IOWA. 



357 



Then- were -old in the year ending in .June, 



!-.>l,:i! hoi>es. In 1800 there were 178,- 



to a population of 674,913; in 1870, 



.' i.. u population of 1,024,615; and in 



.::::s,S67 to a population of 1,911.890. Of 



niil<-!i c<>\vs there, are in the State 1,278,012; of 



other rattle, % J.lNO,247, an increase in the total 



niimlier of 448,378 over that of 1885. 



The amount of butter shipped from the State 

 during the year ending Sept. 30, 1891, wa> s|.- 

 TTI.iiiil pounds. The decrease of practically 

 K I.OIK i,i)i)0 pounds over the sales for the year 

 ending Oct. 1, 1890, has been attributed to the 

 uneven crops of 1890, which greatly increased 

 the price of corn and hay. The home consump- 

 tion of butter is estimated at 100,000,000 pounds. 

 The total make of the State is 168,690,715 pounds. 



Koa<l Convention. Delegates from all parts 

 of the State, met at Des Moines on Aug. 16 and 

 17. to consider the question of improving the 

 common roads. Gov. Boies, who addressed the 

 meet ing, referred to the convention as one of the 

 UK 'st important that has been held in the State for 

 years. Various measures were proposed for the 

 i>c>t promotion of the object under discussion. 

 Judge Thayer submitted a plan by which 15,000 

 miles of good road could be built in five or ten 

 yea-s, so that when it was completed no person 

 would be found living more than four miles 

 from a perfect macadamized road, and this with- 

 out an increase of taxes. In the resolutions 

 finally adopted it was determined that until 

 further legislation a movement should be set on 

 foot in every township looking to the consolida- 

 tion of the road districts, in order that the per- 

 missive provisions of chapter 200 of the acts of 

 1884 might be taken advantage of. Agitation of 

 the question was suggested in cities and towns, 

 and the propriety of submitting to the people the 

 proposition for a higher levy or the issuance of 

 bonds. 



Legislative Session. The General Assembly 

 sat until March 30. The early meetings of the 

 Senate were disturbed by the question of per- 

 manent organization, and the refusal of the 

 Democrats to proceed to business until such an 

 organization was effected. The Republican 

 caucus nominations were disputed, and a dead- 

 lock ensued. This was broken by Lieut.-Gov. 

 Poyneer, who converted a sufficient number of 

 Democrats "present but not voting" to declare 

 a quorum. The permanent officers were then 

 elected, and J. W. Cliff, the Republican nominee, 

 was declared secretary, all the other officers being 

 Democratic. 



Mr. Cliff was subsequently deposed (Jan. 21). 

 the Democrats declaring that the minority had no 

 right to foist on the Senate a permanent officer, 

 and disputing the ruling of ex-Gov. Poyneer in 

 declaring a quorum when the Democratic mem- 

 bers were present and not voting. The Repub- 

 licans in turn declined to vote for Samuel N. 

 Parsons, the Democratic nominee. A call of the 

 Senate was made, nearly every one answering 

 " Here," whereupon the 24 votes of the Demo- 

 crats were decided by the chair to have elected 

 Parsons. The sergeant-at-arms removed Mr. 

 Cliff in spite of protest. This difficulty in re- 

 gard to the election of the secretary lea to the 

 passage of resolutions referring to the Attorney- 

 General for decision the following questions: 



Whether the Senate of thin State ban the power to 

 pawt upon and determine tin- election aiitl qualifi- 

 cation ofitw own M-erctary. Whether it, as a legisla- 

 tive body, HUM the j>ower and authority to remove it* 

 sc.-ri -tan and flt-i-t another. Whether, utter the Sen- 

 ate has removed it* w-crctary ami cli-.-t. 

 district, court of thin State ha* jurisdiction to try tne 

 right of the latter to hold his ofli,-,-. Wh, -thcr the 

 right of Samuel N. I 'arson* to act a* M -Titan of the 

 Senate can l>c inquired into by an injunction pro- 

 ceeding. Whether the S]-uker of the DOOM i* juti- 

 ticd under the law in rel'u.-in^ to concur with the 

 1'ri M, lent of the Senate in certifying ,he clc< 

 Samuel N. ParsonH UK secretary. 



Joint resolutions were introduced on high 

 license, to the effect that the. Ke|in-sentative in 

 Congress be instructed to secure an amendment 

 to the statute of the United States, changing 

 the amount of tax from $25 to $250 a year, ana 

 providing that sales made in violation of the 

 laws of any State where such sales are made 

 shall forfeit such United States special tax 

 license, and subject the offender to the penalties 

 of the statutes of the United States as if no 

 special tax had been paid. The question of 

 allowing licenses or standing by the principles of 

 prohibition absorbed a great part of the discus- 

 sion, the Schmidt bill being again introduced 

 as first on the Senate file. It was argued in op- 

 position that the people of the State had always 

 stood by prohibition ; that the claim made by 

 the supporters of the bill to the effect that the 

 traffic m intoxicating liquors was net detri- 

 mental to health, morals, or the welfare of the 

 public, was false. Such traffic, they maintained, 

 should be classed with gambling, betting, the 

 vending of obscene literature, and like evils. 

 and made subject to the penalty of the same 

 law. It was claimed further that the passage of 

 this bill would reverse a policy of the State that 

 was adopted by a Democratic General Assembly 

 nearly forty years ago, substituting a system 

 that has never successfully restrained the evils of 

 the liquor traffic. The forcing upon the com- 

 munity of a legalized saloon would be the result. 

 In the protracted discussion that followed it was 

 shown that, according to the " Brewers' Jour- 

 nal," in 1885 there were sold in Iowa 182,524 

 barrels of beer; in 1886, 197.372; in 1887, 183,- 

 464; in 1888, 174,339: in 1890, 88,266; and in 

 1891, 105,943 showing under a Democratic rule 

 of eighteen months an increase of 17 per cent, over 

 the amount of the year before. It was shown 

 that under this bill druggists would be allowed 

 to sell without fee or bond, requiring only semi- 

 annual reports and small fines. The bill was U- 

 fore the Senate until March 8, when it passed by 

 a vote of 27 to 22. But on March 22 the bill 

 was killed by the llmise.it having U-en argued 

 that it would discriminate against a law-abiding 

 industrious German element, and was a measure 

 giving unequal privileges to certain counties. 

 No other bill absorbed so much attention during 

 the session. 



My the Senate and Houso concurring, the mes- 

 sage of President Harrison to Congress on the 

 Chilian question was approved. 



A bill providing that fraud or circumvention 

 in obtaining any promissory notes, or other ne- 

 gotiable instruments, can Ix- pleaded in bar to 

 any action for recovery, whether brought by the 

 party obtaining such instrument or an assignee. 



