New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-02-08

This public good rsh, Of the csp to the bs.
No Whenever any T.rosd corporation IN y:
int paSc GOOD or WSss grants % n e
transport the property Of the citzsr Of Other ss.es priority
better terms than concedes 90 citizens there
abuse Of lis franchise which demands either beurs
Il il dsnon.,sea thai Rsilrosd cor,orrious 10 this State
.y.smsiiesiy managed in way which makes ,he public
ubseIsnt 70 the caprice or supposed ofhe
and renders naga.ory the night Of our c1enst
The bill .ubnted your Committee sgd reported By then
syoIsoy 10 The Assembly rests upon the following consd
IL rests upon principle In the law OF trade that service
rendered and csmPensaou paid shall be pro or 10
It upon the belief that the rsruui,n and restrictions
imposes win be Of ncAcusbs benefit 10 the citizens OF oar
ssscsn o . iss% the sdv5nss'; promised them e tie
wressed from them to be conferred largely upon strsnser
Itress also upon the opinion that railroads instead
BENG ruined OF even stppeS any esate Of t.s
transportation Of freight and consequently larger yields Of dv
It relies upon the Erie Canal .csnovisdsed BY rlro.a
e the .ss OF Is. , diversion q
s. II conempstes compelling railroads TO recognize the great
Viz ibs he public good the paramount coasdsrssos
them being and snst e ,s ~ gsS
ought 70 be, secondary or sy5'eryieLs
The sfsoRf1Y REPORT.
The minority report which Ia also formidable doc
unen begins by complaining Of the unfarness Of the
petitioners and the Inconsistency Of many OF Their ae
Railroad is "grnding monopoly, asserts also tnaf
the railroads Transporting through fre,ght Tor iess
than they can afford. The msjontys report the MI
pority alleges ia based upon mere alegation, contrs-
dced bv positive testimony the para OF tue reinon-
strapts who bad desired that their witnesses testify
under OATH but which was not permitted: Ihe report
then audes 10 the fact OF Legislation durng past years
becoming more and more in favor OF discontinumg spe-
cia leoslation and the adoption Of general statues
which should er able individuals to unite their capital
and transact their business in corporate eapaeN Tree
from the inconvenience OF partnerships ana ~ tner
own election create banks, construct railroads, Nc'
and admitting only OF such future egsiatVe in'eper
ence pressing exgences call for, and then IN man
to infringe no night. II questions the power Of
State to dictate prices for the passing Of the commerce
of other States through our traders to market against
the power conferred upon Congress by the ConSdtus
ton TO "regulate commerce with foreign nations and
among the several States" With $50 0OO, OO0 in
vested in the railroads Of this Stste-onetenfh OF tho
entire taxable property of the state and seven times
the cost of the entire Ere Canathe railroad syetem
had right to look to the State for the guaranty Of its
safety The examination Of witnesses before the Com
mittee saw the minority, elected the subjOned facts:
bnss ss Snd shs other fer through s the two are
y distinct each employing separate assar 1e Sss
That Siierent and higher charged way freight
That Wieter rates higher than Summer rates.
1t was proved that from the nature OF The carrying
trade this difference in rates inevitabe that the
through business related to the ternin OF the roads
only and the way business affected every station
that the one passed the road in bns without de-
Law and without handling, and in large quantities OF
not less than 800 tons while the way business em-
poyed nearly the entire force of the road and was car
red in small quantities for short distances; nor was It
proved in sngle instance that way freight WAS ever
delayed moment in consequence OF any lhtereIence
by freight carried through the whole line: because
of the higher rates per mile charged IN way
freight than in through freight, the majority irsised
that an "uniust discrimination" was made against
c.. In nxrn NJ he rrr
zens of other States and that nearly SEINE rate per
INN per mile should be demanded on all freight without
regard TO whence it came or where IT 10 delivered.
Testimony ola large number of witnesses, mostly
railroad experts is cited by the minority TO show that
the cost of carrying wayfeght greater than through,
and stating the reasons therefor Further testmonyis
also cited 10 show that this same difference IN the prices
of through lover way reghts exists, ana mas always
existed on canals rivers lakes and ocean, and often Id
o. eater degree than the railroads, which statements
were not contradcted by the majority In the opinion
of the minority the general charges that the STATE Goes
not get the best Of the railroads. &e, were unjust,
unless the principle was adopted which through
most of the petitions, that private property IN railroads.
became the prey of personal cqpidiy and public pur-
der and may be corscated whenever ioca ntefessor
popular opinion becomes corrupt enoughto demand n.
The minority state that the allegation in the peh-
ii. als and in the majority report that local ireghts
had been compelled to await the convenience oil
through freight had not been sustained by the proof;
that it was hardly possible any such thing could occur
except in rare intervals al the termm OF the ROAD,
and then only in the event OF the equipment beng
deficient, no instance of which was brought 70 the
attention of the Committee. On the contrary, ii has
been proven by Mr. DTullard, the superintendent of
the freiaht department OF the NewYork Central Rail-
road that between the 10Th OF October and the 10Th
of November 100 carloads, 600 tuns OF freight,
were forwarded for tbe citizens OF Buffalo to Eastern
points Ii was during this period that tue majority
report asserts that freie ut forwarded for ct
zens of Buffalo. 1t was alleged by the petitioners,
based upOn an article in THE n. Y. TRIBUNE, that
drover had driven his cattle from Bergen, on the line
of the Central Railroad, TO Buffalo, and shipped them
from there to New-YoIk, saving S5OO by 50 DOING
Mr.. Drusrd denied the truth OF this he stated that
when cattle were transported az remuneratlye rates,
they had been accustomed to allow droyers TO take
off Their cattle on the line for weeks pasturage aud
then forward them without additional expense. but
at the time alleged this was refused on account OF
the low rates of transportation. The result was, the
cattle took the cars at Buffalo, and went through
without change.
The minority urged that this difference in price could
not operate against the interest Of the producers OF
NewIork State unless could De shown that by the
difference the amount Of products in the market was
go increased to lower the prices Of the PRODUCTS
which had not been pretended. As regards the aie-
CATION thar this difference had diminished the value Of
land the minority show, from the records OF the Con,
roers Department, that the increase of the assessed
valuation OF real aud personal property, between tne
years lS4S and 1888, during which time the railroad
system Of the State had been perfected, was Oy per
cent that from the year ISIS 10 lSiS while the can1s
were the ulltde Of success and before The railroads
had become extended, was 3 per cent and that me
increase from 1873 20 1898 when the influence oil the
canals was felt in developing the resources OF the
State, the increase was 81 per cent.
The taking of through freight az less price per tan
per mile the minority held TO be JustllaDle because
that the fact of the rolling stock and equipments oes
in order and used principally for the way business
coud take through business IN addlron wlihons MAJ
rally incre Asing the expense, and ~ cost u'sh
than the average OF lts ordinary puslles ~, uraof