432 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



defend our interests there. The thought is in the minds of a great many- 

 people tliat it is the duty of the Interstate Commerce Commission to look 

 after our interests there, whether we are represented or not. If you will 

 answer this question, it will go into our annual report, and these people 

 can read it as coming from a man of authority. 



Mr. Thorne: We must agree that the Interstate Commerce Commission 

 is composed of men wlio are honest, and that they have the assistance of 

 able, competent statisticians and experts. My best answer to your question 

 is the one that I have given before. The supreme court is composed of 

 honest men, capable, able lawyers, the best in the nation. But if you had 

 a case before the supreme court, would you stay at home and fail to be 

 represented when the contest came? Did you ever have a case in court? 

 You had confidence in the honesty of the jury, didn't you? They were 

 honorable men. And you had confidence in the judge — a strong, able 

 jurist. And yet what man in this room would be fool enough not to be 

 represented when his case was being tried? The other side is there, 

 looking after their interests constantly; you have got to be there or there 

 will be a biased, one-sided presentation. It is human nature for a man, 

 if he be honest, when he is called upon to act as a judge, to be disin- 

 terested and to hear what is being presented, not taking the position of 

 an advocate. But if he is constantly pounded on one side, without hearing 

 the other side, the result is self-evident. 



I was talking the other day with a man connected with the valuation of 

 our railroads. He told me about their estimates of unit values of railroad 

 property; how these were prepared by their clerks and assistants, and 

 then submitted to the railroads; and the railroads demonstrated to them, 

 conclusively, many mistakes which they had made. I said: "Yes, they 

 showed you where many of your prices were too low but did they ever 

 show you where one price was too high?" And he couldn't recall one 

 instance. It would be wiser for their purposes if they would show a few 

 cases where the prices were too high; they would make a better presenta- 

 tion of their own side. 



I say that it is absolutely necessary, whenever you have a contest with 

 any man before any another man, for you to be present and safeguard 

 your interests just as efficiently and effectively as the other side does. 

 If the Interstate Commerce Commission is able and honest, why is it that 

 the railroads don't stay at home when these cases are being tried? Why 

 are they not willing to trust to this tribunal to see that both sides get a 

 square deal? The reason for representation is just as applicable to the 

 shipper as to the railroads. 



After all, money and the dollar are not the most important; it is the 

 sian that counts. So far as the present issue is concerned, I do not think 

 the interests of the live stock shipper are greater than the interests of the 

 nation. We are in a great war, and it is vastly more important that the 

 honor and majesty of the American nation shall be preserved in all its 

 grandeur, that the fundamental principles of liberty and representative 

 government shall be maintained thruout the world, than it is that you 

 shall win a given rate case or save so much money. We must be patriots 

 first and business men second. The nation comes first. And in our deal- 



