122 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



very courteous on their part, as it no doubt relieved the association 

 of a very bitter and prolonged fight to prevent those advances. But 

 I am inclined to the belief that if the farmers had not been organized, 

 and had there been no Corn Belt Meat Producers' Association, thos3 

 advances wouM not only have been requested, but they would have 

 been put into effect, and the farmers would have been paying them for 

 some. time; for I do not believe the railroads were merely trying to run 

 a bluff when they filed their petition asking for the advance. This again 

 demonstrates the value of your organization. 



Now, just a word about the recent movement of the Chicago Live 

 Stock Exchange to advance commission charges for sslling live stock. 

 Ever since the closing of the offices of the Co-operative Live Stock Com- 

 missicn Company, we have felt that it would only be a question of time 

 until a demand would be made for advanced commissions; an:l the very 

 light receipts during the past summer gave the agitatois and the fel- 

 lows who were just hanging by the "skin of their teeth," an excuse to 

 make this demand. I learned during the month of July that such a 

 movement was on foot, and at once wrote the president of the exchange, 

 asking for information concerning it. He replied that a committee had 

 been appointed from the exchange to investigate the matter, hear com- 

 plaints, and report later. The secretary being away on h:s vacation, 

 I at once formulated a remonstrance, protesting in the name of the 

 association against any advance in commissions, and asking that a com- 

 mittee of stockmen from this association be granted a hearing before 

 a vote was taken. This remonstrance and request were forwarded to 

 the committee from the exchange, and from correspondence that fol- 

 lowed, both Mr. Wallace and myself got the impression that such a 

 meeting would be arranged, and that we would be notified thereof. Act- 

 ing on this belief, the committee to represent the stockmen were se- 

 lected and notified to be in readiness to go to Chicago at any time, 

 to take part in the hearing. Time passed, , but no word came caling 

 us to Chicago, and we had about concluded that the special committee 

 had reported unfavorably on the advance and decided to drop the mat- 

 ter, for the present, at least, when, to our surprise, one day while the 

 state fair was on, there was delivered to the secretary and m^yself a 

 bunch of telegrams from commission men who were opposed to the ad- 

 vance, stating that the exchange wouM vote on the advance the next 

 morning at nine o'clock. This was indeed short notice, and we had to 

 act quickly. So we hurriedly gathered together at the headquarters 

 all the members of the association whom we could find, and passed a 

 resolution denouncing the move as unjust and unfair, because the com- 

 mittee had not consulted the wishes of the stockmen in the matter; and 

 the members began to fire in telegrams to their different commission 

 firms, protesting against the advance. Some twenty-five or thirty mes- 

 sages were sent, and the result was that the advance was voted down 

 by a large majority. 



But the agitators and the seekers of spoils were not to be downed 

 in that way; so they continued their quiet work, until one day, without 

 your officers having any knowledge of what was going on, a vote was 



