PROCEEDINGS CORN BELT MEAT PRODUCERS' ASSN. 513 



said, "Sykes, I want you to meet Mr. Thorne." Well, I looked 

 him over, I just thought he was well named. 



Well, I wanted to know, along with Mr. Ames, what this young 

 fellow had in his noodle, and we soon found out. He said, "Your 

 freight rates out there in Iowa are in an awful shape. They are 

 away too high. They are away out of line" — that is, live stock 

 rates we were talking about — "they are clear out of line with the 

 live stock rates prevailing in other states surrounding the state 

 of Iowa for similar distance, for service rendered, and it seems to 

 me there ought to be something done to correct these abuses and 

 these inequalities." And we got so interested in the young man 

 that we stayed over night. Mr. Ames took us out home and we 

 went over the proposition quite thoroughly and we decided we 

 would call the board together and have this young man meet 

 with us. 



So as soon as it could be arranged for, the board was called 

 together in Chicago and this young man told the board what he 

 had in his mind and showed them the inequalities of these intra- 

 state rates as compared with intrastate rates in other states on 

 live stock; and to make a long story short, the board authorized 

 Clifford Thorne to file a complaint with the Iowa railroad com- 

 mission at that time complaining against the inequalities in our 

 intrastate rates ; and out of that came our first victory. 



Now, that has been almost sixteen years ago. This young 

 man has developed into quite a character, a man of national repu- 

 tation, I am glad to say, a man that even the railroad experts 

 take off their hats to as a rate expert, as a man that knows some- 

 thing about railroad rate problems; and as usual on this happy 

 occasion we have the pleasure of having with us Mr. Clifford 

 Thorne, who has done so much for us in the past, for the state 

 of Iowa, whom I take pleasure now in introducing to this audi- 

 ence. 



ADDRESS BY CLIFFORD THORNE 



Friends of the Corn Belt Association: It is a wonderfully thrilling 

 experience to meet these faces again, to receive the magnificent reception 

 that you tender when I come back to your annual functions. When I 

 meet you out in the lobby and downstairs, it seems that I am meeting 

 relatives, members of my family, to whom I am most devotedly attached. 



Senator Cessna has fortunately given me a little poem and requested 

 me to read it which gives quite a vivid picture of one of those trips on a 

 stock train, and at this time I am going to read it. It is an original 

 document, penned by one of the members of your organization, Mr. J. A. 

 Pendry. 



33 



