194 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



most heartily your co-operation. I will sit down and discuss the matter 

 with you, and tell you my side of the trouble, and you tell me yours. 

 I won't promise to do everything that you suggest, but I will be fair, 

 and if I can't do it, I will tell you why I can't. Now, we are not al- 

 ways reasonable, and you are not always reasonable. We have got to 

 find the common ground upon which we can stand. We have got to 

 find the conservative, middle ground. We have got to approach and con- 

 sider this subject of railroad transportation as one of mutual interest to 

 each of us, and we have got to meet it with that idea in our minds. 

 We can't do the impossible, and very frequently we don't do the possible, 

 because we don't know about many of the conditions that are wrong. 

 And sometimes when we do know about them, we don't do anything 

 to correct them, and of course that makes people sore and does not 

 have a tendency to inspire confidence in the managing officer. Our 

 shortcomings are many, I know, but it is my sincere desire to remedy 

 those things just as rapidly as I can, and we can remedy some of them 

 by having friendly co-operation with all of the shippers. There is no 

 class of shippers in this state that require railroad transportation of 

 the character and class that you gentlemen do; you have got to have 

 it in order that your business may prosper. We want to give it to you. 

 You may ask, why don't you do it? I am doing all that I can, with 

 the information that I have, to give it to you. I know that in many 

 instances it is not satisfactory, but if you will get in communication 

 with me, and tell me the difficulties at your place, and keep on telling 

 me about them, I will keep on endeavoring and trying to remedy and 

 improve the service. 



DISCUSSION. 



J. C. Oliva, ]\rarengo : Last month my neighbor and I made up 

 our minds that we would ship our cattle, and we were going to 

 ship together. I ordered the cars for both of us about a week ahead 

 of time. I think I ordered them on Thursday morning to ship for 

 the following Tuesday. AVe were going to ship two of cattle and 

 one of hogs, and I ordered three cars. On Monday I found that 

 I couldn't get the hogs together, so I countermanded the hog car. 

 There were three cars on the track ; one of them had the draw-bar 

 pulled out; the other two were apparently good cars. I gave my 

 neighbor the best cattle car of the two. We got them loaded up 

 probably about twenty minutes before the train was due, and I hap- 

 pened to walk around there and saw that one end of my neighbor's 

 cars was off from center on the truck. I called the attention of some 

 of the men around there, and they said it would never go. I in- 

 formed the agent, and he said they wouldn't take it. Then I went 

 to urging the agent to furnish us another car, and he wired to 

 places where he thought he could get it, but the dispatcher told 



