Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-02-01
ATTORNEY FOR CORN BELT MEAT
PRODUCERS REPLIES TO
COMMISSION.
RAIL BOARD ROASTED
FOR ACTION IN SUIT
Thorne Declares That Action Of Meat
Producers Association Was Open
and Above Board-Thorne's Reply
Called Forth by ketchum's State
ment.

Des Moines, Feb. 1.-Clifford Thorne
of Washington, attorney for the Corn
Belt Meat Producers Association, in an
open letter to Commissioner Ketchum
declares that the latter is wrong in his
two main contentious set forth in the
gard to the rate case out of which the
trouble between the Corn Belt associa-
ton and the commission has grown.
Mr.. Thorne answers Mr.. Ketchum' S
statement in no uncertain terms and
takes the commissioner to task for
What Thorne calls msstatements. He
defends the Corn Belt Meat Producers
Association against the charge that its
actions have not been open and above
board in the case against the railways.
He adds that the association was COM
PEELED by the boards inactivity to COM
mence a suit that should have been
letter follows:
Jan. %, 1910-Hon. y. S. ketchum,
Des Moines, Iowa-Dear Sir: see in
YOUR statement OF Jan. 2S that YOU put
forth two brand new propositions in
in the livestock case.
You say first, that the nixup was
due to our association in not proceed
ing in an open and above board man
ner to secure the Intervention; that a
petition asking for the intervention
should have been filed, etc.
If you will take the trouble to read
sections 2120-A and 2120-B of the sup
plement to the code, you will find that
the course we have pursued conform 5
TO all the requirements of the law. gu
say that we should have filed a petition
asking for your tervention. There is
no such requirement whatever in the
law. If petition from us was desir-
able then you certainly should hear by
answer from the other side. But if you
are to act in that capacity indicated,
you should not confine yourself to the
pleadngs but you should hear the evil
dence from both sides, in other words
you should compel a shipper who is
over charged a dollar or"five dollars a
car to prosecute his case before the in
terstate commerce commission, and by
| that time he will have another case to
prosecute before the commerce court,
and all this for the value of that one
dollar per car. There might be many
arguments in favor Of that course of
action but that does not happen to be
the plan outlined by our state leSisia-
! ture. On the other hand we find the
law to read: Whenever 1t shall come
to the knowledge of the board of rail-
road commissioners either from their
own investigation or by complaint made
/ to them in any manner whatsoever
| that the rates charged by any common
carrier on interstate business are un-
! Just or unreasona ble". etc, 1t shall be
their duty Immediately to try to get
/. the railway officials to remedy the Sit
uation, and, upon failure there, to
prosecute the matter before the inter-
state commerce commission.
In the same statute we find sit is
hereby made the duty of the board of
railroad commissioners to exercise
selves of the rates, charges. etc." and
to commence and to prosecute the nee
essary proceedings.
In other words it was plainly your
duty to carry the burden Of this whole
task We were helping to carry your
burden. Incidentally, I should like to
ask how many cases have you prose-
cuted under the provisions of this law.
person and by letter we fully COM
piled with both the letter and the spirit
of the law. There is no petition re-
/ CURED or even suggested until the
matter reaches the interstate COM
merce commission. and such a petition
was properly prepared on your behalf
| by the attorney general, and 1t was
duly filed with the said commission as
evidanoad nv comics from their records
attached hereto.
/ The second bit Of news contained in
| your published statement is the
astounding doubt whether the board
was ever really in the case at all as
an intervenor." In reply to this bald
assertion I simply attach hereto copy
of the petition, referred to above, OF
the Iowa Board of Railway Commits
sioners, signed by d. ]. Palmer, chair