Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-06-18
Gigantic Undertaking by Iowa
Z Corn Belt Association
Against Railways
RECOVER TERMINAL CHARGES
Action to be Brought to Secure Re-
turn Of Half Of Rates on Every Car
Delivered at Chicago Stock Yards
Since 1e00-Materal Now Under
Preparation on Which to 6ase Suit.
to Times-Republican.

Special to Times-Republican.
Des Moines, June 1S.-What will
amount to perhaps the most siganuc
undertaking yet attempted by the Corn
Belt Meat Producers Association Will
I.be the suit to be started soon to re-
Icover the excessive terminal switching
,charges made by the railroads for de-
livering cars of livestock to the union
stock yards at Chicago. An under
taking in which it is proposed to re-
cover half of the terminal charges
made on every car of stock delivered
there since August Is, 1900, was an
nounced the other day in a paragraph
of but few lines that appeared In
some of the farm papers.
H. C. Wallace, of Des Moines, who is
secretary of the Corn Belt Meat Pro-
ducers' Association, has prepared
blanks on which the farmers and ship
pers are asked to make out state
ment of the cars they have shipped and
the charges made for terminal delivery.
Since there have been thousands of
cars of stock shipped to Chicago from
the west during the period designated
amounting to seven years, to recover
one half of the terminal charges means
hundreds of thousands Of dollars if not
millions. 1t is claimed that the
chances are good to recover about one
half of the charges made.
Thus far the Corn Belt Meat Pro-
ducers' Association has been very
successful in its undertakings. When
the commission men raised the COM
mission for selling live stock the as
sociation took the matter up and or
ganized a commission firm of their
own. For a time there was some
prise. The old commission houses
We're prophecying that the new firm
of the association would not last six
months. But the farmers took stock
in it and shipped their stock. The
packers were not particular who they
bought of and could hardly turn down
the big shipments of the members of
the association.
Finally the regular commission
houses started boycott and told the
buyers that IL they bought Of the as
sociation's firm the commission houses
would not sell to them. One morning
in Chicago the associations represen-
tatives discovered that the buyers were
passing them up. They went straight
to the packers and the packers called
in their buyers in short order and read
them the riot act. That ended the
boycott. 5t
| The next victory was in the case
/ taken beforei the. Iowa railroad COM
| mission to get lower freight rates on
live stock. 1t, cost the Corn Belt Meat
Producers Association about $1,S00 to
carry the case before the commission,
pay attorneys. secure evidence and
bring in witnesses and the association
won, getting Ia reduction in the Iowa
rates of about 20 per cent or more.
The association is now preparing to
carry the case as to the excessive ter
minal charges at Chicago up to the
Interstate Commerce Commission and
thru the courts If necessary. It will
take considerable money to do this,
including gathering the evidence and
getting witnesses and the officers Of
the association are now busy preparing
for that contest but have no doubts
whatever as to- the outcome of the suit.