Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-01-20
TELLS coURlER's CORRESPOND.
EMIT AT WASHINGTON HAWK.
EYE STATE is MlseUIL-D
CITES RATES ON
BUTTER AND EGGS

Member Of the SENATE, In Long In.
terview, Tells Reasons Why, in His
Opinion, the Iowa Farmers Enjoy
Better Conditions Than They Could
Have With Proposed Changes.
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE
Washington Bureau of the Courier,
Washington, D. c., January 1s.
The people of the great state of
Iowa appear to be clamorous for a
change in the methods and in the au-
thority for determining railroad rates
and are urging their senator's and rep
resentatives in congress to support and
work for q bill which shall turn over
to seven men the power to ultimately
Ak freight rates on railroads in the
United States. If the bill which the
people of Iowa seem to desire becomes
a part of the organic law of the land
make the prediction that within two
years the senator's and the representa-
tlves In the house. from Iowa will be
working more vigorously, If that is
possible, and the people of Iowa will
be clamoring much more loudly and
earnestly for relief and return to con-
ditions that exist at the present time
than they are at this moment"
The foregoing startling statement
come from the lips of one of the most
ttnV o4<,rr to-
day, addressed to your correspondent.
II there Is state in the union that
Should be opposed to the policy of per-
hitting the interstate commerce com
mission to determine rates, that state
is Iowa." continued the senator. "That
is if the people of Iowa are, like the
people from other states, interested in
legislation from the point of view Of
benefit to themselves. fear your peo-
pie have not given the matter the close
study that 1t Is entitled to, and that
they have failed to fully appreciate the
particular benefits that are theirs un.
der the present conditions.
Says Iowans Are Fortunate,
Tt is unnecessary for me to go into
detail or to quote tariffs. It Is notori-
GUS and patent that Iowa farmers pos.
sess immense advantages in freight
rates over the people of New York and
Ohio. On practically alt the products
of the farm they enjoy freight rates re-
relatively far lower than the farmers
of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.
The producers of butter and eggs from
Central New York and Vermont com
plain that they are Disseminated
against because the producers Of but
ter and eggs in Iowa 1900 miles from
New York and Boston markets are
given practically the same rate as are
given the central New York and Yer
mont producers.
"But the people Of New York and
Vermont are not injured. They still
have left the right to compete in the
great markets on equal terms with
their more distant competitors and
have therefore an equal chance to COM
mand legitimate returns for their pro-
ducts. II it were otherwise and the
producers Of butter and eggs in Iowa
had to pay proportionate rates meas
ured by distances or cost of service,
as Governor Cummins stated before
the senate committee on interstate
commerce should be the basis for de-
termining rates, then New York and
Vermont would have great advan-
tage. They would have the greatest
market of the country all to themselves
and could get better prices and the
demand would be SO great that they
could advance the price beyond what
poorer people could afford to pay, a
misfortune that would affect millions
Of consumers and producers.
Under present conditions the con-
sumers Of butter and eggs in the great
cities of the east are greatly benefited
because they are ablo, as result OF
the very low freight rates given to
Iowa butter and eggs, to have two
sources of supplies; the nearby supply
and the distant supply
Hawkeye Farmers Advantage.
"The producers of Iowa get great
market on the same terms as though
they were thousand miles nearer the
market and they are greatly bene
flied, although they may not fully ap
preciate the extent of this advantage
"The special advantage possessed
| by Iowa farmers are not confined alone
to rates on butter and eggs. The ad
vantage also applies to corn, oats, hay
and meats. If the bill which grants
| to the interstate commerce commission
power to finally determine freight rates
becomes a law Iowa will awaken to q
realization that it has lost some of its
best friends, the railroad traffic mana
gers Iowa will find that she has par
fticipated in the killing of the goose
| that laid golden eggs for her farmers
If the question Of railroad rates is to
be4placed in the hands Of a commission
which will proceed to determine
freight rates upon the basis of exact
justice and on the cold-blooded the
CRY of proportion, irrespective of the
good of producers distant from the
great markets, the people Of Iowa will