378 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



of the various railroad departments, and as a result received the fullest 

 assurance that conditions would be improved at once, and that we would 

 be furnished sufficient equipment to handle our live stock to the Chicago 

 market. As we had received the same assurance from the railroad heads 

 in Iowa, we were inclined to take them at their word, and returned home 

 to watch the improvement and to assist in any way that we could. 



It was not necessary to wait long to prove to us that our hope for im- 

 provement in the service would not be realized, at that time, as condi- 

 tions simply grew worse, aggravated and increased by the severe snow- 

 storms, so that by the last of January it was almost impossible to secure 

 cars at any time for loading live stock to Chicago. And traffic had be- 

 come so demoralized that no shipper would venture a guess when his 

 stock would arrive at the market after it was loaded, as it was taking 

 from three to five days to deliver stock from western Iowa points to 

 Chicago, and a corresponding length of time from points further east. 



On account of these deplorable conditions and the low price that then 

 prevailed on fat stock, farmers and feeders everywhere were losing huge 

 sums on their fat stuff, but in justice to government operation and the 

 men placed in charge of the railroads, under government control, I wish 

 to state that the running time of stock trains had been very materially 

 slowed down by the ^railroad people themselves some time before the 

 President issued his proclamation, taking over the roads. For example: 

 All of the Iowa-Chicago lines had, early in December, put into force a 

 forty-hour schedule on stock trains, from western Iowa points to Chicago, 

 thus necessitating the unloading of all stock for feed and rest at the Mis- 

 sissippi river, thereby entailing a tremendous loss to the feeders and 

 shippers of the country. So that in criticizing government operation, you 

 must bear in mind the fact that all of our woes did not come on account 

 of government control; but we do believe that the situation was greatly 

 intensified on account of the very embarrassing conditions that were pro- 

 duced by the President's action. And yet, in the interest of winning the 

 war, we believe it was the only course to pursue, as under the old system 

 of operation, it would have been practically impossible to remove the 

 congested conditions in the freight traffic east of Chicago. 



The latter part of January, a conference was held at Ames with 

 Senator Kenyon, Secretary Wallace and others, and it was decided that I 

 should go to Washington to take up the matter there, just as soon as I 

 could arrange to leave. Accordingly, I left soon after for the seat of 

 government, determined, if possible, to secure some relief, both as to 

 transportation and prices for live stock. And we feel that the results 

 accomplished for the farmers and stockmen, by the work done at that 

 time, and by the work following, by another committee later on, fully 

 justified the efforts made. 



In Washington we conferred with every official who had any power 

 either in the making of prices or the operation of the railroads and their 

 control, from the President down. We spent ten days working continu- 

 ously, with the Railroad Administration, the Food Administration and 

 Congress, urging, insisting and demanding relief for the Iowa stockmen. 



