Omaha daily bee., 1906-05-13

HSY.NOWA mas Deen pOlnteO 10 TOT Some
I8I years as possessing a model rail-
k2k road commission law. Governor
IQ&H9ol Larrabee, on the occasion of his
- recent birthday. when he adj
dressed the legislature on It's Invitation,
stated that the Iowa commissioners law
is a model and pattern to other states.'
The law was put on the statute books dur
ing his administration and he was one OF
It's authors and has followed its workings
year by year since that time. Magazines
have sent their writer's here to study the
workings of the law and books have been
written on 1t.
The first attempt in Iowa at anything
looking towards a control OF railroad rates
was in 1862. when an attempt was made to
force all railroads to publish their rates.
This was by the Ninth general assembly.
In 1866 the Eleventh general assembly was
about to enact a law for the regulation
of railroad rates, but the attorney general
advised that such law would be uncon-
stltutonal and the matter was dropped.
Only the first OF the oppressive charges
of the railroads were being felt at this
time. The effort during all the early his
tory OF the state was to encourage tho
building OF railroads in the state. The state
being agricultural. primarily, was depend
ent upon the eastern states for a market
for It's grain and this market could only
be reached by the agency OF railroads and
hence the encouragement to the railroads
10 build. In 1870 Iowa was the sixth In the
list OF states so far as the mileage of roads
was concerned, having at that time 2,6S3
miles. The states that outranked It were
Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York. Indiana
and Ohio.
Granger Movement I'm Iowa
It was about the time of the Ninth and
Eleventh general assemblies when the first
incipient efforts looking toward control Of
the railroads was made, that the Granger
movement began to get started. In 1917,
according 20 authorities, there were 1900
oranges with a membership OF about 1OO,-
900 in Iowa ana the grange became the
champion OF the oppressed farmer and The
head OF the movement TO control the rail-
roads. August Is, 1873, there was held in
Des Moines an anti-monopoly convention,
at which the railroads were the chief cor
porations discussed. Addresses were made
at that time by the leading men OF the
state at the head OF the Granger movement
and the legislation at the hands OF the
Fifteenth general assembly IN 1874 was
probably partly traceabe TO the influence
and public sentiment created by this anti
monopoly convention. This was the first
legislation looking to a control OF railroads
or railroad rates. It was the passage OF
the maximum rate law. The act as a mat
ter OF fact actually raised the average OF
railroad freight rates and was in effect
an edualizing law, eliminating to a large
extent determinations. The act took effect
July T. 1874. and was a Just and fair law
10 both the railroads and the public. and
especially to the railroads. as II raised
the average OF the rates. But the railroads
took a hostile attitude and went into the
courts with IT, The result was a series Of
decisions which established the right OF
the people 20 control railroad rates Four
years later the law was repealed through
the hostility OF the railroads and their in
fuence on the legislature.
WnAted Commission.
II was asserted that the law was too