THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IV 211 



$70,000. The supreme court of Missouri will undoubtedly hand down its 

 decision, if not this spring, certainly next fall. I have every confidence 

 that it will be in our favor. While we were not entirely successful in 

 running a co-operative commission com.pany (and I eay "we" because you 

 had as much to do with it, I think, as I did) we were successful in a 

 good many ways; we had our victories as well as our defeats. When the 

 Co-operative Commission Company started its existence, there were num- 

 erous decisions of federal and slate courts to the effect that all these live 

 stock exchanges were highly beneficent associations. Even the Traders' 

 Exchange got a decision to the effect that it vvas a very laudable com- 

 bination of enterprising business men. When we commenced to meet 

 with our troubles at Kansas City, one of the duties devolving upon me 

 was to start a fev/ law suits. I prevailed upon the attorney general and 

 governor of Kansas to interest themselves, on behalf of the Kansas ship- 

 pers, and they had a long-drawn-out lawsuit involving taking testimony 

 for about seventy-five days. When the case was finally decided, a perma- 

 nent injunction was given against any boycott on the Kansas City yards, 

 so far as the Traders' Exchange was concerned. By the way, the state of 

 Kansas spent about $15,000 in that suit. 



Inasmuch as the Traders' Exchange boarded over in the state of Mis- 

 souri, we thought it best to do a little work on the Missouri side as well, 

 and we interested Governor Hadley, also Attorney General Major (now 

 governor), and they took it up. Attorney General Major filed that suit, 

 used our attorneys in the case, and got a very sweeping victory. The 

 Traders' Exchange is practically out of existence on the Kansas City 

 market; there are about as many independent traders as members of the 

 exchange. I am informed that anybody can go in there and buy live 

 stock from the commission men without any trouble. We have won so 

 far four different cases against these combinations in and around the 

 Kansas City market on both the Kansas and Missouri sides, and if 

 another co-operative commission ever sees fit to start, as I presume will 

 be done in the future, it can successfully operate on some of these mar- 

 kets — although I probably will not be connected with it. 



You probabT are acquainted with the advance of commission charges 

 at these various markets. I am not one who thinks that the commission 

 firms are getting over-rich at the present charges; in fact, I think their 

 net results are not any more than reasonable. The trouble is that there 

 are too many commission firms in business; you all know that as well as 

 I do. Of course they can't regulate that; they would probably be a trust 

 themselves if they tried to limit the number of commission men operating 

 at any particular point. However, I am satisfied that if there were 

 about a third the number of commission firms, they could make a whole 

 lot more money, even at the 'charges, prevailing before the advance. I 

 have no antagonism to any of these commission firms; I number them 

 among my best friends, as well as the railroad men; at the same time, it 

 is a business proposition with them, and it ought to be with you. 1 

 have been follov/ing up this matter down in Missouri quite a little; I 

 take a keen interest in everything that affects the interest of the live 

 stock men, no matter where it occurs. I have had quite a little corre- 



