Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-03-29
Gu M MINIS REPLY
HOW THE HAwkEYE EXECUTIVE
MADE ANSWER TO
HIS CRITIC

HIS CRITIC |
Governor Cummins' letter follows in
full:
Text of the Letter.
"Des Moines, March 24.-Hon. Ste +,
phen B. Elkins. senator in congress
from West Virginia end chairman of
the interstate commerce committee of
the senate, Washington, D. Gil &C
knowledge receipt Of your communities
ton, consisting of eighteen typewrit-
ten pages, dated March 10, 1906.
Your entrance into the Iowa cam
paign is unexpected. but l assure you
1T is not unwelcome. Before you
came in the railroad companies of the
state were fehting me with might and
main, and il the railway companies
and the coal. trusts Of West Virginia
desire to add their strength to the cor
/ pcrations already opposing me it may
make the fight of national interest,
but it will make no difference in the
outcome.
81 tell you frankly in the beginning
that when you say I have no interest
in your campaign for a third term
! do not believe you. You have not
chosen this particular time to write
/ me an eighteen-page letter and give 1t
to the press throughout the country
simply to correct alleged mistakes in
j speeches that have made in the state
of Iowa, or to vindicate the fidelity Of
the interstate commerce committee
against my criticism. You understand
/ perfectly that the issue in Iowa at the
i present moment is whether the corpo-
rations-and especially the railway
companies-shall be permitted to
dominate the policy of the state, and
your purpose is to give your influence
to the railways here, just as have
charged that you gave it to them
wnen appeared before the interstate
commerce committee at Washington.
Minces No Words.
Il intend to be candid about this
matter, and shall leave nothing for
, you to read between the lines. The
proof upon which base my belief in
Z the motive have imputed to you I
will present before | close this com
munication.
81 turn now to the specific state
!, ments of your letter. You set forth
) what purports to be an extract from
Y speech I recently made in Fort
9 Dodge and an extract from a speech
: made few weeks ago In Spirit Lake
: have no way Of determining whether
or not your quotations are literally
> correct. Both speeches were extern
> poraneous, in so f. as phraseology
D goes, and have nothing but memory
with which to test. the exactness Q!
i. your extracts. There is some Ian
: guage in both that | never use, but
Z these departures from rne letter o!
: my. speeches are immaterial, for the
:. spirit and substance of both quota
o lions are correct.
: Admits All Statements.
: 'I did say on both occasions that al
= invitation to appear before your com
If mittee was procured for me by thu
: Iowa Manufacturers association; tina
IS when l took the stand your commit
= tee room was full Of witnesses wait1n,
81 to be heard, and that believed tina
- every one of them was either rail
IN way employee or had gone to Washing
e ton on railway pass; that after dc
J. livering my statement, which requires
lie less than forty-f1ve minutes, wa
'r cross examined nearly six hours; tina
m with very few exceptions the cross
~ examination touching the subject G
=, - my statement was hostile, and intent
at ed to overthrow my position q did nc
I'd include the examination OF Senate
e.i Newlands on another subject); ths
1ei you cross-examined me for nearly fou
OF hours, and that you did not put to m
\ a single friendly interrogatory; tha
J. you occupied toward me exactly tn
ne same attitude that relentless eros
ur examiner occupies toward hostil
N, witness; that during the cross-examil
asI alton counsel for the railway comp;
gu MES sat at your right hand, so clos
ne that at times it seemed to me tia
IN your arms were interlocked; that
-, saw him pass to you many write
NJ questions to be propounded to me-
that | regarded your attitude as III
fair to the people of whose committe
n you were the chairman, and unfait
full to the obligations you had assume
and that l resolved then that / wou
denounce the spectacle throughto1
the length and breadth of the land.
Sticks to Assertions.
so. 81 am not rewriting my speeche
yr. and withdraw nothing from them.
gh am simply putting in cold, calm, ty
mt the substance of what intended
ey say and what believe did say, wit
out attempting to reproduce the lite1
phrase that at any time employed.
ok GAS I read your letters you accu
nd me of falsehood in the following
spects First, in declaring that t
= cross-examination conducted by y
was hostile; second, in declaring tn
an attorney for the railroad compani
! sat at your right hand during the Gro
II examination; third, that you appear
7 to be in communion and sympat
with this attorney; fourth, that duri
the discrimination the attorn
handed to you written questions to
propounded to me.
II shall give some attention to the
four accusations promising that sh
not waste any time in defending
description of the senate as a 'mau
a leum of good resolutions This ia
II is surely matter of opinion, CHI