Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-04-09

The Grier bill to prohibit passes to
any person except employees of the
railroads. who give their whole time
seems to be having some hard sled
ding. 1t is called the Grier bill, but
many think it was inspired by Speaker
Kendall Be that as it may, there is
nothing bad about the bill, but con-
sidering the hopeless confusion 1t has
caused it will be no great misfortune
if it dies a natural death. The bill as
first drawn was designed to do away
with the abuse of giving out annuals;
to prominent and useful politicians
along the line of the railways, under
the plea of "local attorney" or local
surgeon" The bill passed by the last
legislature did not reach this evil. Un-
der the law as it now stands, there
is nothing. to prevent any road from
recognizing one or all the lawyers in
Poweshiek county as local attorneys,
and distributing ANIMALS among them.
Under the interstate commerce law
the roads can not issue interstate pass
es, but they can make transportation
free to any lawyer and surgeon IN
Iowa unless they hold office, if the
roads want to do 1t. 1t is not likely
they will do any such thing, but the
distribution of ANNALS to all or a part
of the members of these two profess
sions, would create most formidable
railroad lobby. 1t was to do away with
the abuse as now practiced that the
Grier bill was designated. 1t passed
the house and went to the senate.
There it was amended so as to permit
a railroad to substitute two lawyers and
two surgeons in each county. This
would give each road in the state 400
heelers. When it came back to the
house, the house rebelled, but finally
the bill was amended so as to except
one lawyer and one surgeon in each
county, and passed.. There is was re-
considered, and now it is up In the
air
There was no great demand for any
such bill, both the state and congress
already having enacted reasonably
stringent legislation, but the bill should
be passed as originally introduced or
killed. To recognize by law the graft
now practiced Is worse than no legis-
lation.
Few people understand what lit
means to be local attorney" along the
line of a railway. 1t sounds well to be
known as the attorney for the Rock
ern at -, and at first thought 1t
would seem to be an advertisement,
and it is; but it is one of those adver-
tisements that a man can afford to pay
for its suppression. The young law
yer or the lawyer newly j, located
thinks it will 7be fine to be known as
the - attorney. The writer once
had such a fool notion, but after car
rying an annual over a certain road
for three years he found it was a
mighty costly ticket.
The local attorney receives no COM
pensation other than his annual. If he
is called on to try case in court, he
is promised fee, but when his road
gets into court, Mr.. of Des
Moines. or Mr.. --, of Cedar Rapids,
is sent to try the case. While he is
retained, he is retained by a client
that pays no fees, and he is precluded
from taking the other side. No one
with a claim against railroad goes
to the attorney for the railroad, and
even if the claim happens to be against
another road, he will not get the case,
for the farmers are afraid OF him. This
has been my experience. and after
pra cticing law for almost thirty years.
/ am ready to say that no lawyer who
wants business, who wants the conf
dence of the public, can afford to be
known as the local attorney for any
railroad.
This explains why the business ties
hung so lightly during the campaign
of last summer. Most men relied on
all the railroad attorneys being In SYM
pathy with the railroad crowd that
were fighting Cummins, and most all
of them were. Most all of them were
loyal to their ANIMALS. All the leading
railroad attorneys supported Perkins.
A few of the. local attorneys did not.
and when Carroll Wright wrote to one
and asked him to support Perkins, he
replied in effect: my sy1npathies are
with Cu1nmins, and I have promised
him my support. There is nothing in
my Job, and If my course Is unsatis-
factory you are at liberty to select
another attorney" Wright -rsDlied'