Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-02-22
Attorney For Corn Belt Meat
Producers Discusses Injustice
of Freight Rates
FACTS DEVELOPED IN HEARING
Three -fourths of the Iowa Farmers
Are Paying SIS a Car More to Get
Their Cattle to Chicago Than 1t
They Shipped From Kansas City -
Other Iowa News.
Special 10 Times-RepuhIlcan.

Washington, Feb %. - Clifford
Thorne. attorney for the Corn Belt
Meat Producers Association, has just
returned from Chicago, where he has
had charge of the complanants case
against the Iowa. Chicago trunk lines
of railway before the interstate COM
merce commission. At this hearing
three days We're taken up on hearing
the evidence of the railways. In
press interview today Mr.. Thorne said:
IF l represented railroad company.
my client would demand to know the
status Of any case involving several
hundred thousand dollars annually.
believe that the 5000 members of the
Corn Belt Meat Producers Association
and the other stock men of the state
ent status of their case. Practically all
of the evidence has been introduced by
both sides of our case pending before
| the interstate commerce commission.
| ~ lIe CONCLUSION VI ltlC lASS Ai'shi VI =
| at Chicago we asked for time to intro
| duce rebuttal testimony and the re-
quest was granted. The railroads have
asked that when the argument is made
| it shall be oral, before the entire inter-
state commerce commission at WASH
| ington, d. c. This request was grant
ed; and Mr.. Prouty said the date would
probably be set some time in May.
| Now what facts have been developed
| in this case?
During the past few months I have
| had occasion to make somewhat eX-
haustive examination of the rates on
live stock from Iowa towns to Chicago
Take a concrete illustration. We find
| that the farmer here in Washington.
Ia, pays s4S to ship an ordinary car
of cattle to Chicago. If he lived in
| Missouri. the same distance from the
| big market at East st. Louis. ILL.,, he
would save $14.40 on every car. But
suppose he lived down in Kansas.
where the amount Of live stock traffic
is small compared to Iowa. Even there
he would save $3.50 on every Gar of
cattle he shipped to Kansas City. While
if he lived the same distance from
Chicago on the same railroad but
across the river in Illinois, he would
save $3.50 on every car. In this con-
nection remember Iowa sends about
10000 cars of cattle to Chicago annu-
ally. aside from hogs and sheep.
IF we had feeding in transit rates
as they do in Kansas and Nebraska
the tables ] compiled, and which were
verified by Mr.. Wallace show that it
would save the great bulk of Iowa
farmers $40 to 500 per car. Waterloo
Stanley and Oelwein are less than half
way from Chicago to Kansas City. And
yet it costs over 81 more to ship every
car of cattle from these towns to Chi
cago than it does for twice the dis
lance from Kansas City to Chicago on
identcally the same railroad. Three
fourths of the farmers in this state are
paying IS car more to get their cat
tie to Chicago than If they shipped
from Kansas City.
Sometimes isolated instances are
misleading. Let us take a general av-
erage. You are mostly interested in the
rates on cattle. can boil down into
one sentence the result of an investi-
cation requiring weeks and weeks Of
hard work by several stenographers. 1t