Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-10-25
Garst Says Cumn,ins
is Friend of Farmer
Special to Times Republican.


Des Moines, Oct. ga strong ap-
peal to the farmers and shippers to
stand by their life long friend. and
vote for Cummins was today given
out by Ex-Governor Warren Carst;
who said:
The democratic organization Is
making a special effort to prejudice
the Iowa farmers against Senator
Cummins on account OF his work on
the railroad bill. This seems unfair
from every standpoint. It is said
some Of the farmers have been in
duced to bitterly oppose Cummins on
the theory that the government is
guaranteeing the railroad owners
five and one half per cent upon their
investment. ! have read the railroad
bill many times. with the result that
believe 1t to be Just and fair
proposition and that instead Of
guaranteeing the railroads five and
one-half per cent return. its pur-
pose and effect Is to limit them to a
five and one-half per cent earning.
Public service companies would
much prefer to ix their own rates
without interference, and these
rates would be universally higher. 1t
is true that the rates have been al
most doubled since 1914. but any per-
SON who desires to be just (and am
sure that tho men and women OF
Iowa want to be Just, especially to
Senator Cummins) should bear in
mind that In 1914 we were receiving
dollar with the purchasing power
OF 100 cents. while in 1890 owing to
the advanced cost OF labor and every
thing else that goes into the cost Of
transportation. we are using a forty
cent dollar"
There Is another phase Of this
question that should be kept in mind
by the farmer. I have an acouain-
lance in Green county who has 1900
bushels Of corn that he could have
sold for approximately 50 bushel at
one time had he been able to secure
cars. One of my Carroll county
friends. not large farmer. told me
a few days ago that on account Of
inadequate railroad service, hi, loss
had been $4,000. do not suppose
there is a farmer in Iowa that has
not suffered more from inadequate
service than he can possibly lose
from increased rates. can speak Of
this with personal knowledge and
from the standpoint of shipper
I'm this connection let us renem-
Der what Cunmins did for us here
in Iowa. Would you be willing to go
back to the old conditions which
have been ended by Cummins and his
influence. namely, the universal use Of
free transportation for those in politi-
cal positions including Judges OF
court and legislators. and shippers
OF influence. with rebates secretly
given? Re>ates were always against
the farmer. for. he was always re-
quired to pay the maximum rates.
These rebates often amounted to a
fair profit but 1t was always an ex-
cess profit. It. was the common prac-
tice. as we all recall. for the rail-
roads under old conditions to build
up one community while tearing
down or destroying another It was
the Cummins influence, after care
full investigation, which disclosed
that the average cost for transporta-
ton of passenger in Iowa was 1876
cents per mile. AS a result the 2-cent
fair bill was passed on, the theory
that the railroads are quasi public
organizations and that such dis
elimination was not only unfair but
was against public policy and for
that reason could not be tolerated
by an intelligent citizenship.
"And so 1t must not be forgotten