Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-10-17
Proxy Committee of Illinois
Central Works All Night
With Slow Progress
HARTMAN PLEADS FOR PEACE
Grows Confidential With the Press
Representatives and the Meeting
and Takes Occasion to DepIore War
on Corporations - Sick of His Own
Country.

Chicago, Oct. 17.-When the meeting
of stockholders of the Illinois Central
railroad reconvened this morning the
proxy committees were not ready to
report and adjournment was taken un-
til 8 o'clock this afternoon. No vote
was taken on directors.
When the meeting opened the proxy
committee, which worked for great
er part of the night, had gone only
thru the letters, A and B and had got
ten a little way into c. The, Hartman
faction was anxious for a Showdown
and when it was evident a vote could
not be taken Immediately, Cromwell
proposed that all proxies be submitted
to the meeting as they stood, and that
the test of strength be had in this way.
Judge Farrar, for Fish, objected to this
as useless, saying it was known that
many revocations of proxies had been
given and that showdown would not
be an actual test of strength.
A touching expression of the mutual
confidence entertained by the warning
factions was shown last night when
both the Hartman and Fish proxies
were placed in one of the vaults IN the
Illinois Central offices. Both sides
promptly placed watchmen outside the
vault and they remained on duty until
the proxy committees called for the
papers today
Hartman Wants Peace.
Just before adjournment Hartman
pulled his chair up to the press table
and declared he believed it would be
an excellent thing for the country IL
cooperation could be secured between
the conflicting interests without re-
course to such examinations as are
conducted by the interstate commerce
commission and similar inquisatorial
bodies.
ATTACKS on capital that have been
going on thruout the country for so
long" he declared, "are enough to make
man sick of the country and tired
of it, and the newspapers must get
something else to print or they will not
sell any longer. The thing for the
parties to do is to hold conference
with representatives of the press pres
ent, and in that manner avoid all this
flood of ex-parte statements. Both
sides can have fair hearing. Some
times the railroad may be technically
guilty of violation of law when it is
not so in spirit. A recent example OF
this is the overfowing Of the Colorado
river, along the line of the Southern
Pacific railway. The government was
not inclined to take up the problem Of
forcing the river back into its banks,
and turned the job over to us. We
paid for it all, and when we came to.
ship material out there the Colorado
Improvement Company asked for a
rate on the stuff which was to be
used in damming the river. We quoted
them the same rate that the railroad
would charge against itself for trans
portation of its own material. Tech
nically this was violation Of law, be-
cause 1t was a lower rate than would
be given ordinarily to other people in
the same business as the Colorado
Improvement Company.
Practically, however, as we paid for
everything we were only making the
usual rate that we make to ourselves.
Now on partisan statement of facts,
that affair could be twisted into a vio-
lation of law, if no explanation was af-
forded. It is to avoid such miscon-
struction as would be possible under
similar circumstances that I deplore
these constant Investigations. be-
lieve it is the newspapers of the coun-
try which can best create a healthier
condition of public opinion