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IOWA

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 736 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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IOWA , a See also:

north central See also:state of the See also:United States, situated between latitudes 4o° 36' and 43° 30' N. and between longitudes 89° 5' and 96° 31' W. It is bounded N. by See also:Minnesota, E, by the See also:Mississippi See also:river, which separates it from See also:Wisconsin and See also:Illinois, S. by See also:Missouri, and W. by the Missouri and Big See also:Sioux See also:rivers, which See also:separate it from See also:Nebraska and See also:South Dakota. Its See also:total See also:area is 56,147 sq. in., of which 561 sq. m. are See also:water See also:surface. See also:Physical Features.—Topographically, Iowa lies wholly in the See also:Prairie Plains Region, See also:part of it having been overrun by the See also:Great See also:Ice See also:Sheet of the Glacial See also:epoch. For the most part the surface is that of a prairie tableland, moderately See also:rolling, and with a See also:general but scarcely perceptible slope, which in the eastern two-thirds is from N.W. to S.E., and in the western third from N.E. to S.W. Elevations above the See also:sea range from between 1200 to 1675 ft. in the N.W. to 50o ft. and less in the S.E., the highest point being in the vicinity of Spirit See also:lake in See also:Dickinson See also:county, the lowest at See also:Keokuk. In the See also:southern See also:half of the state the height of the crests of the divides is very See also:uniform. The See also:northern half is more broken and irregular; elevations, usually rounded, mingle with depressions some of which are occupied by small shallow lakes or ponds, the characteristic physical features of this region being due to glaciation. But the most marked departures from the prairie surface are in the N.E. and S.W. In the N.E. the whole of Allamakee and parts of Winneshiek, Fayette, See also:Clayton, See also:Delaware, See also:Dubuque and See also:Jackson counties See also:form the only driftless area of the state; in that See also:section cliffs frequently rise almost vertically from the See also:banks of a river to a height of from 300 to 400 ft., and from the See also:summit of the cliff to the See also:crest of the See also:divide, a few See also:miles distant, there is another ascent of 300 ft. or more terminating occasionally in knob-topped hills crowned in many instances with small See also:cedar. Moreover, the largest streams have numerous tributaries, and nearly all alike flow circuitously between steep if not See also:vertical cliffs or in deep craggy ravines overlooked by distant hills, among which the See also:wagon road has See also:wound its way with difficulty. In the W., S. from the mouth of the Big Sioux river, extends a See also:line of See also:mound-like bluffs usually See also:free from rocks, but rising abruptly from the See also:flood See also:plain of the Missouri to a height varying from See also:loo to 300 ft.

A broad water-parting extending from Spirit lake, on the northern border, nearly S. to within 6o m. of the southern border, and thence S.E. to See also:

Wayne county in the south central part of Iowa, divides the state into two drainage systems. That to the E., comprising about two-thirds of the whole area, is drained by tributaries of the Mississippi, of which the See also:Des Moines, the See also:Skunk, the Iowa with its tributary the Cedar, and the Wapsipinicon are the largest, streams of See also:long courses and easy fall over beds frequently pebbly in the N. but muddy in the S., and through valleys broad at their See also:sources, well drained, and gently sloping in the See also:middle of their courses, but becoming narrower and deeper towards their mouths; that to the W. is drained by tributaries of the Missouri, mostly See also:short streams taking their rise from numerous rivulets, flowing quite rapidly over muddy beds through much of their courses, and in the See also:bluff See also:belt along the Missouri having steep but grassy banks 200 ft. in height or more. (For See also:geological details, see UNITED STATES, section See also:Geology, ad fin.) See also:Flora and See also:Fauna.—The predominant feature of the flora is the See also:grasses of the prairie. The former forests of the state were of two general classes: on the bottom lands along the rivers See also:grew See also:cotton-See also:wood, See also:willow, See also:honey-See also:locust, See also:coffee trees, See also:black ash, and See also:elm; on the less heavily wooded uplands were oaks (See also:white, red, yellow and See also:bur), See also:hickory (bitternut and pignut), white and See also:green ash, butternut, See also:ironwood and See also:hackberry. The growth was heavier, however, in the E. than in the W., but, it has been estimated, covered in all about one-fifth of the area of the state at the See also:time of its first See also:settlement by the whites. In the N.E., also, small cedar and See also:pine are found. But everywhere now most of the merchantable See also:timber has been cut; in 1900 it was estimated that there were altogether about 7000, sq. m. of woodland in the state. The bison and See also:elk long ago disappeared; black See also:bear and See also:deer were long found in unsettled parts of the state. Ducks, geese and other water birds are See also:common, especially during their migrations. See also:Climate.—The climate is one of great extremes of See also:heat and See also:cold, with a dry See also:winter and a usually wet summer, the prevailing See also:wind of winter being N.W. while in summer it not infrequently blows from the S W. Both the midwinter See also:isotherm of See also:Montreal and the See also:mid-summer one of See also:Washington, D.C., pass through the state. The mean See also:annual temperature is 47.5° F.; the See also:average range of extremes per See also:year during the See also:decade ending with 1900 was 136° F., while the greatest extremes recorded are from – 43 ° F. in 1888 to 113 ° F. in 1901, a difference of 1-6° F.

