Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-03-01

corn would produce forty bushels, five cents
OF that is two dollars per acre. That Is the
interest ON twenty dollars, SO that you depre-
ciate; IL you extorted that added five cents
bushel of the amount he receives, you
have deprecated the value of his acres
twenty dollars. That is the problem TO be
presented to us, / think.
Mr.. JefIery: That is one of the consider
atoms. The problem as l see it is what is
fair and equitable.
Senator Finn: He has got to live.
Mr.. Jeffrey: Here is Northwestern Iowa
on this stretch Of the Missouri slope which
has had magnificent crops. The farmers
have never had better crops. There is East
em and Northeastern Iowa and Southern
Wisconsin and the whole of Illinois which
has the corn crop wiped out, the hay crop
wiped out, and there are other sections of
country in exactly similar conditions. There
is shrinkagc of probably $50, 900, 900 bush
els in the corn crop of the United States.
There is a rapid advance in the price Of
com. Corn has reached high figures. Should
the Iowa roads to-day put up their rates on
corn from Northwestern Iowa because the
corn sells at nearly twice what it did year
ago? Undoubtedly not. Why should the
railroads take advantage of the sudden ben
efts that have been derived in one year in
one section and the unfortunate tide of cir
cumstanccs in another where want prevails,
whereby the price of corn Is advanced TO an
abnormal figure?
Senator Finn: Take as an illustration the
ordinary year.
Nj jeffrey: Now you take the situation
of the farmer in Northeastern Iowa. He
has not got any corn. Take the farmer of
Central Illinois; he has no corn. II is
wiped out. lie has to borrow money Is it
the duty Of the railways to at once reduce
their rates, deplcte their treasures, dis
charge labOring men, cut down wages in Or
der that this farmer may overcome these
peculiar circumstances OF nature? Can the
railroads protect against drought or food, or
storm or lightning? ! cannot see why, in
the nature of things, the railway should do
more than make what is reasonable aver
age rate. If there is an unreasonable rate at
some particular place, your Railroad Com
mission takes il up. Here is a hardship
Can you do something? Can you help us?
Well, we say We viii reason it over
We say so and so, and they say
so and so, and conclusion is
reached, and it is carried out If the car
rieTs do not al that place give a rate in ac
cordanCe with the ruling of the Commits
siOnCrs the courts will compel them to do
so. If the ruling of the Commissioners is a
wrong ruling, the courts will not sustain
them. You can not, Senator Finn, attempt
to so regulate your freight rates and passen-
ger rates as to relieve all those peculiar con-
ditiOns and circumstances that arise from
natural and commercial causes. Here is q
tide of emigration that will set in to Dakota.
Heretofore our company, through its passen-
ger agent, has directed the tide of emigra-
ton TO Northwestern Iowa. That action
raised the price of land. Can the land own
ers have these high prices when the tide of
emigration leaves them? Can we control
the tide of emigration? There are a great
many inquiries from parties desiring to go
into the Southern States. People want to
get away from the harsh winters. The price
Of southern land is advancing. Railroads
are being built; they increase the price of
lands there. This winter the tide of travel
sets to Southern California. Two years ago
it set to Florida. These are all apt illuStra-
tons. l do not wish to avoid the directness
of reply There are many more illustra-
tons of what these railroads have to con-
slider and of how pOwerless they are to con-
troll causes They are absolutely controlled
by them.
Senator Finn: The easier you make it
for us the less emigration there will be to
these points.
Mr.. JetIery: 1t is the duty Of every cor
poratiOn to endeayOr TO help every interest
along its line OF railway. When these de-
yclop, it is its duty to watch and nurse them
and foster them and aid them in every way.
Tie railway manager who fails to do this is
Incompetent for his position. And the State
which does not have a competent Railroad
Commission or other public officer TO super
wise and oversee commercial advantages or
disadvantages, commercial faiIings or COM
mercial iniquitics is derelict in its duty and
I 81 laxr Il, ~
rieTs are absolutely controlled by these cir
cumstances and conditions; in view of the
fact that carriers are compelled
by circumstances utterly beyond
their control to make rates they
should not make, is no reason why there
should be three gentlemen selected or live
selected, or any tribunal selected, who have
absolute arbitrary power over these carriers
to say what rates shall be charged. II this
tribunal could control these commercial in
terCsts and all these hundred causes, If they
could make things and direct things and
order things and control things, then it
would be right to give them the arbitrary
power, but they, no more than the carriers,
can do it. There is 10 one State in the
Union can do it. The United States Gov
eminent itself cannot do it. The values of
your property here are made in foreign
markets. The price of the surplus Ameri-
can corn fixes the price of corn in this cOun-
try. The price of corn in this country fixes,
to some extent, the value of land in this cOun-
try. 1t is what You send abroad, what you
put into foreign mouths the gold You take
out of foreign pockets that fixes to large
extent the value OF your property here in this
| State. j speak now from an agricultural
! standpoint The United States Government
! never took q wiser step in its history--a
| step which was discussed by the greatest
! statesmen we have to-day in the country-it
never took a wiser step In its history than
| when it did not give arbitrary rate-making
| power to the Interstate Commission. These
| statesmen were very learned. They saw the
| whole scope of the subject. They consid
! cred all the commercial centers and the great
| commercial causes and reasons, and in doing
| so and in comprehendiUg them, gentlemen,
| they COmprehendcd that it was an absolute
| impOssiblity to put i'm Commission of Ave
! men, or twenty-five men, or Of five hundred
| men, who could regulate and control arOi-
| tTaTily these things. They therefore said
| there shall be no injustice-a principle un-
| dcrlyng everything that is American.
| There shall be no wrong done any indiyid-
ual or locality. There shall be no unjust
discrimination against persons or places.
| must now apologize again for taking so
much of your time, and thank you and your
| associates for giving it TO me. | say to you
| that as citizens OF Iowa you can take no
| stronger platform, yOu can take no higher
stand than that no citizen of this State shall
be Disseminated against, and that no com
| munity shall be unjustly Disseminated
4 against, and that no wrong shall be done
| either TO an individual or community; and
| when such wrong is done the offender be he
! individual, or be it a corporation. shall be