Page:The Government of Iowa 1921.djvu/126

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ecutive Council he may designate one or more banks in the city of Des Moines as a depository or depositories for the collection of any drafts, checks, and certificates of deposit that may be received by him on account of any claim due the State. Such banks are required to pay to the State, on moneys remaining on deposit, interest at a rate agreed upon between the Treasurer and the bank with the approval of the Executive Council. In the fiscal period, 1906-1908, the State Treasurer reported having received to the credit of the State $27,794.84 for interest on State funds. All told, the State Treasurer has the custody of about twenty-two millions of dollars in each biennial period. His bond, therefore, is unusually high, being in the sum of $300,000, the highest of all the State officers. Like the two preceding State officers, his term of office is two years and his salary is $4000 per year, with no additional compensation as a member of the Executive Council.

The Executive Council.The Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Auditor, and the State Treasurer constitute the Executive Council of Iowa. It is not a body like the President's cabinet, for the Governor does not exercise any choice in the selection of its members, nor is he independent of the other members. In fact, the other three members may act without the Governor, for three members constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The Executive Council is a creation of the General Assembly, and was established by an enactment in the Code of 1873. It is a body upon which the General Assembly has imposed a great variety of duties, the chief of which are the equali-