Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-09-26
Senator La Toilette, of Wiscon-
sin, Speaks to Large Audience
in Opera House
He HITS THE PASS SYSTEM
Tells the People to Keep Close Watch
Of the Acts Of Their congressman
Audience Pays a Fine Tribute to
BirdsaII by Shouting "our Members
All Right"
;pecial to Times-Rerublican.

Eldora, Sept. 2G.-()ne of the largest
audiences that ever filled the Wisner
opera house gathered there last even
ing to listen to the lecture Of Governor
LaFollette on Repre- sentative Govern
ment." The managers OF the local
lecture course secured the governor as
one of the attractions of the season;
people were present from all the sur
rounding towns. Cashier Ellis d. Robb
who is secretary of the association
having in charge the lecture course.
and himself all able newspaper cores
ponden,, sent invitations to all the eds
tors Of the county nnd their wives to
be present; as a result the governor
practically addressed the newspaper
fraternity of Hardin county.
The lecture Is an able one, we'll pre-
pared and yet never delivered just tho
same, as the speaker always adapts his
subject to local conditions. He opened
with a general statement regarding the
great cost of our government as 1t is
now established, speaking historically.
AS all explanation Of his subject he
lays down the principal that the Oasis
Of our government is the will Of the
people" He then proceeds to discuss
the ways and manners In which the
will Of the people is being thwarted by
politicians and the trusts and railroads.
He claimed that officers were not rep
resenting the will Of the people in all
the common councils Of American cit
les, legislatures and the national con-
gress- When the speaker warned the
people to look at the record of their
congressman, the loyalty to Congress-
man Birdsall was evinced by different
ones in the audiencssreplyng ,'our MEM
Der is all right" LaFollette distinctly
stated that he did not know who was
the representative who sat for this dis
the voters to look at the record of his
vote. Again Mr.. Whited, one of the
old staunch republ cans said that Judge
'Birdsall was making speeches thru
out the district on the very subject the
speaker was then advocating, namely
the passage of the law giving the In
terstate commerce commission more
authority to enforce it's findings as to
reasonable railway rates
He further upset an idea of self sat
isfaction the Iowa audience might have
with the representatives of this state
in congress. by spying that he knew
of no other state where 1t was more
necessary to scan the record of MEM
hers of congress In regard to their
being traitors to the people who elect
ed them, in deserving the wishes of
the people, and surrenderins, to the
ayarice Of the railroad interests: in
no other state, s,lid he, Is there such
a marked district as the railroad res
ervation in Iowa; in those counties, he
had been informed, that MI. Blythe
actually dictated municipal and county
officers, as we'll as state officials, and
even members o. congress.
File called attention to the fact that
Wisconsin now had passed statutes
forbidding the giving or taking OF
passes, where any state, county or mu-
niclpal officer was involved, and told
story of coming out from Chicago
about darkey porter In the Pullman
who noticed his signature in his Gre
dential the potter asked, "1ss you
Guvnur LaFolle tie" and upon being
advised that his surmise was correct,
he said: We'll, thar is sumthink
mighty Gurus about it; not many pus-
sons holding Office like you buys tick
cts on dis yer train; ders only one
other guvnur that does it, and that is
Guynur Cummins" This was the only
reference his excellency made to Gov
ernor Cummins.
Most of the speakers time was de-
voted to the necessity Of three laws in
order to secure better representative
government, namely; primary nomina-
lions, instead OF caucauses, giving the
Interstate commerce commission more
power, and an anti-pass law
The governor returned to Minnesota,
where he has an engagement to speak
at Luverne, in that state, tonight.