120 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



It again becomes my humble duty, as president, to give to the mem- 

 bership an account of our stewardship during the past year, and of the 

 success or failure of the association. So I am glad to be able to report 

 that your association has made a healthy and substantial grov»'th during 

 the year 1912. On account of there being no big rate fights on, the organ- 

 ization has not been as much in the limelight or attracted as great atten- 

 tion as in some preceding years, but it has moved steadily forward, 

 and has secured some very beneficial results for its members during 

 the year. 



At the time of the last annual meeting there were pending two very 

 important cases which your association was handling in the interest of 

 the farmers and stockmen of Iowa. One was the proposed advance in 

 rates of 33 1-3 per cent on stocker and feeder cattle and sheep, which 

 was pending before the Interstate Commerce Commission; the other the 

 advance in minimum weights on cars of live stock shipped within the 

 state, pending before the Iowa Railroad Commission. As you will re- 

 member, at that time the public hearings before the commission had 

 been concluded, and dates set for the submitting of printed briefs and 

 for oral arguments at Washington, D. C. Accordingly, soon after the 

 annual meeting. Judge Henderson, Commerce Counsel for the state, 

 and your president and secretary, set about preparing the brief, to be 

 submitted by January 2d. Then followed the preparation for the argu- 

 ments to be made before the entire commission at Washington, on Feb- 

 ruary 10th. 



Your board of directors had felt that it was essential to have some- 

 one with practical knowledge of the live stock business appear with Judge 

 Henderson before the commission and present that side of the case. Ac- 

 cordingly, they voted that your president should act in this capacity. 

 So Judge Henderson took up the legal phases of the question, and I 

 endeavored to present the case from the standpoint of the feeder in the 

 feeding and transportation of his stuff, and to show how unreasonable 

 was the demand that the railroads were making, and how seriously such 

 a radical change in rates would affect the feeding business in Iowa. 



Aside from Judge Henderson and myself, the Live Stock Exchanges 

 of Kansas City, Omaha, Sioux City and South St. Paul were represented 

 before the commission, and made arguments in favor of a continuance 

 of the old rates and customs. On the other hand, the railroads were 

 represented by their ablest counsel, and it made a hayseed's knees shake 

 somewhat to be pitted against such an array of talent. But we got 

 through alive, and the case was submitted; and on March 23d the com- 

 mission handed down its decision, refusing to allow the railroads to cut 

 out the 75 per cent rate on stockers and feeders. This was a complete 

 victory for the association and the live stock exchanges that assisted 

 in the case. 



The winning of this case means a saving to the farmers and feeders 

 of the state of from $200,000 to $300,000 annually in freight rates, and 

 demonstrates the importance of keeping up your association so that you 

 may be ready at any time to jump in and make a fight for your rights. 