From 1893 to 1898 the average mean annual temperature at Cresco in See also:

Howard county, near the N.E. corner of the state, was 44.3° F., while at Keokuk in the S.E. corner it was 52.2° F., and as the isotherms See also:cross the state, especially in the N., their tendency is to move S.W. The rainfall is also very unequal in See also:distribution throughout the year, as also between the' same periods of different years, and as between the different parts of the state. For while the mean annual precipitation is 31.42 in., 22.48 in., or 71% of this, fall during the six months from the 1st of See also:April to the 1st of See also:October, or Io % in winter, 23% in autumn, 28 % in See also:spring and 39% in summer, See also:June and See also:July being the two wettest months. At the same time extremes during the four most See also:critical See also:crop months, from the 1st of May to the 1st of See also:September, have ranged from 6.75 in. in 1894 to 27.8'in. in 1902. Within any one year the precipitation is in general usually less in the western part of the state than in the eastern, the mean difference for all the years of See also:record up to the See also:close of 1903 being 2.5 in.; the western part also is marked by having a still larger per cent of its See also:rain in spring and summer than has the eastern. The unequal distribution throughout the state is in much larger measure due to See also:local showers. Injury to crops from drought and hot winds has occurred about two or three times in a decade, but liability to injury of the crops from excessive rainfall and hailstorms is greater than that from a deficiency of moisture. Three notable tornadoes have swept portions of the state: the See also:Comanche in June 186o, the See also:Grinnell in June 1882 and the See also:Pomeroy in July 1893; but the greatest area traversed by any of these was less than one-twentieth of 1% of the total area of the state, and this See also:kind of See also:storm has been less destructive to human See also:life, animals and buildings than the See also:lightning which accompanies summer showers. See also:Soil; See also:Agriculture.—Its See also:depth, together with its porous nature, makes the fertile soil of Iowa capable of withstanding the extremes of wet and dry remarkably well, and it is perhaps true that, taken as a whole, no other state in the See also:Union has a See also:superior soil for agriculture. Certainly no other has so many acres of improved See also:land, or so large a proportion—from 85 to 9o%—of its land subject to cultivation. The soil is of four kinds: till or See also:drift, alluvial, See also:loess or bluff and geest. The dark drift, composed chiefly of See also:clay, See also:sand, See also:gravel, boulders and See also:lime, is both the soil and subsoil of the greater part (about 66%) of the state, being especially predominant in the N. and N.W.

The alluvial soil, composed of what has been washed from other soils, together with decayed See also:

