Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-02-09
FOR NEW Law
IOWA MEAT PRODUCERS WANT
FREIGHT RATE BILL
TO PASS.
HEAR TWO GOVERNORS
cunnins Of Iowa and Van SAINT Of
Minnesota Deliver Addresses Before
Session Of Hawkeye State Livestock
Men-Executlve Attacks Meat Trust
What the Association Did.

What the Association Did.
Endorsed President Roosevelt's ef-
forts on rate question.
Declared commission shuld be given
power to fix rates to take effect at
once. 4
Endorsed action of supreme court in
beef trust case
Urged enlargement of foreign mar
kets by means of reciprocity
Expressed appreciation Of Governor
Cummins. Governor Van SAINT and
Senator LaFollette.
Denounced railroad passes and de-
manded enactment of law making their
use unlawful.
, Declared Iowa delegation in con-
gress fails to hear the voice Of the
people.
Denounced rebates and discrimina-
tions.
Re-elected old officers.
Amended bylaws providing for cleo
ton of delegates at large by officers of
local associations in counties having
more than one organization.
Made dues for coming year 81.
Des Moines, Feb. 8.-When Govern.
ors Van SAINT and Cummins assured
the meat producers of Iowa last night,
In their speeches to the association
whose members crowded the Y. M. G..
A. auditorium, that the bill pending in
congress to vitalize the interstate com
merce commission is going to pass,
the big audience cheered itself hoarse;
and when they emphasized the fact
that the voice of the people expressed
in petition or at the polls will inevita.
bly, drown the din of the lobby at
Washington or at any point where the
representatives Of the people convene,
the meat producers applauded with a
spirit which indicated that they pro
posed to follow the advice of Governor
Cummins to .stay alive,
F fowa's governor despfte the fitness
which made public speaking last night
almost out OF the question, touched the
very heart Of his audience when he ex.
planned the reason that the meat pro.
ducers of Iowa must ship his cattle
and hogs out of the state to be manu-
factured into meat to be shipped back
again. why are there not packing
houses everywhere over the land
where the conditions are favorable and
where markets can be found?" asked
Governor Cummins. He answered.
II will tell you why. The man who
wants to go into the business of buy
ing cattle and hogs cannot do so upon
even terms with those who are already
| in the business. And say that this
desire, as old as humanity itself, to
make money, would speedily dissolve
the iniquitous combination among
buyers of live stock were it not for the
unnoly, unlawful, unjust partnership
between the packers and the railways
| 1L1 fo1
when | say that it is unfair to allow
any packer to own his own cars. Il
is an outrage now suffered long
enough to permit any Industrial combi
nation or company to enter into the
business of the common carrier
whether through the private car OF
side tracks or any other pretense OF
device.
''If man wants to start a packing
house in Des Moines, he ought te
know that he not only can reach the
ultimate market with his product as
cheaply as the packer In Chicago, bu1
he ought to know. that the railway will
furnish the same facilities for moving
his product that it furnishes to the
packers in Chicago or elsewhere"
Competition is Necessary.
This he conceived to be the kerne
of the difficulty. What the Iowa mea
producer wants and should have is The
competing buyer visiting him instead
og being compelled to ship his stocl
to a far distant market, subject tt
shrinkage and be forced into a marke
where there is but a single buyer.
/ Monopoly is intolerable to a fre,
and intelligent people. The meat pro
ducers, the farmers of the nation, have
no combination. There is the keenes
(. competition among them. And the,
have a right to demand competition
among those to whom they sell thei
| products. The safety and security o
the producer is in competition anon,
those who buy his crop. Present con
ditions among buyers approach a mo
nopoly; already it is semi-monopol,
and soon all vestige of competition viii
\ disappear unless it is limited ant
curbed and the buyer will absolutel,
fix the price of the product for tn,