118 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



these miserable corals, and after obtaining no rest whatever, will have 

 to go through a loading again, which is always one of the most painful 

 operations for them in their whole passage." 



A few members thought they detected a "nigger in the wood-pile," in 

 the shape of a patent stock-car which was to be promoted by the law. But 

 the great question on which the bill was contested was that of constitu- 

 tionality. 



Every Secretary of Agriculture, beginning with Secretary Rusk, has 

 taken steps to secure the enforcment of this law. Circulars calling at- 

 tention to the law have been issued and distributed among the railroad 

 companies, placards have been posted, evidence of violations have been 

 collected and prosecutions have been instituted. The humane societies have 

 also collected evidence and reported violations. 



Let me call your attention for just a moment to the progress made in 

 the enforcement of this law. These figures were taken from the report 

 of the solicitor of the department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909. 

 The efficacy of a law designed to correct public evils depends almost en- 

 tirely upon the vigor of its enforcement. By this token the twenty-eight 

 hour law is a conspicuous success, as will be demontrated by a simple 

 comparison of the number of cases reported for prosecution to the attor- 

 ney general during the preceding fiscal year and the one just closed, for 

 it is by the decrease in the number of violations of the law that its suc- 

 cess in the accomplishment of the purposes for which it was designed 

 must be tested. During the former year 685 cases were reported for prose- 

 cution, while during the latter, with an equal degree of activity and 

 vigilance in the ascertainment of violations, only 208 cases were reported, a 

 decrease of 477 cases, or 70 per cent. In the brief period of three years 

 from the inception of active and determined preparation by the depart- 

 ment to compel compliance with this act by proceedings in the courts, 

 violations reported for prosecution reached the startling figure of 685 in a 

 single year and decreased to 208 in the succeeding year. 



Interesting points have arisen in some of the cases which have come 

 before the courts. In one case, where an attempt was made to collect a 

 penalty of $100 for each animal in the shipment, the court held that this 

 could not be done, as the confinement of the entire number of animals 

 constituted a single offense. 



Today the transportation of live stock has become such a scientific 

 study that the loss is reduced to a minimum. Special cars, the result 

 of years of experience and large expenditures of money, are now used by 

 all roads. Some of the roads own the cars they operate, others lease them 

 from companies that provide cars for that purpose. Probably the high- 

 est standard of perfection in present day stock cars has been reached by 

 the Street Western Stable-Car Line, a concern which maintains annually, 

 at its plant in Chicago, an equipment of over 8,000 cars. This particular 

 type of car was patented and put on the market in 1885. It has been 

 improved from time to time, as experience dictated changes, and at 

 present is equipped with a style truck which gives the car while enroute 

 a swing motion that permits stock to ride with the least friction and dis- 

 comfort. 



