115 



EFFORTS TO CORRECT BLUNDER OF 1920. 



In order to thoroughly appreciate this stupendous blunder which was 

 made in 1920, I want to recite a few salient facts. 



In spite of the provision of the law known as Section 15-A of the Inter- 

 state Commerce Act, we were finally able to persuade the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission that railroad rates must come down. Great credit is due 

 to that tribunal that it withstood the demands of the carriers of this nation, 

 backed up by some of the greatest leaders in commerce and in the editorial 

 chairs of our great newspapers and magazines. In spite of this powerful 

 influences, the Interstate Commerce Commission required the railroads to 

 reduce the freight rates on the long hauls on livestock and to reduce the rates 

 on grain and hay, although the railroads were not earning what Section 15-A 

 attempts to insure them. 



We then filed a petition for a general reduction of from 10 to 20 per cent 

 on all farm products. The petition rested in the hands of the commission 

 for several weeks, but before it was given a docket number the railroads 

 came before the commission and agreed to a voluntary reduction of 10 per 

 cent on all basic farm products throughout the United' States. This was a 

 moral victory on the part of agriculture, and it was a great concession on 

 the part of the railroads. There are some big, strong, far-sighted men in the 

 railroad industry who finally recognized the justice of our claims. I desire 

 to review briefly the part played by the American Farm Bureau Federation 

 in securing these results. 



Last March we recommended to the executive committee of the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation that we should file a petition with the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission asking for a general reduction in the freight rates 

 on basic farm products. The finances of the federation did not permit the 

 trial of such a case. So it was decided to adopt the following course of 

 action: 



First, present a memorial to the President of the United States, to 

 Congress and to the Interstate Commerce Commission, demanding a general 

 reduction. 



Second, call a national shippers' conference, in order to persuade other 

 industries to unite in this demand. 



And, third, join with other organizations handling individual commodi- 

 ties to help them get reductions on the basic necessities of life. 



Mr. J. R. Howard, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, 

 presented the memorial to the President and to the Commission. We joined 

 with the National Live Stock Shippers' League in obtaining the reduction 

 on live stock, and we joined with various state railroad commissions and the 

 Farmers' National Grain Dealers' Association in getting the reduction in the 

 rates on grain and hay. The trial of that case alone lasted three weeks. The 

 order of the Commission required a reduction of forty million dollars an- 

 nually, the largest single reduction ever ordered by the Commission in its 

 entire history. 



Mr. Howard was invited to meet with a committee for a conference with 

 representatives of the railroads and of industry in regard to a general 

 reduction in freight rates. The conference was held at New York. Mr. 

 Howard insisted on an immediate reduction of 10 per cent, with subsequent 

 reductions as fast as lowering of operating expenses would permit. A sub- 

 committee of the executive officers agreed to this program, but later at a 

 . general conference held in Chicago on October 14th, the railroad executives 

 representing over 90 per cent of the mileage in the United States declined 

 to adopt the suggestion. Therefore, the American Farm Bureau Federation 

 finally decided to file the petition with the Interstate Commerce Commission, 

 which I have briefly described. 



As previously stated, the Commission did not file the petition, but gave 

 it a docket number for several weeks. In the meantime the railroads came 

 before the Commission, agreeing to put in the 10 per cent reduction, thereby 

 reversing their former policy. After this concession before the Commission 

 the railroads and representatives of shippers and manufacturers held other 