vegetable See also:matter, covers about 6% of the surface of the state and is found in the river bottoms, of greatest extent in that of the Missouri; it varies much in fertility. The loess soil, chiefly a mixture of porous clay and carbonate of lime, forms the bluffs bordering the'bottom lands of the Missouri and is common in the N.E. Its fertility is not inferior to that of the better drift. Geest is found particularly in the north-eastern part, of the state; it covers less than 1 % of the area of the state. The superior qualities of the soil, together with the usually warm and moist months of spring and summer, make Iowa one of the fore-most states of the Union in agriculture and stock-raising, especially in the See also:production of See also:Indian See also:corn, oats, See also:hay and eggs, and in the raising of hogs, horses, See also:dairy cows and poultry. In comparison with its other See also:industries it stands also pre-eminently as an agricultural state; for of its 789,404 labourers in 1900, 371,604, or 47 %, were engaged in agriculture, 129,006 being engaged in See also:trade and transportation, and 124,803 in manufactures and See also:mechanical pursuits. In 1899 the total value of the agricultural products, $365,411,528, was greater than that of any other state. Of the farms 65.1% were cultivated by owners in 1900, a decrease from 76.2 % in 188o; and 19.5 % were cultivated by See also:cash tenants, an increase from 4.5% in 1880. After 1880 the percentage of farms operated by See also:share tenants slowly but steadily decreased, falling from 19'4% in 188o to 15.4% in 1900. Between 188o and 1900 the average number of acres to a See also:farm slightly increased—from 133.5 acres in 1880 to 151.2 acres in 1900—instead of decreasing as in the older states of the Union; though the increase was not nearly so marked as in such states as See also:Nevada, See also:Montana, See also:Wyoming and See also:Texas. Iowa about equals Illinois in the production of both Indian corn and oats, nearly io,000,000 acres or about one-third of its improved area usually being planted with Indian corn, with a yield varying from 227,908,850 bushels in 1901 (according to state reports) to 373,275,E (the largest in the United States, with a crop value second only to that of Illinois) in 1906. According to the See also:Department of Agriculture in 1907 the acreage was 9,160,000 and the yield 270,220,000 bushels (considerably less. than the Illinois crop); the yield of oats was 168,364,170 bushels (Twelfth U.S.

See also:

Census) in 1899, 124,738,337. bushels (U.S. Department of Agri-culture) in 1902, and in 1907 the acreage and crop (greater than those of any other state) were 4,500,000 acres and 108,900,000 bushels, valued at $41,382,000—a valuation second only to that of Illinois. In total acreage of cereals (16,920,095 in 1899) it ranked first (Twelfth Census of the United States), and in product of cereals was exceeded by Illinois only; in acreage of hay and See also:forage (4,649,378 in 1899) as well as in the annual See also:supply of See also:milk (535,872,240 gallons in 1899) it was exceeded by New See also:York only. In 1905, according to railway re-ports, 91,051,551 lb of See also:butter were carried to points outside the state. It ranked far ahead of any other state in 1908 in the number of its hogs (8,413,000, being 15 % of the whole number in the United States), Illinois, the second in See also:rank, having only about half as many. It ranked first in 1900 in the number of horses (1,392,573) ; in the number of poultry (about 20,000,000) ; in the annual See also:egg product (99,621,290 dozen in 1899); in the total acreage of all crops (22,170,000); in the total value of agricultural products; and in the total value of live stock ($271,844,0341. In 1899 it ranked See also:fourth in the production of See also:barley (18,059,050 bushels) and in 1907 See also:sixth (14,178,000 bushels). The See also:wheat crop has varied from 12,531,304 bushels in 1903, 13,683,003 bushels in 1905, 7,653,000 bushels in 1907 (according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture), to 22,769,440 bushels (Twelfth Census) in 1899. Potatoes, apples and small fruits are grown successfully. For the most part the several crops. are quite evenly distributed throughout the state; but nearly all the winter wheat is grown in the S. and N.W., spring wheat most largely in the N.W., barley mostly in the N., See also:flax-See also:seed and prairie hay in the N.E. Minerals.—The first mines to be worked in Iowa were those for See also:lead and See also:zinc at Dubuque and to the northward.

These are little See also:

