EXECUTIVE. The Governor. Lieutenant-Govern or, Secretary of State. Anditor„Vtorneyalener al, and Treasurer, are elected for terms of two years. The Lientenant-Cnvernor. president pro •in pore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House, are in the line of succession to the Gov ernorship. in ease of vacancy in that office. The Governor has the usual pardoning power. under regulations, and may convoke extraordinary sions of the Legislature.
Jumetat,. The Supreme Court consists of a chief judge and five associate justices. The State is livid al by the Legislature into district., in each of which a di•triet judge is elected fur a term of four years. Other courts are the Legislature. Each county elects a county attorney, who serves for two years.
The property rights of husbands and wives are equal, each upon the (tenth of the other inheriting one•third in value of his or of her real estate. while neither is liable for the separate debts of the other. The contracts made by the wife in her own name are enforced by or against her precisely as if she were unmarried. A married woman may sue or he sued without the husband being joined in the action. Women are by law eligible to all offices connected with the public schools. The legal rate of interest is 0 per cent.. but S per cent. is allowed by contract. The State its adherents, is much stronger, and is almost twice as great as that of any other Protestant de lion. A g a large r of other douches represented, the largest in their order are: Lutherans, Presbyterians. Baptists, pies of Christ, and Congregationalists.
Cuantranik: AND PENAL. There is n 1Martl of Control of State Institutions appointed by the Governor and Senate. The hoard is vested with full power to manage, control, and govern the charitable and penal institutions of t he State and to fix the salaries of ollivers and employees other than the chief executive oilieers. The following table shows the situation of the various institu tions, the number of inmates on dune 30. 1899, and the total and per capita expenditure of each fur the year ending with that date: sends eleven members to the National Ilou-e of Representatives.
Mit.m.t. In 1900 the total number of males of militia age was 475,700. In 1899 the organized militia, including men and officers, numbered 1873.
The population of lows by decades is as follow.: in 1840. 43,112: in 1850, 192.214 ; in 1860. 674.913: in 1870. 1.194.020: in 1880, 1,024.013; in 1890. 1.911.896: in 1900, 2.231.853. Front twenty-seventh in rank in 1550, it advanced to tenth in 1880. which position it has since held. The per cent. of increase for the last decade of the century was 10.7. as compared with 20.7 for the United States. The native American settlers in Iowa came almost wholly from the older States. The State was being settled during the period of henvy German and Scandinavian immigration. and a large num ber of these immigrants. partienlarly the former. secured homes; and the two combined constitute nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population. which numbered. in 1900, 305.920. The negro population numhered 12.093. In the total popu lation the males are about 81.000 in excess of the females. There were, at the last census, 40.2 peo ple to the square mile. There is no large centre of population in Iowa. and the percentage of the urban population i- result ingly small as com pared with most of the North Central States. In 1900 the 33 towns having a population exceed ing 4000 each. contained 20.5 of the total popu lation.
In 1900 the following cities exceeded 25.000 in population: Des :Moines. 62.139: Dubuque. :36.297; Davenport. 35,254 ; Sioux City. 33.111: Council Bind's. 25.802: Cedar Rapids. 25.050.
143.traos. While the Catholics have the larg est number of members of any Church. the mem bership of the Methodist Church, together with • - — The expenditure for the year given is con sidernbly reduced from that of the preceding, although the care of the inmates improved de cidedly during the same period. Under the new board, supplies for the various institutions arp purchased at wholesale prices and under •om petitive bids. The graded system has been intro duced in the penitentiaries, and the Anamosa prison has adopted the Ilertillon system of owes urements. done 30, 1899. the various counties supported 021 insane patients in county asylum's and 1159 others at poorhouses. More than twenty counties have ereeteql asylums for the care of the insane. 'Mere are also four private asylums, containing ithinit 400 insane patients.