112 IOWA DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Now," I said, "Gentlemen, you have no right as commissioners to file these 

 amendments or allow them to be filed. They are purely illegal docu- 

 ments, and you have no right to file or receive an illegal document." 

 Well, they says, "what can we do? Nobody knows how to make such a 

 tariff, such as you desire, and we don't know how to make it." "Well," 

 says I, "just refuse to receive these amendments." "Well, but it will stop 

 the business of the company." "Well," says I, "great goodness! You have 

 just got filed in your archives here over three million tariffs (that is 

 true — just think of it — over three million tariffs) ; don't you suppose the 

 business of this country could run for a few months if there wasn't any 

 more tariffs made?" "And," says I, "if you will refuse to receive any 

 more tariffs, why, the railroads will have to get to work in some way 

 and get this thing in shape." 



Well, the Commission didn't feel quite equal to that. I want to tell 

 you that every man on that Commission is not a Theodore Roosevelt by 

 any means. I think if Mr. Roosevelt was on that Commission he would 

 have accepted my proposition, and said we will refuse to receive any 

 more. 



Well, now, it is pretty hard work to talk about these subjects without 

 casting a great deal of blame on to the railroad companies. They are by 

 no means blameless, but they are by no means the miscreants that they 

 are sometimes represented to be. They are creatures of circumstances. 



Now, it don't matter what my opinions are, I believe that a tariff 

 could be made that could be understood, over the Chicago Great Western 

 road; that is, their local tariffs. Of course, I could not make joint tariffs 

 with other roads without their consent, but if I put in a tariff of that kind 

 on the Great Western road, and left the others to flop around as they 

 pleased, why, they would skin me to death. I wouldn't have any rail- 

 road; I wouldn't have any business in a little while. So, one man can't 

 do this alone. All of the railroads have got to do it, or else the railroads 

 that stay out will have such an advantage over the others that it would 

 be unfair. 



Well, now, when you undertake to get the unanimous consent of three 

 or four hundred railroads you can easily see what a tremendous job it 

 would be. Say there are 500. Say that 480 of them wanted to 'do what 

 was right; wanted to obey this law; wanted to do just what was right, 

 and that twenty others would not — why, the 480 could not, without sus- 

 taining tremendous loss. So, gentlemen, I despair of ever getting sim- 

 plified or understandable tariffs, as a whole, unless the power of the 

 law is invoked — unless the right arm of the government will compel the 

 few that want to get an advantage over any other to give in and obey 

 the law. 



Now, I don't want to leave the impression on your minds that the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission is indifferent to this. They were not 

 prepared to take the stand that I suggested, but they have taken the 

 matter up in earnest and they are going to bring It out before they get 

 through — they are going to the extent of their legal authority, in bring- 

 ing this out, and if they lack some little authority I think they will be 

 able to get it from the legislature.. 