mined at See also:present, only See also:Ito tons of lead ore and 516 tons of zinc ore being taken from the mines in 1908. Of more promise is the See also:gypsum deposit733 extending over an area of about 50 sq. m. in the vicinity of Fort See also:Dodge (See also:Webster county), from which was taken in 1908 a product valued at $565,645, having increased to that figure from $45,819 in 1898. Limestones and See also:sandstone are also profitably quarried, the value of the product in 1908 being $530,945 for See also:limestone and $2337 for sandstone. The See also:principal See also:mineral of Iowa, however, is bituminous See also:coal; it ranked in 1908 eighth among the coal-producing states of the Union, its product being valued at $11,706,402. The beds See also:lie in the southern half of the state, extending under about two-fifths of its surface. Trade and See also:Commerce.—The manufactures of Iowa are chiefly such as have to do with the products of the farm. See also:Meat packing is the most important, the product of this See also:industry amounting in 1900 to $25,695,044, and in 1905 to $30,074,070, an increase of 17 % in this See also:period ; in 1900 the state was seventh, in 1905 sixth, among the states in the value of this industry, producing in each year 3.3 °,D of the total. Next in importance is the manufacture of dairy products, the value of which in 1900 was $15,846,077 (an increase of 50.3 % in ten years) and in 1905 was $15,028,326; at both censuses the state ranked third in the value of See also:cheese, butter, and condensed milk and of See also:food preparations, which were valued at $6,934,724 in 1905. See also:Flour and grist-See also:mill products ranked third both in 1900 and 1905, the value of the product for the later year being $12,099,493, an increase of 9.9 % over the value for the earlier: Among the lesser manufactures are See also:lumber and timber products (value in 1905, $5,610,772), most of the raw material being floated down on rafts from Wisconsin and Minnesota. The largest centres of industry are Sioux See also:City, See also:Davenport, Dubuque,Des Moines,See also:Burlington and See also:Council Bluffs. In 1905 the See also:gross value of the manufactured product (of establishments on the factory See also:system) was $160,5721313, as against $132,870,865 in 1900, an increase of 20.8 %; whereas, even including the products of smaller establishments not technically factories, the value of the product in 185o was only $3,551,783, and in 188o was only $71,045,926. The means of transportation is afforded chiefly by the See also:steam See also:rail-ways, of which the state had 9,907.44 M. in See also:January 1909.

Scarcely a farm is more than 6 or 8 in. from a railway station; and only three other states have a greater railway mileage. The great period of railway See also:

building in Iowa was during the twenty-five years immediately following the close of the See also:Civil See also:War, the railway mileage being only 655 ni, in 186o. The several roads are under the management of twenty-seven companies, but about 775 % of the business is done by the See also:Chicago Burlington & See also:Quincy, the Chicago & North-Western, the Chicago See also:Milwaukee & St See also:Paul and the Chicago See also:Rock See also:Island & Pacific. Electric interurban See also:railways are increasing in importance for See also:freight and. passenger service. In 1908 about 225 M. of such railways were in operation. Transportation facilities by water are afforded by the Mississippi river. The former difficulties with the Des Moines Rapids of the Mississippi (which are passable for rafts and See also:light boats at high water) have been overcome by a See also:canal from Keokuk to See also:Montrose constructed by the See also:National See also:Government. Other federal improvements undertaken are a See also:harbour at See also:Muscatine, a harbour of See also:refuge below Davenport and channel improvements at See also:Clinton. See also:Population.—The , population of Iowa in 1850 was 192,214; in 186o, 674,913; in 188o, 1,624,615; in 189o, 1,911,896; in 1900, 2,231,853. The state census of 19o5 showed a total population of 2,210,050, and the Federal census of 1910, Of 2,224,771. Of the population in 1905, 1,264,443 (57.2%) were native whites of native parentage, 648,532 (29'3%) were native whites of See also:foreign parentage, 289,296 (12.8%) were foreign-See also:born and 14,832 (0.7%) were coloured, including 346 See also:Indians. The Indians, a remnant of the Sauk and Foxes, are most unprogressive, and are settled on a See also:reservation in Tama county in the See also:east-central section of the state.

In 1906 it was estimated that there were 788,667 communicants of all religious denominations; of these 207,607 were See also:

