The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1920-04-29
SMITH BROOKHART SWATS CUM.
MINIS,
Answers Senator's Defense of Guar
antee to Railroads.
MARSHALLTOWN, Ia, Al

In speech to farmers and labor
ing men here tonight, Col. Smith w
Brookhart, candidate for senator
answered the speech of Senator A
B. Cummings to the republican con,
vention yesterday.
! He said Senator Cummins defend,
ed his railroad guarantee bill on the
shelter watered capitalization, that
it did not guarantee a return, thai
nobody opposed it but the Plumt
Plan league, the committee of forty
eight and the socialists, and that il
| is a step in the right direction.
Colonel BroOkhart said:
I'm order to reach, these conclu-
Cummins to forget his record OF
twenty years, to forget his minority
report Of Feb. II, 1918, to forget
his speech before the Iowa Legislature
on March q, 1919, and to forget
the Cummins plan which he then
proposed.
ION page 4 of his minority re-
port he denounces the return guar
anteed by the government when the
by S175, 10000 a year. On page 6
he explains this guaranty amounted
to S.5 per cent, as follows: Upon
the par value of all the capital stock
of all the railroads of the country.
The mere statement of the proposal
puts it beyond defense. 1t is
known to all students or even OBJ
servers of the subject that the great
er part OF the capital stock of the
value whatever
'ln his speech he forgot all of
this and justified return, which
figured by his own rule would yield
8 per cent on all this capital repre-
senting on value whatever
In his report of Nov. 10, 1919,
on page II, he says his bill would
original government guaranty and
that does not consider the extra
one half per cent, which would yield
still another $90,000,000. Now, if
the original government guaranty
was indefensible because the return
was $175 100000 too high, then the
Cumnins bill is still more indefens-
ible because upon the same basis the
return is $4,000 too high
1t Is a Guarantee.
Does the Cummins bill guaran-
tee a return of 6 per cent? In his
brilliant speech the senator denied
this in most emphatic terms. But
in his speech to the legislature. SEN
ate journal. page l,%14, in DISCUSS
ing the methods ,oh guaranteeing a
return, he said: There are various
be applied. 1t may take the form
of a legislative assurance that the
rates will be sufficient to produce
the sum required That is exactly
what the Cummins bill does. The
senator himself taught us to call ii
p guaranteed return. He should not
forget his own words. 1t is not
guaranteed by the treasury but it is
guaranteed by another branch of the
government just as powerful as the
treasury.
'lf the government would es-
tablish board with power to fix
prices Of farm products high enough
TO pay all hired help, the wife and
children for their work, the farmer
for his own work. all eX-
penScS of repairs and uplSeep with
81 per cent upon the full value OF
his farm stock and equipment and
with an extra one-haIf per cent to
build fences and paint the barn, and
then command that board by law to
do those things. the farmer would
think he had first-class guaranty.
''That is exactly what the Cum
Minis bill does for the milliOnaires
who own the railroads.
The senator enaa sets up the The Ply Plumb NIB
the socialist plan and knocks it
down and he sets up the committee
of forty-eight plan and knocks it
down. If these performances al
ford him any amusement, or salts
faction, I shall not object.
''He forgets to strike at the Cum
Minis plan presented to the legis-
lature- He forgets to explain why
at ST. 900. 100000 as against S2O,-
900, 100000 for his bill. He forgets
to mention that it would only cost
4 Y per cent on the whole amount
He forgets to state that it would
stop the capitalization of the unearn-
ed increment of property values to
the amount of 100000, 900 or $40O,-
100000 a year and which he. des-
cribed as constant menace His
bill also neglects to provide for any
of these things.
ANY railroad bill that allows an
excessive capital return of $319,OOO,-
900, that guarantees it by an assur-
ance Of rates high enough to pro-
tluce it, that neglects the elimination
OF unearned increment and the
watered capital Is not step in the
right direction.
ssIt, is several steps in the wrong
direction.
Silent on Cooperation.
The farmers of Iowa should also
ask Senator Cummins what the word
cooperation means. He never used
it in his long speech. 1t is not
straw man. I have made it square
issue.
/ Il have proposed specific plan
to require the packing and milling
industries to reOrganize under the
cooperative system. That
would give the farmers q voice in
their own markets. A federal