Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-06-20
ATTEMPT TO BEFOG
|HE REAL ISSUES
Railroads Maintain Enormous
Newspaper Lobby to Create
Sentiment
ABLE WRITERS ARE EMPLOYED
Agents Sent to Iowa and All Western
States Attempting to Buy UP the
Country Press-Large Sums Offered
for Publication of Articles Against
Rate Legislation.
Special to Times-kepub:ican.

Special to imes-hepub:ican.
Des Moines. June 20.-Evidences OIL
the enormous newspaper lobby that is
being maintained by the railroads to
make sentiment in favor of the rail-
roads and to becloud the real issue
that the public may become confused
Is every day becoming more apparent
in this state. A letter was received
a few days ago at the state house tell
ing of the luxurious suites of office
rooms that are maintained in New
York Chicago and ST. Louis by the
railroad people At these offices corps
of able writer's are employed Inc
offices are furnished in the most ex-
pensive fashion with chief in charge.
According to the letter which gives
detailed information, agents are sent
out to cover the country and induce
the country editors to PRINT the ma
terial that the corps of writer's grind
out These agents have been In Iowa
and visited the small as we'll as the
large cities. They have been known
to offer as high as $50 to small
country paper of 800 subscribers to
prirt one or two short articles when
all the advertising space in the pa
per coud probably be bought for that
amount. These agents are still at
work. They visit the country editor
as well as the city editor, and make
the offers verbally. In a number Of
cases it is known that the editors have
written letters and endeavored to get
the offers in writing but have failed.
The material they are known to be
circulating is readily recognized in
many of the papers of the state. The
standpat papers generally are lining
UP and giving the stuff publication
readily. Some conspicuous exceptions
are supposed to be holding out for big
ger pay 1t is known that some pa
pers have given the material publica-
ton because asked to by prominent
politicians, as favor to said promi-
nent politician. 1t is probable that
many of the newspapers of the state
do not know that there is money in
the possession of the lobby to pay for
the printing of the material if they
hold out for it.
Generally speaking the arguments OF
these articles are all along the same
line. The editorial page of the promi-
nent standpat papers contain them in
frequent issues. The plan of the
newspaper lobbyists as outlined in the
1nf TO. at tho Stofa house and
the articles which are appearing in the
standpat papers of the state tally so
completely that there can be no mis-
take but that the articles in the Iowa
papers come from the New York and
Chicago lobbies. AS outlined in the
letter the plan is to hold before the
people the idea that the railroads must
be brought to time on the rebate ques-
ton and must be made to understand
that the people demand a square
deal" BY so doing it is the intention
to make the public believe that no one
is asking that the interstate commerce
commission fix rates and to lay great
share of the blame Of it all to the beef
trust. AS outlined by the president
and by Governor Cummins in his ap-
pearance before the senate commit
tee the one thing demanded is to have
some authority with the power to de-
clare one rate wrong and illegal and
to make another to take it's place and
that the railroads should not them
selves be the last court of resort to fix
on the reasonableness of a rate which
had been instituted in the first place
by said railroads.
The plan of the railroad lobby thru
the newspapers that can be bought or
persuaded into printing their stuff is
to induce the public to think that "rc-
bates, drawbacks, special favors re-
frigerator can abuses, side track and
plug road abuses, should be forever
abolished" and that mo one is now de-
manding that any body of mer have
the power to fix rates, something that
should be left entirely to the railroads ("
In other words it is their intention by
shouting stand by the president" !"
square DEAL" and a few such things,
to induce the people at large and the
editors of the papers of Iowa and 9TH
er states in particular to believe they
are with the president and then switch
the subject away from the real conten-
ton and desire of the president, namely
that the interstate commerce commits
sion should have power to fix rates.
The arguments are in keeping with
the press dispatches from Wash
ington to the effect that the president
is being besieged by what he terms
phantom shippers associations" or
ganizations of the employees of rail-
roads who pass resolutions asking the
president not to ask for rate fixing
legislation because the shippers would
suffer if such were done.
The state fair of Iowa is to repent
the prize OF $50 for the best ear of
corn raised in the state. This was CIV
en- last year for the first time and was
aH Ar,k