The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-04-23
SENATOR CUMMINS SPEAKS.


the senate of the United States, oul
friend Senator Cummins of Iowa
has been "seein' things" Listen te
the outgoings OF his perturped ahc
vision-ridden spirit:
''In connection with the proceed
ings before the commission there Is
in progress the most comprehensive
energetic and persistent campaign
that | have ever witnessed to make
the people of the country believe thai
the effort of the government has re-
suits in dismal, disastrous fallIre;
that the government in its endeaVol
to protect the people has impoverlsh'
ed the transportation companies; tha'
it has driven them into bankruptcy
and ruin; that it has destroyed their
credit and rendered them incapable
of performing the service which com
MERGE demands; that it has outlaWed
tim from the confidence Of capital
and exiled them from the field of the
investor
II do not assert that the campaign
is being carried on to affect the COM
mission, for the railroad companies
know that it cannot be SWerved a
hairs breadth from the path OF its
duty but do assert that the movers
of this campaign are trying to DO an
infinitely more Objectionable thing.
They are trying to mislead and per-
vert the judgment of the people.
They are trying to deceive the coun-
try with exaggerated cries OF distress
in order to escape the control which
experience has demonstrated should
be imposed upon all corporations
which undertake a public service
The good senator should take a
drink of something long, cool and
nonexhilarating-s an Apolllnarls
lemonade, if we may be specific. He
should then cast his eye once more
over the country and take counsel
of his hopes.
There is nothing frivolous or jocu-
lar in this suggestion. Perish the
thought! When a statesman cuts him
self loose entirely from facts and goes
aeroplaning away through the clouds
reason with him. What he needs is
not to be convinced but to be soothed.
What is chiefly the matter with
Senator Cummins is not ignorance,
but excess of knowledge. He does
not know too little; he knows too
much and knows it too well. He says
that the movers of the campaign for
Algher railroads rates ARE trying to
mislead and pervert the judgment Of
the people. They are trying to
awaken sympathy by false pretenses.
They are trying to deceive the coun-
try with exaggerated cries of dis
tress,' etc.
Does Senator Cummins know that
the present rates are adequate?
The Interstate Commerce Commits
sion does not know it. 1t frankly adj
mits it does not know whether pres
ent rates are too low or not. 1t is
only because it does not know that
the government is preparing to spend
several millions of dollars on the val
uation of the railroad properties of
the United States. Will anybody be-
lieve that a thing which the Inter-
state Commerce Commission can only
find out through the work OF a corps
of experts extending over period of
years has been miraculOusly revealed
to Senator Cummins?
Here is the rate situation in a nut
shell: The railroads say their rates
are too low. Just to what extent this
is true cannot be known until we
know exactly what the railroads are
worth. This will take years to find
out, We do know, however, that
rates have been stationary for sever
al years while prices Of railroad labor
and railroad equipment and railroad
supplies have gone steadily up, and
that during that time various safely
laws and other regulations have
greatly increased railroad expense. II
the rates now in force were fair a
dozen years ago, they are surely too
low now.
In one respect a railroad is like a
live animal. Dame Nature has pro-
vided way to take care of an excess
of nourishment; it goes into harmless
flesh But deficiency of nourish-
ment starves the creature to death.
If the railroads of the country do not
need the advance they ask for, to
give it to them can do little harm,
until such time as the government
can determine just what their prop
erty should earn But if they need |
the increase and do not get it, the
before fuller !:nowl
edge comes, will be disastrous to the
whole nation.
An occasional senator whose mind |
works by inspiration may know that
rates are high enough. The govern
ment experts do not know this. In
view of the length of time it will take
them to find out, and the fact that on
the face eli It the case Of the railroads
seems to be good one, is it not the
part of common sense to grant the
advance? Meanwhile, Senator Cum
minis might we'll look over his speech
in cold blood, and then add to it a
quotation from ST. Paul: 81 speak as
q fool. st. Louis Republic.
I If the coming republican conven-
ton Endorses the Clarke adminiStra-