township, 

 city, school, or other municipal officers, aiid to punish 

 the bribery of or the attempt or conspiracy to bribe 

 such officers. 



Restricting non-resident aliens in their right to ac- 

 quire and hold real estate in the State. 



To prevent persons unlawfully using or wearing 

 badges of the Grand Army of the Republic or of the 

 Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United 

 States. 



Appropriating $1,300 for the aiding of discharged 

 convicts. 



Giving legislative assent to the purposes of the 

 congressional act of March 2, 1887, in regard to the 

 establishment of agricultural experiment stations in 

 connection with agricultural colleges. 



Authorizing tbe trustees of the insane hospital at 

 Independence to purchase one hundred and eighty 

 acres of land adjoining that now owned bv the State. 



Relinquishing to the United States all right and 

 title to the so-called river lands except such as were 

 granted to the State by resolution of Congress of 

 March 2, 1861. 



Railroads. In his message to the Legislature, 

 in January, Gov. Larrabee suggested several 

 measures restrictive of railroads. A few days 

 later, in his second inaugural address, he dwelt 

 at length, and with considerable severity, upon 

 the alleged tyranny and oppression of the rail- 

 roads. The keynote thus struck was taken up 

 by the Legislature, and during the session much 

 bitterness was at times shown against railroad 

 corporations. Numerous measures extremely 

 radical and unjust were proposed and supported 

 by a large minority of the members, but cooler 

 heads finally won, although the legislation of 

 the session is much more oppressive to railroads 

 than that in any other State. The railroad 

 act as passed at this session requires railroad 

 charges to be just and reasonable ; prohibits 

 discrimination in charges for transportation 

 either by special rate, rebate, drawback or 

 other device; makes it unlawful for a common 

 carrier to give preference or advantage to any 

 particular parties, locality, or kind of traffic, 

 except in the shipment of perishable property, 

 or to subject to any prejudice or disadvan- 

 tage any party, locality, or kind of traffic ; 

 requires all such carriers to afford reasonable, 

 proper, and equal facilities for interchange of 

 traffic between their respective lines and for 

 receiving, forwarding, and delivering passen- 

 gers, freight, and cars received from each other ; 

 forbids a greater charge for a short than for a 

 long haul, or the pooling of freights between 

 competing lines ; requires printed schedules 

 of rates for transportation of passengers and 

 freight to be published and posted ; prescribes 

 in detail what such schedules shall contain, and 

 how they shall be changed, and gives the rail- 

 road commissioners power to apply for and 

 obtain a writ of mandamus for refusal to file 

 and publish such schedules, whereupon a fine of 

 $500 a day shall be laid upon the company dis- 

 obeying the mandamus. Every carrier must 

 adhere strictly to its published rates ; it is made 

 unlawful to prevent, by combinations or other 

 devices, the continuous and uninterrupted car- 

 riage of freight ; and for any violation of this 

 act the common carrier is made liable to the 

 person or persons injured thereby for three 

 times the amount of damages sustained, with 

 costs and a reasonable attorney's fee for the 

 complainant, unless restitution is made within 

 fifteen days after demand. 



Penalties are also imposed, varying from 

 $500 to $10,000, for violations of the various 

 sections of the statute. It is the duty of the 

 railroad commissioners, and they have author- 

 ity, to inquire into the management of the busi- 

 ness of all common carriers and for that pur- 

 pose to require the attendance and testimony 

 of officers and other witnesses and the produc- 

 tion of books, papers, etc. They are directed 

 to investigate and report upon all complaints 

 made to them by individuals or others against 

 common carriers, and their findings are prima- 

 facie evidence of the facts found. It is also 

 provided 



