Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1901-10-11
Herrlott Was Asha med.


her Kirkwoods, her Gear and her Lar
rabee, and OF which am proud. | am
ashamed that the chief representative
of my party in the state today should
descend to such contemplate conduct.
For my state | am ashamed that the
servants OF the people should forget
hem and their interests, their homes
and their firesides, and for the sake OF
oaltry political ambition worship at the
;eet of Mammon and unrighteousness."
At the time Mr.. Herriott issued his
public protest he had been member OF
The state executive council for six long
years. and he knew what he was talk
.ng about He said further:
Railroad assessments have hereto
ore been travesty upon law and Just
ce. but the last one was travesty upon
ieccncy."
In this memorable document Mr..
Herriott, Treasurer of the State OF
Iowa, positively asserted, by implica-
| ion, that the executive council of the
state, composed OF the governor, the
secretary OF state, the treasurer OF state
and the auditor OF state, was then, and
lad for years been, aiding particular
railroad corporations ito literally rob
| The citizens of the state" This is his
language: 49,,
Il know OF nothing in the constitu-
lion of the code which authorizes the
| executive council to protect, nourish
md obey particular railroad corpora
ion. The people OF this great COM
monwcalth did not as far as know,
elect me or any other member OF the
executive council to favor one railway
system, to relieve it of taxes and to lit
.rally rob the citizens OF this state of
heir property by compelling them to
pay taxes that certain railroad ought
4 % have paid"
Mr.. Herriott further says: II have
witnessed strange scenes at the coun-
Ill board" And he refers to the at
orncy-in-chief of the Iowa division Of
he Northwestern railway as the de
;acto government of Iowa"
The literal robbery OF the citizens of
his state" of which Mr.. Herriott com
,lains had been going on for years. He
himself had witnessed it for six years.
But for the sake of his parity" Re-
iormer Herriott had kept mighty quiet
OH the subject; he hadn't told the citi-
.ens of 'his state" that they were be-
| ing Systematically robbed year by year
by the executive council for and on be-
half OF certain railroad corporations.
Refor,ner Herriott's love Of parity is
said to be pathetieally intense. But he
claims that he snorted and "thundered"
around like everything once in awhile
n the secret chambers where this gang
Of official hold-ups matured their cor
poration conspiracies. He says:
Time and again in the executive
council chamber have l Numbered the
charges herein made. But my efforts
my Indignation, my appeals to honor
and to parity have availed nothing.
have been laughed at and seorned.
What is more, l have been ignored
for most Of the assessments OF current
gossip is to be credited) have been de-
termined outside the council chamber
in the secretary of states private Office
in secret star chamber sessions, in con.
sultation with the representatives o.
one, or sometimes two, railroads.
a HerrIott Loved His Party.
Why didn't Reformer Herriott tel
the people of ''his state" about these
robberies In 1895? Why didn't he from
the housetops proclaim the soandalous
facts in 1867 Why didn't he publicly
defend the people Of "his state" iron
these vast steals in 1897? Why didn'
he do it in 1853, or in 1899? Was it TO,
the reason that he loved his part,
better than he loved the taxpayers O
his state"7
True, he says he made some sort sl
mild kick in 1896, and again in 1897
but that the majority of the conspir-
lators wouldn't even record his mild pro
test on the minutes. Then why didn'1
he afye out the truth to the newspaper
reporters who were begging him for ths
facts in 1901 He knew then that tfs
railroads were running special train
free of cost all over the state to. elec
, as governor Financier Shaw, OF Craw
: ford county He knew at that time tina
the railway corporations were turning
,, Heaven and earth to elect the ten Pc
cent prodigy whom he, Herriott, in
ferentially charges with being "elandes
tine and tricky in carrying out thl
program OF the railroads in the execu
tive council.
What Is the matter with Reforme,
Herriott, anyway? What, in truth, ha!
been ailing him? What has he beer
laundering" about? Let us get rndel
the hide OF this sham reformer, who iaa'
been achieving great deal of CHEAP
notoriety on the false claim that he wa!
|. honestly trying to shield the taxpayer!
of "his state" from the wholesale lar
lcenies that have been carried on by thu
. railroads through the executive coun
Gil for years. Let us get down to tact'
and see if he has been trying to pre-
vent these robberies of the taxpayer:
OF Iowa, or if he has simply beer
championing the Rock Island road a:
against the Northwestern and the c. B
& @. in the wrangles and qnaffels thai
have been going on among the eorp.o
ration thieves about the division OF thu
"swag" flched from the honest tax
payers OF the state.
!. Herriott the Raformer.
In 1896 Reformer He,r!ott began +
! "tbunder," but he didn't thunder" Ii
!, publie--that might have hurt his par
: |t-y-he simply filed mild objections t
the railway assessment made by TIL
gang OF corporation conspiratprs callet
the executive council. What were hi
; objections to the assessment at tina
: time? He wanted to "equalize" the as
. sessments of tile three leading system
OF railway, viz: the c. & N. w, the c
; B. & O., and the c. r. /. e. P. In tn
paper filed by him at that time he sub
mitted two tables, one table showing
gross earnings and assessment pc
mile for the past FIVE years" OF eacl
of the three systems named, and thu
other table showing rate OF assessment
to gross earnings of the total railwa,
mileage OF the state for the past fiv'
years." From these rabies Reforme
Herriott argued as follows:
This comparative statement show
e that the burden of taxation has no
? fallen equally upon the leading railwa,