Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-02-15

measure and was modestly presented.
1t passed the house and the senate
committee killed it on the representa-
tion OF the railroad lobby that the act
1 III passed would be unconstitutional.
4 They made it so plain that every sem
ator whose leanings We're in that di-
rection became firmly convinced the
| bill was In direct conflict with the con-
stitution as it then existed Now come
the railroad attorneys. Carroll Wright
as spokesman, the very man who dis
covered the terrible conflict between
the family mileage book bill of 1906 and
| the constitution. with deliberate pro-
posal for the passage of a bill involv-
| ing identically the same propositions
as compromise in the fight for lower
fares. OF course the senator's have
assumed therefore that the constitution
has been changed else these attorneys
the former constitution would have no
force and effect
| The presentation of the Jones-C;il-
Inland bill was understood at the time
to be for the purpose of paving the
way for compromise, and it was then
declared that this was the program Of
1
| ure 1t was hardly supposed, however,
that the railroads would so quickly
| disclose the fact that this bill was their
| own.
| The fact is that the railroad repre-
sentatives have no idea that they will
either stay the passage of the 2-cent
bill or get the legislature to adopt y
| plan which a year ago they declared
was unconstitutional Their plan is
to make the appearance and continue
| the fight much as a lawyer who knows
he is beaten makes up record as good
as he can. They also hope that the
testimony of the legislature to radical
action will end with the 2-cent fare,
but the action Of the house In passing
| the train speed bill has proved dis
couraging to the railroad representa-
tives. The hearing on 2-cent fare will
be concluded today, and the bill Is
likely to be reported very quickly.
In arguing for the Doran bill fixing
minimum speed for live stock trains
yesterday in the house, Stilman of
Greene county, said:
Gentlemen, before the Northwestern
railroad was double tracked, OF their
own free will and accord, 1 personally
know that the road gave a service to
live stock shippers better than the
service which the present bill
demands. What Is the matter now. And
what has been the matter these last
three or four years? I believe / can
tell you what is the matter. A few
years ago the western railroads be-
came Joined to new idol That idol
is the tonnage system. The order went
forth from headquarters so far as the
freight traffic is concerned, down with
speed, up with tonnage" Not so in
the passenger service. Gentlemen,
call your particular attention to the
vivid contrast between the development
Of the freight and passenger business;
on the one hand is that grey hound, the
fast mail, faster and faster; on the 9TH
err hand, that snail, the slow freight,
slower and slower. The future accord
ing to the testimony OF railroad men.
holds no promise of any improvement.
And l believe that when the managers
OF these great trunk lines dream their
dreams of the freight train of the flu
ture, there arises in their minds the
picture of train which has a gigantic
engine on one end, a caboose at the
other, while between these
stretches a train of freight cars which
is bounded on the west by the horizon
and on the east by the point where
vision fails.
Gentlemen, some classes of freight
can wait the motions of these slow
freights without disadvantage; others
cannot. Among the classes of freight
where time is the very essence of the
contract, are live meat and dressed
meat. Let me tell you that the dressed
meat man, the Armours and Swifts and
the Cudahys are able to take care of
themselves without any help from you
or me; but the live meat men are not
able to take care of themselves and
they come to US and ask for protection
They simply want renewal of the old
service which the roads once did give
and which they know they can give
again. But why, says somebody,
should we constantly interfere with
railway management; in my judgment
we ought not to interfere, except in
cases where public servant has be-
come SO inequitable in his acts as to
jeopardize the public welfare and then
say, wade in. Gentlemen, nothing but
little dynamite in the shape of a law
of the kind sought will separate these
companies from their pet theories on
this question. say, let the explosion
occur"