CE8 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



been revoked almost a year ago, that provided that the men 

 weren't allowed to accompany their stock right into the yards. 



I just want to say, in explanation of my own position, that we 

 are not impugning the work of the live stock exchanges or criti- 

 cising them in any way. We think they have got a lot of high- 

 class men, men of honesty and integrity, in the live stock ex- 

 changes, and yet at the same time, as Mr. Sykes says, they get 

 a bad egg among them occasionally and we believe that an out- 

 side party, created by and under the authority of the federal gov- 

 ernment, can straighten these fellows up much quicker than the 

 live stock exchanges can, because of the fact that there are a lot 

 of those things that we don't know are happening ; the exchange 

 members themselves don't know what some of their members are 

 doing, but the Bureau of Markets can send a man right into their 

 office and find out what they are doing.. There is a man attend- 

 ing this convention that was robbed of over $2,000 by that firm 

 that made false reports on its returns, and he got over $2,000 

 back, and yet not a month before that was dug up I was with this 

 gentleman on my way to Washington and we met in Chicago a 

 representative of this very commission man — he came down and 

 met us at the B. 8i O. depot, and arranged with this gentleman 

 for a shipment of stock, and he thought this fellow one of his 

 warmest friends. He arranged to ship him the balance of his 

 hogs within the next ten days, and this firm even robbed him on 

 this bunch of hogs also. (Laughter.) He hadn't the least idea 

 that the man was stealing from him — he thought he was a high- 

 class, upright, honest commission man. The live stock exchange 

 hadn't any idea that he was doing that. Now. if the Bureau of 

 Markets hadn't gone into that thing, how would this man have 

 got this $2,000 back? Besides, a lot of men that weren't robbed 

 of so much as that got a refund ? That's the point I want to make 

 in this whole matter. There are some things that the exchanges 

 cannot go in and investigate, and we shippers don't know about 

 them, but the Bureau of Markets can go into them and find out 

 when crooked work is being done. We don't think it will re- 

 flect upon the man who is conducting his business in an upright, 

 honest manner, but it will weed out these unscrupulous fellows. 



We are going to call at this time our friend, J. L. Harris, and 

 if we don't get through before lunch we will just continue after- 

 ward. There has been so much said about Mr. Harris that I 

 won't take the time to introduce him to you, because you all know 

 him, you have met him here, and as I said in my annual address, 



