Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-04-30
One of Two Important Matters
to Be Passed Upon at May
Term of Supreme Court
sALlNeER CASE THE OTHER
Effects of DoIIiver Meeting at Des
Moines So Small That cummins
Meeting Will Not Be HeId-DolIiver
Being Criticized for Misstatements
in His Address.
Special to Times-Republican

Special to Times Republican.
Des Molnes, April 3O--When the SUI
preme court meets for the May term
there will be but two cases for presen-
taton that have attracted any state
wide attention. one of these is the
Charles Rocker case. Rocker was con-
victed of numbering August Schroeder
for whom he worked as farm hand
in Lyon county. The supreme court
will meet next Tuesday and the oral
arguments in the Rocker case will be
made then and it will be the third
time the case will have been submitted
to the supreme court.
There was suspicion of Rocker after
the discovery of the body of Schroed-
err hanging in the barn but in the pre-
liminary examination no sufficient evil
dence was produced and he was not
held. Later Rocker married the widow
of the man he had murdered and
talked in his sleep and told her of the
crime. Her testimony led to his con-
viction. The case was reversed twice
by the supreme court on errors
The other case which will be sub
mitted will be that of Ben l. Salinger
against the Western Union Telegraph
Company. This case will not be reached
till the second period of the term in
June. Salinger made date for some
business affairs that would take him
away from his home. His associates
We're to telegraph him in case he
should not come. They telegraphed but
he failed to receive the telegram and
sued the Western Union for loss of
time and expenses.
In the trial of the case he charged
for railroad fare. tho he rode on pass
and for this the supreme court re-
versed the case. A rehearing has been
granted and this will be argued at the
June period of the May term.
Leaders of the Cummins campaign
for the senate had intended to have a
big demonstration in Des MoineS and
a speech by Governor Cummins as an
offset to the Dolliver meeting. 1t is
now nearly decided not to have this
on the claim that Dolliver had little or
no influence. One of the leaders said
today: "In spite of all their advertis-
ing and bringing in people from sur
rounding towns they could not fill the
Auditorium which seats 2,400 people.
Furthermore that audience was more
Cummins than it was standpat. This
is shown by the way they cheered the
first mention of the name of Cummins.
If Cummins had entered the hall dur
ing the middle of the address there
would have been a demonstration in
his favor that would have stampeded
the audience"
Senator Dolliver is being criticized
because of some of the statements he
made in his address In one of these
he told of Governor Cummins and
Governor Van SAINT going to Washing
ton to see the president to induce him
to put into his message to congress a
recommendation for an amendment Of
the rate law. According to Senator
Dolliver they We're ushered into the
presence of President Roosevelt and
the president drew from a drawer the
manuscript of his recommendation on
that line which he had already pre-
pared and that this was satisfactory to
the two governors who then left, to
claim later that they had induced the
president to make the recommends
tion.
The fact is the two governors called
on Roosevelt for that purpose and he
read them his recommendation and
asked if it satisfied them. They told
him that it did not because the thing
that was mainly wanted was a law
such that the rate would go into ef
feet Immediately and would not be held
up pending a court decision. They
wanted that the rate should go into ef-
feet on the order of the commission
and be in effect till the courts ruled
otherwise. AS the president first made
his recommendation if railroad went
to. the courts to resist a rate it would
not go into effect till the courts decided
it, This would leave the shipper hold
ing the sack while the railroad thru
dilatory methods protracted the suit
thru many years.
The president adopted their idea of
the matter and made the recommended
ton to congress as they wished.
Senator Dolliver also said that be-
cause of the excitement of the Span
ish-A American war the attention of no
one was called to the rate problem
and the matter was allowed to sleep
for some years for that reason. He said
INT ha himself was "asleep' ON tll..
problem for some years. As matter
OF fact the decision of the United
States supreme court which robbed the
commerce commission of its
authority to fix rates was given March
so. 1895. and every report of the COM
mission from that time on to the con-
gress and some of the presidential
messages. call attention to the defect
i'm the law. AS to the commission re-
ports there is no exception at all. Every