Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1908-01-24
OPENING OF CUMMINS FIGHT
Judge PrOuty Fires First Gun at
Foster Opera House in Des Moines.
ALSO TAKES A SHOT AT DOL1IvER
Lands Cummins MS only Man who
Has Ever Been Able 20 Hold HIs
own Against the Power of
the Corporations.



DEs ~MoINEs, Ia. Jan. 23.--tspecis1
Telegram Before an enthusiastic audi
ence in Fosters opera house i'm this city
tonight Judge S. f. Prouty delivered an
address that marks the opening of the
campaign of Governor A. b. Cummins for
the United States senate to succeed Will
liam h. Allison. Judge Prouty spoke most
earnestly and to a large extent laid down
the lines on which the contest is to he
fought in which he claimed that it is
not a contest between men, but between
forces and that, the reactionarics are
aligned with the candidacy of Allison
in the hope of defeating the prOgressives
of Iowa.
Judge Prouty spoke for two hours lie
devoted the Introductory part of his ad-
dress to a discussion of the conditions
of the nation and charged that the CON
test in the nation in which Roosevelt is
aligned on one side with the corporations
against him. is exactly the same as that
in tho state Of Iowa, with Cummins on
one side and the corporations, especially
the railroads, on the other lie devoted
some time to reciting the history of many
men of prominence who had gone into
the legislative halls of congress or the
Iowa general assembly and had dared to
espouse the cause of the people only
to DC dealt with by the railroad power
and either defeated for reelection or
else made subservent. He declared that
the political arena of Iowa is strewn with
the wrecks of the men against whom the
force of the railroads has been thrown
and he knew of but one man who mas been
able to withstand it. He declared that
he had. while a member of the Iowa legis-
lature, overheard the late Judge Hubbard,
then attorney for the Northwestern, tell
J. w. Blythe, attoney for the Burlington,
while sitting on a sofa in the rear of the
senate chamber, that a certain senator
from western Iowa then making
speech, was Occupying the center Of the
stage for the last time" and that If he
ever came back "he will be so gentle
that he will stand without hitching and
will lick salt out of our hands
Compliments TO DOIIiver.
Judge Prouty then paid his compliments
to Senator j. p Dolliver and declared
that while Dolliver has not felt the heavy
hand of this force, he has seen it's warn
ing finger. He said that Dolliver has
shown little Independence" in voting
for the rate bill in congress and consider
able independence in resisting the plans
of this organization to capture the last
convention by fraud" He said further
tht Dolliver knows that this force offered
" Jpih win liiN pioBiNSSANtb NllS
last time to defeat his reelection to the
senate.
After some little further consideration
Of Doliiver personally. Judge Prouty said
that a careful reading of Delivers ad-
dress showed that ''he places the crown
ing achievement of Senator Allison's life
on six things:
l. His revision Of the internal revenue
laws.
? His fight for the gold standard
3. His connection with the formation of
a commission government for the city of
Washington.
4. The resumption of specie payment.
3. His connection with the banking and
currency legislation.
6. His connection with the recent rail-
road legislation.
He endeavored to minimize or answer
these in detail.
Going finally to tie last matter of rail-
road rate legislation, Judge Prouty ex-
pressed a desire to give all credit possible
to Senator Allison and Senator Dolliver,
but called attention to the fact that for
I ten years, from 1887 to 1897, the Inter
state Commerce commission exercised the
I power of making rates and then the su-
preme court declared it \had no such
power, and it was another ten years be-
| fore a lay was enacted to give it that
| power.
Referring to Delivers appeal to the
| beautiful sentiment PrOuty referred to
what he termed the "fiasco of 1900 -
! when the legislature elected Gear, who
! died of old age before the term to which
he was elected began, and said: "rhey
/ are now appealing to this beautiful SEN
/ timent' to re-elect to the senate a man
/ so years of age, decrepit and enfeebied by
disease. not that they might show him
greater honor, but that they might pre-
serve their power This force makes
use of this beautiful sentiment when
they need it and turns it aside with a
sneer when it does not serve their pur-
| pose or design
He declared that Dolliver had spent
two hours at Council Bluffs In telling
what Allison had done. but that he might
have spent three days in telling the things
| that he had not done