Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-07-27
Chicago's Newspaper Cores.
pondent Preparing Another
Blast on Iowa Concerns
LETTERS NEED NO REVISION
Believes That Question Of Insurance
Control Will Become Issue in Iowa
Politics and Republicans Must Crap
pie with the Question, or Democrats
WiII-Claims information is Reliable.


Webster City, July 27.-Nrilliam e
Curtis, the well known correspondent
of the Chicago Record Herald. anc
Captain j. +. Merry, Of the Illinoi:
| Central railroad have beer touring
central Iowa in the latter's private cal
during the past two weeks. The dis
tinguished pair were in this city two
days. While here Mr.. Curtis was CIV
en- ride about the city by the mem
bers Of the commercial League. In
the cab in which the noted correspon-
dent rode We're the president and Sec
rotary Of the league and press repre-
sentative. Mr.. Curtis talked a great
deal of Iowa and in particular Of the
recent letters he had written from the
towns of the state and reiterated We
hemently his position on the corrupt
ness of the Iowa insurance companies
as stated in his famous pes Moines
letters. He went so far as to say that
the matter of insurance would be the
issue between the republicans and the
democrats within few years and that
unless the republicans took 1t up at
once the democrats would beat them
to- the issue. Unless curtailed soon"
said Mr.. Curtis, the corrlptness of
many OF these concerns can but re-
fleet upon the present administration.
In spite of the violent opposition of
the Iowa papers to the position he has
taken on the matter, Mr.. G'urtiss de-
clared his intention of writing another
letter upon the subject. HI; says that
he is preparing this letter new.
Probably no newspaper correspon-
dent ever caused SO great a storm of
indignation before than did Mr.. Cur
It's in his recent letters from Des
Moines. The letters hurt for the reason
that there was more truth in them
than most people care to admit. His
Des Moines dispatches on the insurance
companies have caused perhaps the
most talk in Iowa of anything that
Chicago paper ever before said about
the state. The letters referred to ex-
posed the many fraudulent companies
doing business in the state and scored
several of the officers and ex-officials
of the state as being duTes of the
companies. The letter caused a storm
of protest from the Des Moines papers,
which took occasion to brand Mr. Cur
tbs as an unreliable correspondent and
one who attempted to make his letters
readable to the public, regardless of
their veracity. While here the CORE
spondent spoke In no guarded way OF
his opinion of many OF the Iowa COM
panies. "The condition of many of the
insurance companies in this state is
very bad" said he, I'm going after
them again on the matter OF defrauding
the people. am now engaged in writ
ing the letter. My letters are always,
of course, about two weeks behind
time. l have just gotten out of Mime
apohs and ST. Paul, the first points
made on my last trip out of Chicago.
My next trip out will be TO the great
copper districts of Michigan"
This matter OF insurance, tho, must
soon be made party issue in your
state. Many of the companies are so
corrupt that 1t can not bt, kept from
the, public much longer. IL the repub-
licans refuse to make an issue of it
you may be sure that thu democrats
viii do so. am great admirer of
Governor Cummins, nor liz he respon-
sible for any of the insurance corrup-
ton, yet unless there is a Turging soon,
he will be blamed for the whole bust
ness. recent high official of this
state was stakeholder .snd director
IN one of these companies so l am in
formed. He put $4,000 into it and
alter finding out that 1t was corrupt he
irew out, taking $4,000 with him. All
his extra money came from the pock-
Its of the people of the state, fraudu- |
ently and came to him unearned. The |
official was not necessarily corrupt but |
IS his stock was worth that much
money, he could not get out without
aking that sum. It's bad business. But
'ew people realize the immensely OF it,
put before long it will come out
Il am now engaged in writing an
'ther letter upon the subject and ex-
,ect to finish it soon. They need roast
ng and l will give them at least one
more. This time have my informa-
ion from certain high official in the
'tate of Minnesota former Iowan.
)f course much of my Information is
mere surface information but is gen.
rally pretty reliable"