Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-05-26
Blythe Followers Making Use
of Falsehood and Deceit to
Carry the County
THE LONG AND SHORT HAUL
Seeking to Create Prejudice Against
the Governor Because Of His Veto of
the Measure Passed by Legislature
History of the Bill and cummins'
Action Upon 1t.
Special to Tlmes-Republican.

Special to Tlmes-Republican.
Des Moines, May 26.-Over in Story
county the standpatters are making
use Of the most outrageous schemes to
create prejudice against the governor
One point of attack is the veto of the
bill to repeal the long and short haul
clause of the Iowa railroad rate regu-
lation law. This is being used especl-
ally at Collins, Maxwell, Slater and a
few other places where there are sell
fish reasons for desiring the repeal OF
fic. The history of this long and short
haul feature of the Iowa law is an
interesting one, but could not be told
in para graph. 1t was placed in the
Iowa law by A. b. Cummins when he
was a member of the house and was
the one thing on which he was most
insistent when the matter came before
the famous conference committee OF
which he was leading spirit. The
principle had been Incorporated IN the
original interstate commerce law pass
ed the year before 1t was new thing
1t was the one thing which above all
others was most to be desired by those
who were making the fight for reason
able rates in Iowa in 1888. 1t is the
one feature of the Iowa law which to-
day compels fairness. 1t does work in
justice in some places and hardship
on some communities, but the general
principle is so important that it could
no, fol-. 0f ho n w wit IN =
out practical notification of that law.
In order that the hardships which fol-
low the strict application of that law
to passenger business might be over
come in part, Governor Cummins did
recommend a modification of the law
as to passenger business. When the
bill was before the legislature, includ-
ing as it did freight as we'll as passen-
ger business, 1t seemed, on the face, to
be comparatively harmless and to be In
fact good thing. 1t was passed hur-
ried!y in the closing days of the ses-
SION Before deciding what to do with
the bill Governor Cummins consulted
Ex-Governor VIM. Larrabee, whose
wide experience in handling the rail-
road question is of great value. Gov
ernor Larrabee pointed out that the
bill, in the form in which it finally got
thru the legislature, while perhaps not
so intended, was practical notification
Of the whole Iowa law insofar as 1t
prevents determinations. Governor
Cummins considered it at length, and
being convinced that the bill was dan
gerous that it would have results not
intended by the legislature and not de-
sired by anybody other than the rail-
road men, that it would bring evils far
beyond the little good it could do to
some communicable vetoed the bill.
If Perkins may be judged by his utter
ances he would have signed the bill
and wrecked the whole Iowa law. He
would have opened the door to dis
ordinations of all kinds. But what
ever might have been the desires Of
Governor Cummins as to giving relief
to some communities where competi-
ton is now impossible in the matter of
passenger traffic, he had the courage
and the wisdom and the statesman
ship to veto bill which would have
been fatal to a law which has proved
to be of inestimable value to Iowa peo-
p1a