The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-09-26
POLITICAL GOSSIP
War on the Federation of Com
mercial Interests
Now Claimed That Commission
Has No Power.
COMMERCE
That liz the Wall They Hide
Behind.
Why the Argument Does Not
Apply Here.

The opponents Of the Federation of
Commercial Interests are claiming that
the freight rates of which the fedora
ton complains are all interstate rates
over which the state board of railroad
commissioners has no control.
One of the things on which freight
rates in Kansas are entirely too high is
wheat, and most wheat in Kansas is
shipped to Kansas City, Kan This bus
| mess is not interstate business by any
means The local rates on jobbers'
goods are certainly not interstate rates.
Some live stock is shipped to points
out of the state. but much of it is en-
tirely Kansas business. One of the
great grievances of live stock men is
not excessive rates, however, so much as
poor service.
Nowas to whether a fair and equit
able railroad board could do anything to
better these conditions: 1t is quite like
ly that a railroad board that is con-
trolled by the Rock Island and other
railroad interests could find plenty of
excuses for not being able to do any
thing" but here is what the Iowa
board of railroad commissioners did a
few months ago. The Iowa board has
the power to establish just and equita-
BILE rates. The cattle men of Iowa ship
their cattle to Chicago, making it inter-
state business, over which the Iowa
board of railroad commissioners had no
control. AS in Kansas, the cattle men
complained of the poor service given
them. Cattle trains were sidetracked
and run on such a slow schedule that it
required many hours longer than ought
to have been necessary to get the cattle
to Chicago causing the cattlemen great
shrinkage and consequent loss. The
Iowa board of railroad commissioners
established a rule requiring stock trains
to be run on a certain schedule to Chi
nrda 70
market auto XII T. The railroads laughed
at the commission and pointed out that
Iowa stock shipments were interstate
business and the Iowa board of con-
troll over train schedules after the stock
crossed the Mississippi river into Illl-
nois. and the railroads would run their
stock trains just as slow as they
pleased. Very we'll" said the commits
sion in substance, IF you don't obey
that order and give the stockmen OF
Iowa, good service, railroad rates IN
Iowa will come down to a point com
lmenSurate with the service 1t did not
take the railroads very long after that
to obey the order, even though it ap-
piled to interstate business
OF course, if the Iowa board mad been
owned by the railroads it would have
pointed out to the Iowa stockmen that
it had no power to secure better service
because it could not control interstate
business
The ottawa Republic quotes a IRE
publican politician" of the Second dis
trict as saying that Congressman Bow
ersock will lose 1000 Republican votes
in the Second district this fall and
that 5000 of them Will vote for c.
F. Hutchings. The 1000 Republicans
who won't vote for Bowersock are
distributed among the various coun-
ties as follows:
Allen. 100; Anderson, 800; Bour
bon. 400; Douglas. 500; Franklin, 200;
johnson. 800: Linn, 200; Miami, 700;
Wyandotte, 1900.
Senator ]. r. Burton has recently
been down in Comanche county. He
spent a week or ten days down there,
according to a Coldwater paper.
William Allen White made a. speech
recently in Wichita. His friends did
not say very much about it, but the
Democrats roasted Mr.. White and
said his speech was mo good" Now
Mr.. White himself prints a story of
his speech which was published by
the Wichita Star. Mr.. White says
the Star is not only a Republican pa
per but also a machine" paper, and
that it's criticisms of his speech is ex-
tremely charitable. The fact is, Mr..
White has no business trying to make
a speech. White has very few equals