446 



IOWA. 



Meanwhile, the plaintiff in the suit before 

 Judge Fairall, from whose decision the com- 

 missioners had appealed, applied to Judge Fair- 

 all and had the suit withdrawn, on the ground 

 that the question in controversy had actually 

 been settled by the abandoment of the schedule 

 by the commissioners in making and adopting 

 another and higher schedule of rates in the 

 Dubuque, Davenport, and Burlington jobbers' 

 decisions. This withdrawal left nothing for 

 the Supreme Court to decide on appeal, and it, 

 therefore, in December, dismissed the case be- 

 fore it. 



By the report of the commissioners it ap- 

 pears that during the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 349 miles of new railroad were constructed, 

 making the total mileage in the State 8,436 

 miles ; but of this new construction only four 

 miles were built since January, when the Leg- 

 islature began to discuss the railroad problem. 

 The assessed valuation of all roads in the State 

 for 1888 was about $42,500,000, against $38,- 

 250,000 in 1887. 



Education. The annual report of the State 

 Superintendent of Education for 1888 shows 

 that there are 12,752 school - houses in the 

 State, valued at $12,007,340 ; as against 12,444, 

 valued at $11,360.472, at the close of the fiscal 

 year 1887. The average school year in months 

 is 7*7, against 7'4 in 1887. The number of fe- 

 male teachers has increased largely during the 

 year, while the number of male teachers has 

 decreased. The whole number of male teach- 

 ers employed in the State is given as 5,595, 

 and of female teachers 19,578. The average 

 compensation of male teachers has decreased 

 from $38 per month in 1887 to $36.44 in 1888. 

 The average compensation of female teachers 

 has increased from $29.50 in 1887 to $30.05 in 

 1888. The number of pupils between five and 

 twenty-one returned is, males 325,741, females 

 313,507, total 639,248. The number of pupils 

 actually enrolled in the schools of the State is 

 477,184, and the total average attendance only 

 281,070. 



Prisons. Reports from the two State Peniten- 

 tiaries show a marked decrease in the number 

 of convicts during the past fiscal year. At 

 Anamosa there were 259 convicts on July 1, 

 against 313 one year previous; while at Fort 

 Madison the decrease has been from 360 on 

 July 1, 1887, to 330 on the same day in 1888. 

 It is claimed that this diminution is due to the 

 enforcement of the prohibitory law. 



Coal. The coal-product of the State for the 

 year ending June 30 is reported by the State 

 mine inspectors as follows : District No. 1, 

 1,528,967 bushels; district No. 2, 1,663,206 

 bushels; district No. 3. 913,185 bushels; total, 

 4,105,558 bushels. 



Prohibition. The prohibitory law received 

 this year a serious blow by a decision of the 

 United States Supreme Court, rendered on 

 March 19, in the case of Bowman vs. The Chi- 

 cago and Northwestern Railroad Company. 

 The question at issue turned upon the validity 



of the law enacted in 1886, prohibiting the 

 transportation of liquors on railways from 

 without the State, unless accompanied by a 

 certificate from the officials of the county to 

 which it was assigned attesting its importation 

 for legal purposes. This enactment was held 

 to be an interference with interstate com- 

 merce, and therefore unconstitutional. The 

 difficulties of enforcing prohibition were mul- 

 tiplied by this decision, which removed all 

 restraint upon importation. In October the 

 same court rendered a decision affirming the 

 rulings of the State Supreme Court in the case 

 of Pearson vs. The International Distillery, by 

 which the manufacture of liquors for export 

 was declared to be forbidden by the statute. 

 Reports during the year showed that prohibi- 

 tion was well enforced in 60 counties, reasona- 

 bly well enforced in 28, and disregarded in 11. 

 Political. The Republican State Convention 

 was held at Des Moines on August 22, and 

 nominated the following candidates: for Sec- 

 retary of State, Frank D. Jackson ; Auditor, 

 James A. Lyons ; Treasurer, Voltaire P. Twom- 

 bley ; Judge of the Supreme Court, Charles T. 

 Granger; Attorney-General, John Y. Stone; 

 Railroad Commissioners, Frank T. Campbell, 

 Spencer Smith, and John Mahin. The plat- 

 form contained the following: 



We declare our firm adherence to the principle of 

 legislative control of railways and other corporations. 

 Having been created by the Government, they are of 

 right subject to such just laws as may be enacted for 

 their control and must obey the same. We would 

 deal as justly with corporate as with individual inter- 

 ests. But we demand that the people shall be fully 

 protected in all directions from corporate rapacity, 

 whether arising from discriminations, trusts, com- 

 bines, railways, or other aggregated capital. We 

 commend the general railway legislation of the last 

 General Assembly and demand that all just proceed- 

 ings and rates thereunder shall be promptly, impar- 

 tially, and vigorously enforced. 



We repudiate the imputation that the people of 

 Iowa are antagonistic to the rights of capital or desire 

 to oppress any corporation, but we demand such legis- 

 lation as will develop the agricultural, industrial, and 

 manufacturing interests of our State and at the same 

 time render a just equivalent for capital and labor em- 

 ploved. 



We congratulate the people of our State on the 

 temperance legislation inaugurated in the Eighteenth 

 General Assembly and on the faithful obedience of all 

 subsequent General Assemblies to the expressed will 

 of the majority of the people, which has given to 

 Iowa the best prohibitory law in the United States. 

 To the credit of the EepuBlican party, for its unselfish 

 and non-partisan respect for the will of the people, 

 no backward step in Iowa has been taken ana none 

 will be taken on this question, so vital to the moral 

 welfare of all our communities. In this connection 

 we refer with satisfaction to the large decrease in the 

 population of our State prisons, the empty jails in so 

 many of our counties, and the decreasing costs and 

 expenses upon the criminal dockets of the courts. 



We declare that the Democratic majority in the 

 Lower House of Congress has shown its injustice in 

 defeating the Senate bill, which directed trie refund- 

 ing to the Northern States the direct war-tax, and 

 remitting the same which was unpaid to the United 

 States. This tax would have placed in the treasury 

 of Iowa about $400,000, and to that extent would have 

 relieved Iowa tax-payers. 