Roman Catholics; 164,329 Methodists; 117,668 See also:Lutherans; 6o,o81 Presbyterians; 55,948 Disciples of See also:Christ; 44,096 See also:Baptists; 37,o61 Congregationalists; 11,681 members of the See also:German Evangelical See also:Synod; and 8990 See also:Protestant Episcopalians. The rural See also:element of the population is large, though it is not in-creasing as rapidly as the See also:urban; and no other state in the, Union is so uniformly settled. There were in 1905 seven cities with a population of 25,000 or more; twenty with 8000 or more; and See also:thirty-seven with 4000 or more. Between 1890 and 1900 the urban population increased 38.3 %, while the rural increased 14.6%. The See also:chief cities are Des Moines (pop. in 1905, 75,626), Dubuque (41,941), Davenport (39,797), Sioux City (40,952), Cedar Rapids (28,759), Council Bluffs (25,231) and Burlington (25,318). Government.—There is comparatively little in the See also:political institutions of Iowa dissimilar to those of other states of the Union; they show in See also:recent years a tendency toward greater centralization—in boards, however, rather than in individual See also:officers. The constitution now in force was adopted in 1857, the constitution of 1846 having been superseded chiefly on See also:account of its See also:prohibition of banking corporations. The present one admits of See also:amendment by a See also:vote of a See also:majority of the members of both houses of the legislature, followed by a majority vote of the See also:electors in the state voting on the amendment; and by this See also:process it was amended in 1868, 188o, 1884 and 19o4. The present constitution also provides that the question, " Shall there be a See also:convention to revise the constitution and amend the same? " shall be submitted to the See also:people once every ten years (beginning with 1870), but the affirmative vote taken in accordance with this See also:provision has hitherto been small. The See also:suffrage now belongs to all male citizens of the United States at least twenty-one years of See also:age who shall have resided in the state for six months, and in some one county sixty days preceding an See also:election, except idiots and persons insane or convicted of some infamous See also:crime. The See also:franchise was conferred on negroes by an amendment adopted in 1868.

See also:

Prior to 1904 elections were annual, but by an amendment of that year they became biennial. The central executive and administrative authority is vested in a See also:governor, a See also:lieutenant-governor, an executive council, several boards and a few other officers. The governor and the lieutenant-governor was elected for a See also:term of two years, and the qualifications for both offices require that the incumbents shall be at least thirty years of age and shall have been for two years immediately before their election residents of the state. Under the Territorial government when first organized the governor was given an extensive appointing See also:power, as well as the right of an See also:absolute See also:veto on all legislation, but this speedily resulted in such See also:friction between him and the legislature that See also:Congress was petitioned for his removal, with the outcome that the See also:office has since been much restricted in its appointing power, and the veto has been subjected to the See also:ordinary United States limit, i.e. it may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature. Members of boards of regents or trustees of state institutions are for the most part elected by the General See also:Assembly; railway commissioners are elected by the state electors; while in the See also:case of the few appointments See also:left for the governor, the recommendation or approval of the executive council, a See also:branch of the legislature, or of some See also:board, is usually required. He, however, is himself a member of the executive council as well as of some important boards or commissions, and it is in such capacity that he often has the greatest opportunity to exert power and See also:influence. His See also:salary is $5000 per annum (with $600 for See also:house See also:rent and $800 as a member of the executive council). The executive council, composed of the governor, secretary of state, auditor of state and treasurer of state, all elected by the people for a term of two years, has extensive See also:powers. It supervises and audits the accounts of state departments, directs the taking of the census, transfers cities from one class to another in accordance with census returns, constitutes the board for canvassing election returns, classifies railways, assesses railway and other companies, constitutes the state board of equalization for adjusting See also:property valuations between the several counties for taxing purposes, supervises the See also:incorporation of building and See also:loan associations, appoints the board of examiners of mine inspectors and has many other powers. Among other state boards the more important are the board of railroad commissioners, the board of See also:control of state institutions, the board of See also:health, and the board of educational examiners. The state legislature, or General Assembly, composed of a See also:senate and a house of representatives, sits biennially at Des Moines. Senators are elected for a term of four years, one from each of fifty senatorial districts, the term of one-half expiring every two years.

Senators must be at least twenty-five years of age and residents of the state for one year at the time of election. Representatives are elected for a term of two years, one from each of the ninety-nine counties, with an additional one from eachof the counties (not exceeding nine) having the largest population; the ratio of See also:

