Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-03-21
Wickersha,n Bin and the Farmers
[1owa HON estead.]

Looking over the three year record
of President Taft we can not find any
act in which he more clearly showed
his reactionary tendencies or more
closely allied himself with big bust
ness, to the intended hurt Of the farm
er, than in his attitude on this prob
lem of transportation. 1t was under
his direction. and practically on his
express orders, that the ubiquitous
Wickersham bill was introduced IN
congress and forced thru the commit
tee of the senate, with the aid of such
brother reactionaries as .Aldrich, OF
Rhode Island, and Elkins, of West
Virginia. Had it not been for the de-
| termined stand Of Senator Cummins
OF Iowa, this bill would have been
forced upon the farmers of the grain
belt at cost to them of hundreds OF
thousands of dollars. 1t is we'll to con-
slider the matter for a few minutes at
this time when President Taft in one
breath is declaring himsef a progress
sive and in the next breath is classify
ing the real progressives as "neurotics'
and ''emotionalists."
Inc Wicker sham bill was prepared
by President Taft's attorney general.
under Taft's supervision and embody
ing Tafts ideas. In the great major
ity Of Its details it sought to undo the
remedial legislation of a quarter of a
century and to restore to The railroads
the right to foist any rates upon the
public, withholding from the inter-
state commerce commission the right
to pass upon the business of these
into effect. 1t provided for the crea-
ton of an altogether new tribunals:
the United States court of commerce.
Under the bill, as drawn by Attorney
General Wickersham and embodying
the ideas of President Taft, it would
have been possible for any grain belt
railroad to have foisted any desired
freight rate upon the farmers and
livestock shippers and to have main
tanned these rates in effect until the
interstate commerce commission had
had time and opportunity to deter
mine their reasonableness. In view
of the immense amount Of business
which the commission has to dispose
Of it might have been months or even
years before the rates could be ex-
amined. In the meantime the farmers
and livestock shippers would have
been paying the increased rates.
When the Wickersharn bill came up
for discussion in the senate, Senator
CumminS made a four-day speech in
which he exposed the harmful iniq-
uitous features of the bill, declaring
that it undid the beneficial legislation
of a quarter Of a century and was a
decided step backward. Under SEN
ator Cummins able and efficient lead
ership practically every harmful fac
tor of the bill was rescinded or
amended. save one. He altered the
phraseology so that the interstate
commerce commission was given au-
thority to decide the reasona bleness
of the desired rates in advance of their
going into effect He increased the
powers Of the commission in various
ways. But he was not able to prevent
the creation of the commerce court,
the province of which is to hear ap-
peals from the decisions Of the inter-
state commerce commission The
Wickersham bill, in it's amended form
passed and created a new court COM
posed of five judges of the circuit
court, drawing salary of $4,000 in
addition to their regular circuit court
salary of $1,000 and mourning an ad-
ditioral annual expense altogether Of
about 500 600. Senator Cummins pre-
dicted, in his four-day speech il the
senate, that the new court would be an
absolute failure and would have no
other result than to undo the good
work of the interstate commerce COM
mission and undermine public con-
fidence in the judiciary. Here are his
exact words:
1t is just as important to the honor
of the Administered ton of the law In
our country that the people shall have
unbroken and unbounded confidence in
the judgments OF the court as it is
that those judgments shall be right
and true; and if you create a tribunal
commissioned only for the trial Of
railway cases, selected as this tribunal
originally is to be. and recruited as
this tribunal is 70 be from time to
time, I predict that whether right or