Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-03-26
Lawyers of the State Believe
Minnesota Decision Will Not
Affect This State
DANGER FROM POLITICIANS
Should standpat Crowd Gain Control
of Legislature 2-Cent Rate Law
Might Be Repealed-RaiIroads May
Make Effort to Secure Favorable
Decision
speclal to rlmes- Republtcan.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, March 26.-1ntelligence
that an onslaught Is to be made on
the Iowa rate law is contained in an
Associated Press dispatch from Chi
cago under date OF March "a. The
information is that encouraged by the
successful attempt to knock out the
Minnesota rate law the railroad pres
idents will make an attack on the rate
laws of all western states.
Information on the matter is meagre
but members of the Iowa railroad
commission and the state officials
generally are not worried by the re-
port tho there will be no surprise If
an attack is made and continued on
| the two cent fare law. They do not
/ believe that any attack will be made
or would be successful against the
freight rate law.
/ In the Minnesota case the decision
t of the United States supreme court
! was on an application of the attorney
general of that state for writ OF ha-
beas corpus for release from paying
| a penalty imposed by the federal dis
trict court. He had ignored the In
I junction of the federal court not to
| attempt to enforce the state rate law
/, and was fined 500 for contempt. In
the dispatches it is said that in its de-
cision the United States supreme court
! held that the Minnesota law Is invalid
because of excessive penalties.
While the reports are confusing law
yers are inclined to believe that the
supreme court has not in fact held
the Minnesota law invalid and that this
matter will be determined later in fur
Their suits. But in any event they do
not believe it possible to make an at
| tack in Iowa on other than the two
cent fare law. The Iowa rate law
has been in effect for twenty years.
1t was taken to the United States
courts once and tried in the district
court which held that it was valid.
1t was never appealed to the United
States supreme court, however but all
the railroads are obeying it.
Every time the railroad commission
of this state has had a hearing on rate
matters at which the railroads have
had a hearing the railroad attorneys
have talked against the Iowa distance
tariff. They have claimed that 1t Is
inelastic and should be abolished and
the railroads allowed to make rates
subject to the consent of the railroad
commission just as is done. in inter-
state affairs putting in rates from one
particular city to another and not max
irg q fiat distance rate. The idea has
found favor with many shippers and
there would be no occasion for surprise
if the roads attempted to get some
thing done in the legislature along
that line
Not long since in a conversation a
prominent standpatter who is in a
position to speak on information said
that when the next legislature met the
work of undoing some of the things re-
cent legislatures have done would be-
gin. He intimated that with the next
Legislature the antiCummins men
would have their innings and some of
the 'hoasted reform legislation" enact
ed by the last legislature when the
Cummins people were in the saddle
would be wiped out
A primary election will be held June
. and 1t and the general election on
November 8 will determine whether
the two-cent fare, joint freight law,
anti-pass and other reform measures
will be repealed but it is considered
we'll that the state should know that
if LATE Young George D. Perkins.
James G. Berryhill and j. w. Blythe
rule the next legislature some of the
measures that the people have worked
so long and faithfully to secure would
be short lived.
Steel cases have been prepared and
placed in the rotunda of the state
house next to the cases containing the
flags that went thru the civil war.
These steel cases have been placed
there to contain the flags used by Iowa
companies and regiments during the
Spanish American war and the col
onels of the Iowa regiments are now
engaged in preparing program for
/ the occasion when the flags are placed
there. The colonies of the Iowa regi-
ments at that time were Dow, jackson
Lopez and Humphrey. The flags are
| in the possession or the adJuta1l gen
eral. The date of the ceremony hls
not been fixed but will be some lme
during the summer following the pri-
maries when all the state officials win
be at leisure and the captains and
other officials of the guard companies
| over the state can attend
| W. G. Jones of Oskaloosa has filed
his nomination papers with the secre-
tary of state as to have his name
placed on the primary ballot of the re-
publican party as a candidate for state
senator from the Fourteenth district.
/ Colonel Guy Logan. assssta'.. adju-
tant general, has a letter fr3m former
Iowa man who is now in Montana In
| the letter he states THAI the repub-
licans of Montana are discussing Cum
imins as a presidential possibility for
1916 The general conviction among q
large number Of the republicans Of
that state according to this gentleman
| is that if Cummins is sent to the senate
lbv Iowa this time, he Wti, I've :. formid-
able candidate for president.