representation and the See also:apportionment of the additional representatives from the larger counties is fixed by the General Assembly. The qualifications for representatives differ from those for electors only in that they must have been residents of the state for one year at the time of election, the disqualification of negroes for sitting in both senate and house having been removed by an amendment adopted in 1880. No See also:bill can pass either house without the assent of a majority of all the members elected to that house; the governor is allowed three days (See also:Sunday excepted) in which to veto a bill. The state judiciary consists of a supreme See also:court of six See also:judges and a See also:district court of fifty-three judges, from one to four in each of twenty districts. The supreme court has three sessions a year, while each district-court See also:judge is directed to hold at least one session a year in each county of his district, and no two district-court judges may sit together on the same case. The supreme court has appellate See also:jurisdiction in See also:chancery cases only, but may correct errors at See also:law in other cases. The district court has general, See also:original and exclusive jurisdiction in all matters civil, criminal and See also:probate not expressly conferred on an inferior court, and may hear appeals from inferior courts, boards or officers. For purposes of See also:administration and local government the state is divided into ninety-nine counties, each of which is itself divided into townships that are usually 6 m. square. The township may be divided into school districts and See also:highway districts, but in these matters See also:option has resulted in irregularity. Each county has its own administrative boards and officers; and there are two justices of the See also:peace and two constables for every township. The board of supervisors, consisting of not more than seven members, elected for a term of three years, has the care of county property and the management of county business, including highways and See also:bridges; it fixes the See also:rate of county taxes within prescribed limits, and levies the taxes for state and county purposes.

The officers of the township are three trustees, a clerk and an See also:

assessor. The trustees are elected for a term of three years, the clerk and assessor for two years. All taxable property of the state, that of corporations for the most part excepted, is assessed by the township assessor. The municipal corporations are civil divisions quite See also:independent of the county and township system. They are divided into cities of the first class, cities of the second class and towns, besides a few cities with See also:special charters. Cities of the first class are those having a population of 15,000 or over; cities of the second class are those having a population of 2000 but less than 15,000; all other municipal corporations, except cities with special charters, are known as incorporated towns. In all these cities and towns a See also:mayor, council and various officers are elected, and also a See also:police judge in cities of the first class where there is no superior court. By a law of 1907 cities with a population of 25,000 or more may adopt a See also:commission form of government, with a mayor and four councilmen elected at large on a non-See also:partisan See also:ticket. Under the See also:laws of Iowa a wife enjoys property rights equal to those of her See also:husband. The expenses of the See also:family, including the See also:education of the See also:children, are chargeable alike upon the property of either or both. Otherwise, the wife may control her property as if single, and neither is liable for what are clearly the debts of the other. In case of the See also:death of either, one-third of the property of the deceased becomes that of the survivor.

A See also:

homestead cannot be conveyed or en-cumbered without the consent of both husband and wife, if held by a married See also:man; and a homestead, to the value of $500, is exempt from liability for debts postdating the See also:purchase, unless for improvements on the property. A See also:petition for a See also:divorce may be presented after a See also:residence within the state of one year immediately preceding, and a See also:decree may be granted against the See also:defendant if judged guilty of See also:adultery, See also:desertion for two years without reasonable cause, habitual See also:drunkenness, such inhuman treatment as to endanger the life of the See also:plaintiff, or if convicted of See also:felony after See also:marriage. In 1882 an amendment to the constitution was passed prohibiting the manufacture and the See also:sale of intoxicating liquors within the state. In April 1883 the Supreme Court pronounced this amendment invalid on the ground of irregularity In recording it, whereupon the legislature provided for a like prohibition in an ordinary See also:statute. But attempts to execute this were so unsuccessful that it has been succeeded by a law imposing what is known as the " mulct tax," which requires the See also:payment of $600 in quarterly instalments for a See also:licence to sell such liquors and places a See also:lien for the whole amount on the real property in use for the business. One-half the proceeds goes to the county and one-half to the See also:municipality or township in which the liquor is sold. The exceptional dependence of Iowa on eastern markets has given more than ordinary prominence to railway legislation, and the conflict of interests between the railways and the shippers has agitated the state for See also:forty years, various attempts being made to regulate freight rates by legal enactment. In 1888 an elective commission was established with power to See also:fix maximum rates, which has met with general See also:commendation throughout the See also:country. The charitable, penal and reformatory institutions of the state are all under a " Board of Control of State Institutions," composed of three electors appointed by the governor and approved by two-thirds of the senators, careful provision being made also to prevent the board from becoming subject to either political party. The institutions under its See also:charge include a Soldiers' Orphans' See also:Home at Davenport ; a Soldiers' Home at Marshalltown; a See also:College for the See also:Blind at See also:Vinton; a School for the See also:Deaf at Council Bluffs; an Institution for Feeble-minded Children at Glenwood; an See also:Industrial School for Boys at Eldora; an Industrial School for Girls at Mitchellville; and, at Oakdale, a See also:Sanatorium for the Treatment of See also:Tuberculosis. The Board of Control of State Institutions has supervisory and inquisitorial powers over all county and private institutions in the state in which insane are kept, and over homes for friendless children maintained by See also:societies or institutions. In 1907 the General Assembly passed a law under which the indeterminate See also:sentence was established in the state, and the governor appoints a Board of See also:Parole of three members, of whom one must be an See also:attorney and not more than two are to belong to the same political party.

