The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-07-31
President Ripley Of the Santa Fee Rail
way Tells the Iowa Senator
That His Statements
Are Unfair.
CHALLENGES FIGURES.
He Holds That the Railroads Should
Be Given Fair Deal and Not
condemned by chautau-
qua Speakers.
IChicago Record-Herald. I

lChlcagO Record-Herald.
CHICAGO, July 29-To the editor:
: The Record-Herald Of July "a printed
an excerpt of Senator Cummins'
Peabody. Kansas. chautauqua speech
of July %. l should like to ask Sena-
tor Cummins some questions through
the press, and ask if The Record
Herald will print the following:
e. P. RIPLEY.
Atkinson, Topeka and Santa Fe
Railway System. Presidents Office,
Chicago. July 25-Hon. Albert B. Cum
minis, Des Moines, Iowa, My Dear Sir:
In your chautauqua speech at Pea
body, Kansas, on the the ed inst,
you are reported as saying:
Il am not opposed to the railroads.
No man who values the public welfare
can be hostile to the railroads, but
Justice to all means to pay the right
eous dues as fixed by the laws of trade
competition or through society. The
railroads of the country are capital
ICED at $4,000, 100000 The highest
estimate | have ever heard placed on
the actual amount of independent
capital put into their roads was 49,,
100000, 900. There is nearly nine bill
lion dollars of impure adulterateu
water. You have to pay more than
yoI ought to pay for the service you
get in order to pay dividends on this
vast capitalization. The railroads
charged excessive rates and accumu-
lated surplus and this they put back
into the roads into improvements,
and they now ask you to pay addition
oil ipfn hi
by extortionate rates In ten years
the railroads added $3.500000,000 to
their capitalization in betterments
and extensions without the investment
of single penny of Independent
capital
When congress met, a bill came from
the attorney general l regret to say
that the attorney general forgot that
he was attorney general for 90.000000
people. But he remembered his long
law practice In New York, when his
chief business was to tell the corpora
ton how to evade the law. This bill
provided for the repeal of the anti
trust law under which the traffic as
sociations were broken up and allow
ed all agreements to go into effect
at once. This was plain reputation
of the republican platform. Aldrich,
lin the committee room, said the bill
should pass without the changing of
a letter or the dotting of an +, but
as the bill passed the senate it's own
mother would not recognize it. If 1t
I, had not been for men like Senator
Bristow the bill as it came from the
committee would have passed the sen
ate
Senator AlLrlch has vigorously OPP
posed all regulation of the railroads
by congress ever since the bill to
create the interstate commerce com
mission was introduced in 1887
was born and ALWAYS have been re
publican. but | cannot and will no
follow the leadership of a traitor tt
his party and the people"
Disliked the AIdrich BIZ.
hold no brief for Senator Aldrich
The bill he introduced in congress
was in no sense in the interest of tn,
railroads-on the contrary, it was in
tensely disliked by them. Accordin.
to your account he has sins enough t,
answer for-and he certainly shoul'
be absolved from the sin Tin you
c!cSJ VI having III any HdHlteT ld'OTel
the railroads. is true that the sc
called administration bill was show,
to some of the railroad presidents al
ter it was drawn-and it is also tru
that they unavaningly proteste
against its terms. Also. the attorne
general should he eliminated from tn
condemnation which attaches in you
opinion to eve one who is dispose
to be fair to the railroads; If M
Wickersham has favored the raj
roads in any way 1t has not been oil
served by those most affected. Their
was in the bill only one thing tn;
could by any possibility be considere
as favorable TO the railroads. viz
the right to make legal agreement
as TO rates-a proposition recommen
ed by Roosevelt, by the interstat
commerce commission, and inserte
believe, in your party platform
right, also, which all unprejudice