Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-01-27
Henry WALLACE
ON HEPBURN BILL
Editor of Farm Paper Says the
Measure Has Many Vital
Defects
FROM FARMERS STANDPOINT
Provides For Endless Litigation Which
the Shipper Could Not Afford and
Which Would Be Greater Burden
Than Unjust Rates = Gossip of the
Capital.
Special tc Times Republican.

Special tc Times-Republican.
| Des Moines, Jan. 27.-Henry wall
lace, the editor of Wallace Farmer
| who for years has followed carefully
the course of railroad legislation says
/ the farmers of Iowa should look at
| the Hepburn bill from the view point
| of their barn yards and asks what
benefit it will be to them. Taxing
the instance where the interstate COM
merce commission has twice decided
| that the rate on live stock from Mis-
souri, river points to Chicago should
not be more than the rate on dressed
beef. the rate would have to be hVe
,ents lower on the live stock. This
4 would be a difference of about $40
car. BY the provisions of the bill Mr..
Wallace sees a litigation over from
three to five years. ending with the
supreme court of the United States IL
a farmer has been shipping two car
loads of cattle a year he Will nave
shipped ten cars making a difference
of $100.
4 Suppose the new commission de-
! cided, just as the present one has done
twice, that the rates should be lowered
five cents hundred pounds. or ABOUT
$40 a car" said Mr.. Wallace. Ship
pers would continue to pay this rate
for sixty days. The railroads would
appeal. of course. They would nj
/ doubt ask and secure time to per-
feet their appeal. as is customary IN
all cases, say three or six months
The shipper would still continue to pay
the extra ten dollars. The railroads
would give bonds to return this ten
dollars a car provided the case finally
! went against them. but the farmer and
shipper would still continue TO pay IL
In the course of another year or two
they would get hearing ana we WIN
sunpose a favorable decision from the
court of commerce. Inc raaifoaaS
would then naturally appeal to the
supreme court of the United STATES
renewing their bonds In about fouf
or five years shippers might expect
| decision from the court OF last resort
and would be entitled to recover the
extra freight they had paid during all
these years"
Then if the railroads should be stub
born, Mr.. Wallace says, the farmer OF
Skinner would have to begin suit again
To get Judgment and might finally nave
to lew on - locomotive or some othel
nroperty to get the money running uI
other court costs. But in each case
the excess would go to the man that
shipped the grain or cattle and unless
= farmer could raise grain in car lots
and shin his own he would get no ben
eft from the law whatever.
Continuing Mr.. Wallace said today:
I.ooking at it from the Standpoint
of the barn yard, we don't see that
this hill would benefit the actual farm
or even a little bit. While at first
Glance 1t has all the appearance OF
a loaf of bread, on close eNafillaa'loi' a''
f. ;s stone cunningly shaped Ike a
loaf, and would send every farmer ~ ~
tho dentist after new set OF teelh III
very short order.
Concerning Colonel Hepburn Mr.
Wallace said: e..
"He has bent to the blast so 1ar as
=. -r,.ant tho commission the right ana
the mower to make a rate, put VIII
string to it which renders 1T pertectiy
useless for all practical purposes Ihe
ia rmers Of the west should never pe
satisfied with anything else thai' ''ie
mower to say not merely that a rate ls
,,niust( but how far 1t is UNJUST, WiidA
under the circumstances would be JUST
and right, it's decision to go lnto eilect
| On short notice and remain In erect
until after thorough investigator
! II has been decided to be UNJUST.
While WiscQnsin's travelling library
! system is pointed to as a mooel ana
has numerous high salarled secre-
| taries and assistants Iowa has some
! thing to be proud of too. Inc report
inst completed and ready for oftlclal
mhlication as compiled by Miss Brown
who is in charge of the travelling IL
hrarv work. shows that there were 29,-
e54 books circulated during the year
| 1eAo In Wisconsin for the two years
from July /. 1902 to July l. 1904. there
were circulated 36,02O. While Wiscon-
sin has an assistant secretary III tne
field all the time looking after TINS
work and another in the office, the
work in Iowa is done almost entirely
by correspondence from the office ana
by one person. The increase in TINS
state is over 10000. the figures for the
year before being 16,4OO
These figures show the circulation OF
| tho hooks Books were taken out that
many times. The real figures wouia
he st;ll larger than this as the report
from the Librarians to whom the sec
t;ons of books are sent are not always
| complete The Iowa report shows tha'
sections of books were sent to 2S9 CEN
ters. There We're sent out 622 col
| lections of books. Every time sec
ton is changed from one center &c
another it is counted in these figures
OF these 324 were the regular coilec'