Education.—The percentage of illiterates (i.e. both those unable to read and write and those unable to write) ten years of age and over, according to the census returns of 1900, was only 2.3; of all the other states of the Union, Nebraska alone made such a See also:

good return. But teachers were poorly paid, and fourteen See also:schools have been closed at a time within a single county from want of teachers. However, there are laws requiring that each school be taught at least six months in a year, and that children between the ages of seven and fourteen attend for at least twelve consecutive See also:weeks, and for a total of sixteen weeks in every year. In 19o5–1906 male teachers received on an average $63.97 per See also:month, See also:women teachers, $43.41 . Although the electors of each school district have ample powers reserved to them, in actual practice matters are attended to chiefly by an elected board of See also:directors. The county administration is in the hands of a board of education and a See also:superintendent. The school tax was de-rived in 1905–1906 from See also:interest on the state's permanent school fund—amounting to 2.3 % of the total tax, and distributed in proportion to the population of school age; from a I to 3 mill county tax, amounting to 5.2% of the whole; and from local or district See also:taxation, 92.5% of the entire tax. A law of the state provides for the See also:establishment of a county high school whenever a majority of the electors of a county See also:desire it, but in 1902 only one county (See also:Guthrie county) had such a school. The number of public high schools in towns and cities, however, increased from 256 in 1893 to 345 in 1903. The state established a university at Iowa City in 1847, a State Agricultural College and See also:Model Farm in 1858 (opened at See also:Ames in 1869 as the Iowa State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts), an Agricultural Experiment Station in 1887, an See also:Engineering Experiment Station in 1904, and a normal school at Cedar Falls in 1876. At the See also:head of the whole system is the state superintendent of public instruction, assisted by a board of educational examiners. In 1901 the total receipts for school purposes were $6,001,187; and the total disbursements $5,813,541; in 1906 the receipts were $7,126,162.12 and the disbursements $6,950,580.27.

The pupils enumerated in 1906 were 707,843. Educational institutions not supported by the state include: Iowa Wesleyan University (Methodist, opened in 1842) at Mt. Pleasant; Iowa College (Congregational, 1848) at Grinnell; Central University of Iowa (Baptist, 1853) at See also:

Pella; Cornell College (Methodist, 1857) at Mt. See also:Vernon; Western College (United Brethren, 1856) at See also:Toledo; Upper Iowa University (Methodist Episcopal, 1857) at Fayette; Leander See also:Clark College (United Brethren, 1857) at Toledo; See also:Lenox College (Presbyterian, 1859) at Hopkinton; See also:Luther College (See also:Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran, 1861) at Decorah; Des Moines College (Baptist, 1865) at Des Moines; See also:Tabor College (Congregational, 1866) at Tabor; See also:Simpson College (Methodist, 1867) at See also:Indianola; See also:Wartburg Kollege (Lutheran, 1868) at Clinton; Amity College (Non-sectarian, 1872) at College Springs; German College (Methodist Episcopal, 1873) at Mt. Pleasant; See also:Penn College (F iends, 1873). at See also:Oskaloosa; St See also:Joseph's College (Roman See also:Catholic, 1873) at Dubuque; See also:Parsons College (Presbyterian, 1875) at See also:Fairfield; See also:Coe College (Presbyterian, 1881) at Cedar Rapids; See also:Drake University (Disciples of Christ, 1881) at Des Moines; See also:Palmer College (Disciples of Christ, 1889) at Legrand; Buena Vista College (Presbyterian, 1891) at Storm Lake; See also:Charles City College (Methodist Episcopal, 1891) at Charles City; Morningside College (Methodist Episcopal, 1894) at Sioux City; Graceland College (Reorganized See also:Church of Latter See also:Day See also:Saints, 1895) at Lamoni. See also:Finance.—The taxing system of Iowa embraces a general property tax, See also:corporation taxes (imposed on the franchises or on either the See also:capital stock or the stock in the hands of shareholders), taxes on certain businesses and a See also:collateral See also:inheritance tax. Several important attempts have been made to effect a segregation as between state and local taxes, but for the most part without success. For the year ending June 3oth, 1908, the receipts of the state from all sources were $3,663,154'67, and the total See also:expenditure was $3,891,842'81. The full value of all property, according to See also:assessment of 1904, is $2,567,330,328. The state has no bonded See also:debt, andthe constitution forbids it to incur debts exceeding in the aggregate a See also:quarter of a million dollars, except for warlike purposes or for some single See also:work to which the people give their consent by vote; the constitution also forbids any county or municipal corporation from incurring an indebtedness exceeding 5% of the value of its taxable property. When first admitted into the Union, Iowa had a strongly pronounced antipathy to banks. This was largely overcome by the year 1857, and yet the constitution of that date prohibits any legislation of See also:primary importance See also:relating to banks without referring the matter to a See also:direct vote of the people.

