584 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



the friends of the bill in a position to make a stiff fight for its passage. 

 But we also found a great array of railroad men, representatives of ex- 

 press companies, and many others, including ex-Senator Faulkner, who 

 led the fight against the bill, ready to oppose us at every turn. Argu- 

 ments were made by Judge Henderson, your president. Judge Cowan, and 

 others, occupying almost two days, as time is measured by committees in 

 Washington. The railroads were then given an opportunity to present 

 their objections to the bill, being in the main to the effect that they felt 

 that the Interstate Comnjerce Commission should handle this matter, 

 rather than congress. It was generally felt that they made a very weak 

 defense of their position, and it occurred to us that their principal reason 

 for preferring that the Interstate Commerce Commission deal with the 

 matter was because they felt that they might get a little more liberal 

 treatment from that body than they would from congress. Chairman 

 Thorne was held in reserve to make the reply to the opposition, and the 

 closing argument for the friends of the bill, and he certainly did him- 

 self and the people of Iowa credit by the masterful way in which he 

 handled the subject and answered every objection. It was the consensus 

 of opinion that the live stock interests had won their case, and we verily 

 believe that had it not been so near the close of the session, with the 

 anti-trust bill and the war tax bill occupying the entire attention of 

 congress, we could have passed our bill without much difficulty. However, 

 under those conditions, we were unable to secure a vote on the bill, but I 

 feel that we are in excellent position to now make a winning fight for 

 its passage, and would urge that every effort be put forth during the 

 present congress to pass this measure. Let us spare neither effort nor 

 money, as I consider it one of the most important measures respecting the 

 live stock industry that has been before congress for some time. 



It will be remembered that on account of a recent decision of the 

 United States supreme court, shippers who wished to bring suit against 

 railroad companies, to collect claims on interstate shipments, were forced 

 to bring action in the federal courts instead of their local district courts, 

 as had heretofore been done. This created a very bad situation, and made 

 it both expensive and inconvenient for our feeders and shippers who were 

 forced to go into court to collect their claims. This was at once taken up 

 and corrected by securing the passage of a bill in congress, introduced 

 by Representative Towner, giving shippers the right to commence suit 

 in any district court where the claim did not exceed $3,000. This puts 

 the matter in its former condition, where it rightfully belongs, and 

 should be appreciated by the shippers. 



At the present time the railroads are straining every nerve to increase 

 both freight and passenger rates, but their latest and boldest move has 

 been to ask for an average increase of 32 per cent in rates on live stock 

 and dressed meats east of the Mississippi river, in what is known as 

 "official classification" territory, to go into effect December 16th. If this 

 increase is allowed to take place, it will involve the following increases 

 in freight per car from Chicago to New York: On cattle, $13.30; on calves, 

 $22.60; on hogs, $16.60; on sheep, $15.40. 



