Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-09-07
CHARACTER SKETCHOF CJMMINS
ESTATE Librarian Johnson Brigham in Reviews

ham in The Review of Reviews.l
road attorney. and that leads us to
suspect there's a fatal flaw i'll 1t some
| where"
/ IT was beyond the comprehen-
sion of men unacdualn'ea WIN .',e
future leader OF the railroad
reform movement in Iowa 'hae a,'
lattorney for railroad corporations
| ,,1a a. LEGISLATOR be other than
lobbyist in disguise.
E;nht;no the Barbed Wire Trust.
Among the few men who at the TIME
correctly sized the young les'sia'o,
was William Larrabee now known ana
respected as the reform governor ,.,,,, 81
that per;od. his book, entitled "Ihe
p,i1raad Question: everywhere re-
aarded as a standard authority on the
relations of railroads to the state. u"
recent speech at independence, Ia.
ex- Governor Larrabee spoke from h's
personal knowledge, declaring tha.
Governor Cummins had really started
the battle against corporate sfeeu ~.
his celebrated case against the parpeo
wire trust: that in 1883. as fnelilper
of the Iowa legislature he had feiluef.
ed valuable service in securing .he
present railway laws OF Iowa, ana that
as governor in 1904 he mad vetoed
bill by which the railroads had hopeo
to New Jerseyize' Iowa.
Perhaps Mr.. Cummins' greatest VIC
tory at the bar was that to Whlch
i Governor Larrabee referred. 10 the
suit brought by him against the paroeu
wire trust he gave the best powers Oh
"a vigorous manhood. strengthened ps
a large experience and by knowledge
gained from long and thorough study
| of corporation law. rms powerful
trust had threatened. the life OF the
small competing corporations Whlch
had sprung up in the west, and, by
advancing prices, had levied heavy
tax upon western farmers and herders.
Case after case was brought and APP
pealed. until finally the issue was
fought out before the supreme court
of the United States. and the result
was the complete overthrow of the
monopoly.
No Sordid Motives.
Few men have paid as dearly for po-
litical honors as has Mr.. Cummins.
Five years ago he was in the enjoy
tment of large and fast increasing fn>
come derived from a general practice
of the law He was conceded to be al
the head of the bar of his state and the
peer of any lawyer in the northwest.
: His home life was well-nigh ideal. AS
dispensers of hospitality, Mr.. and Mrs.
Cumm!ns had Gas they still have) no
superiors at the state capital. Sur
rounded by troops Of friends, his pro-
Ifessional services in demand beyond
the limits of his power to respond, he
exchanged the highest honors of his
chosen profession, and with them the
pleasures of social life, unmixed with
political complications and partisan
antagonisms, for career inevitably
Involving a pecuniary loss; position
Inviting him to laborous days and an
infinite variety Of annoyances and
lcares.
In the fierce light which during the
lrecent campaign was thrown upon his
official career, the minutest inspection
did not bring out single suggestion
of motive for holding office other than
| the ambition to serve the public faith
fully and efficiently, and. purpose to
push forward to completion the reform
has been charged that the governor
still cherishes his early ambition to en-
ter national politics. Possibly; but il
that be an unworthy ambition, few
men in public life can be held to be
/ altogether worthy!
His Real Modesty.
Far from regarding himself as the
only man in Iowa who could lead his
/ 3,,rr ooy,,|-
paign, Governor Cummins earnestly
urged his political friends to unite upon
some one who would take up his work
and carry it on to conclusions. But
his influential supporters were found
to be united in insistence that the
successful Inauguration Of reforms
could best carry them on to conclu-
sions: that the people looked to him
for definite results and would not let
the fetch of the two-tern precedent
stand in the way of his second re-
election.
The "Iowa Idea"
4 A few words relative to the So
called Iowa Idea" and Governor Cum
Minis identification Herewith. Let the
governor himself tell the story.
| At the Mckinley birthday banquet in
Omaha in 1903 the governor said
There is no Iowa idea if that phrass
is meant to convey the impression that
| the republicans of my state hold any
idea which distinguishes them from
republicans in other states Refer
ring to criticisms on his Minneapolis
speech in 1902, he declared that the
language criticised was taken from the
Iowa republican platform of 1901 and
1902 which only reiterated the nation
al republican idea of protection, as
enunciated by William Mckinley in
| 1896 'The phrase iowa idea he add.
ed, was coined by one who would
rather make an epigram than state 4
truth"
From Carpenters Bench to. Law Office.
Even the most general survey of a
career so resultful; even the merest
sketch of a character so forceful, cans
not be wholly devoid of interest. The
subject of this sketch was born of
IScotch-I Irish parents, in Carmichaels,
Pa, on Feb. Is, 1850. He early learned
! from his father the carpenters trade,
| and at the age of II was earning good
wages with hammer and plane. Ans
bilious to obtain an education, at the
age of II he entered Waynesburg Col
|lege. Pa. He worked his way thru coll
\ lege, taking the four years course in
| two, at the same time serving as tutor,
! ond fllnp i'm his vacations by teaching