122 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



If he voted against your interests, he is not representing you, but mis- 

 representing you, and the place for him is at home and not in the Iowa 

 senate; and you are not doing your duty if you do not use your best 

 efforts to defeat him. There are some sucli men located in the terri- 

 tory in which your association is fairly strong, and they should be de- 

 feated in the coming primaries if possible. If not then, go after them 

 and defeat them at the polls by all means, as you can not afford to 

 tolerate such misrepresentation. 



There were also two or three other measures of minor importance 

 passed by the lower house, which the stockmen were directly interested 

 in, and which should have been enacted into laws. But they very mys- 

 teriously disappeared when they got into the hands of the sifting com- 

 mittee in the senate. This, I think, was largely due to the unfriendly 

 attitude of the chairman of that committee towards such measures. 



During the early spring the railroads gave out notice that after June 

 1st there would be no cars of live stock billed out for shipment within 

 the state at less than the standard minimums on the thirty-six-foot cars, 

 which is 22,000 pounds on cattle, 17,000 pounds on hogs, and 22,000 

 pounds on sheep in double decks. In this connection it is well to bear 

 in mind that the small minimum applicable to the thirty-one-foot car, 

 and the provision requiring the carries to bill the large cars at the 

 lesser minimums (if furnished in place of a small car), had been re- 

 tained to the shipper by the officers of your association appearing an- 

 nually before the commission and asking for a continuance of the order. 

 So when the railroads published their order cancelling the use of the 

 thirty-one-foot car minimums, your officers filed a complaint with the 

 Railroad Commission and asked for a continuance of the old order. 

 This the railroads objected to, and after some parleying and delay, a 

 hearing was arranged for on July 12th. At this hearing, the interests of 

 the farmers and stockmen were presented by your president and secre- 

 tary and the Sioux City Live Stock Exchange, and the Morrell and 

 Sinclair packing companies represented the local packing interests. 

 Judge Henderson, Commerce Counsel for the state, conducted the case 

 and made the argument on behalf of the stockmen. At the close of 

 the hearing the commission took the case under advisement, and in 

 August gave out its decision; and in this decision the commission fixed 

 the standard minimums at 22,000 pounds on fat cattle, 20,000 pounds on 

 stock cattle, 19,000 pounds on sheep in double deck cars, and 10,000 

 pounds on sheep in single decks, and 15,000 pounds on hogs — these 

 minimums to apply on all cars regardless of dimension, and order- 

 ing same to go into effect September 15th. This ruling was satisfactory 

 to your officers and the stockmen, but it seemed to displease the rail- 

 road representatives, as they at once set about it to have the commis- 

 sion suspend its order and re-open the case, which was finally consented 

 to by the commission, and their order suspended and a future date set 

 for re-opening the case. 



So the case was re-opened on November 16th, and a very elaborate 

 and lengthy hearing, lasting six days, was held, and a large number of 

 prominent railroad men appeared and took part in the hearing; and the 