The number of banks and the amount of banking business has, nevertheless, rapidly increased. See also:

History.—Iowa, as a part of the whole Mississippi Valley, was taken into the formal See also:possession of See also:France in 1682; in 1762 as a part of the western half of that valley it was ceded to See also:Spain; in 1800 it was retroceded to France; in 1803 was ceded to the United States; from 1804 to 18o5, as a part of the District of See also:Louisiana, it was under the government of See also:Indiana Territory; from 1805 to 1812 it was a part of Louisiana Territory; from 1812 to 1821 a part of Missouri Territory; from 1821 to 1834 a part of the unorganized territory of the United States; from 1834 to 1836 a part of See also:Michigan Territory; from 1836 to 1838 a part of Wisconsin Territory. In 1838 Wisconsin Territory was divided, the western portion being named Iowa, and out of this the state with its present See also:bounds was carved in 1846. The name Iowa (meaning " sleepy ones ") was taken from a tribe of Siouan Indians (probably of See also:Winnebago stock), which for some time had dwelt in that part of the country and were still there when the first white men came—the Frenchmen, See also:Marquette and See also:Joliet, in 1673 and Hennepin in 1680. See also:Early in the next See also:century the Sauk and Foxes, vanquished by the See also:French in Michigan,. retreated westward, and in their turn largely supplanted the lowas. Thither also came See also:Julien Dubuque, a French See also:Canadian, to trade with the new occupants. He discovered lead mines on and near the site of the city which now bears his name, in 1788 obtained an Indian See also:grant or See also:lease of about 21 sq. m., established there a settlement of miners and continued his See also:mining operations, together with a trade in furs, until his death in 18to. The Indians refused permission to others to work the mines, and when intruders attempted to do so without it United States troops protected the red man's rights, especially from 183o to 1832. But Black See also:Hawk's war policy soon resulted in letting the white man in; for the war which he instigated was concluded in 1832 by a cession to the United States of nearly woo sq. m., embracing much of what is now the district of the Iowa lead and zinc mines. Without further waiting, though still in the See also:face of the See also:Act of Congress of 1807 prohibiting such settlements, the frontiersmen rushed in to mine and to farm, and government was established through voluntary associations. Such proceedings of these associations as related to claims to land were later recognized by the United States authorities, while such as related to the establishment of schools were tolerated for a time by the state government. Iowa, having separated from Wisconsin in 1838 on account of lack of courts for judicial See also:relief, the question of applying for See also:admission into the Union as a state was voted on as early as 184o, the Territory in that year having a population of 43,112; but the measure was defeated then, as it was again in 1842, by those who most wished to avoid an increase of taxes.

In 1844, however, the vote was otherwise, a convention was called, a constitution framed and application for admission made. The question of boundaries, to which the question of See also:

slavery gave rise, then became the cause of delay, but the Territory became a state in 1846. During the period in which the question of admission was under See also:consideration, the Whigs opposed the measure, while the Democrats carried it through and remained in power until 1854; but ever since 18J7 the state has been preponderantly Republican in all national See also:campaigns; and with but two exceptions, in 1889 and 1891, when liquor and railroad legislation were the leading issues, has elected a Republican state administration. Nevertheless there has always been a strong sentiment in the state urging that corporations be held more in check, and its industries are not such as to receive a large benefit directly from See also:tariff legislation.

End of Article: IOWA

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