, 1865-12-18
THE BLoomlNGToN CONVENTION,

A convention Of farmers Rud merchants IVES
held on Friday last at Bloomington, In this
State, for tho purpose, among other things,
Of considering the outrages which have been
pcrpetratcd on the producers OF Illinois dur
the past two years by the railroad corpora.
lions Of the Northwest A full report d. tho
proceedings Of this Convention was published
In the TRIBUNE Of Saturday, and those Of our
merchants who have not closely pcruscd
them, and who have been suffering on &C.
count Of heavy stocks and Light trnde, had
better devote IN honr or two to this subject,
without further delay, -. :..-.- -
At the Convention alluded to there was
quite yaricty Of subjects introduced, nearly
oil bearing on the transportation QUESTION; :.
but the leading topic discussed, aud On whlch
the greatest amount OF indignation was ex-
pressed, was the freight e1tortion perpetrated
on The producers Of Illinois for two years
past BY those who hare Ind the management
Of the railroads" leading westward from Chi
CCego. On this point, our correspondent tele-
graphs IS as to1lows:
y aa sorry IL :ay. but II truth shat uueh Of
the indignation Of thr.> men Is aitncd against CHI
e4eu They believe that 1s,nndesable prcpondt1-
ance ol 1e3r wrongs. haye their o.an tn that city.
The 1atroads. or perhaps should say tne :@!road
esnse 1be most unscrupulous, afe believed to Be
tagely owned nn9 mostly controlled BY Chicago |
clizctA and on The reeotnpcnsine principle. there
Its ncfe iTom ibe So1:hs esesa pa I Of IL sisis
who ere determined no remedy ior their wrongs
Is pSos'd;sd 1 y soqr city, 10 t9 their rsae
they will DO 80, and ! feel sure they viii.
River facilities no open to St. Louis from a
,1a as .s nsS j.. sch lef consaa 1ssn
business transactions 10 chicago They announce
their intention 10 abandon their chlcaeo connec-
10 unrpeanins th1eals. but they viii do what t6ey
say. These threats cone particularly fsom Lee
Whites1de, Knox, Mercer, Warren, Hcndcr.on and
not induced by any wrong coming rom Chicago
merchants. Their good ZANE Is IN the montha Of
az hsre: & Sn' II they ar compelled 10 protect them
dct1n /. essential that these facis shonid Be-
l0own and appreciated by The Chicago btslncss
ihe caisnls which hsnes over @ tbs tarS" VII Attess
The truth, however, Il BY no means half.
told In the above extract. There is not q
large merchant doing business within two
hundred miles Of Chicago but hns lost thou-
sands Of dollars in consequence OF TIC actual
Elsmanagemcnt OF railroad officials. They
hare not only imposed on the people ont
sagcous rates of,frclght, put they have neg
1cctcd their buEiness by keeping back Lumbar.
merchandise, etc, for weeks, sud cyeu
months, when there was no possible excuse
for such dc1ay. There Is not dry goods
merchant OF, a lumber dealer in The city but
VIII bear us out in what we say. For
OF two years our lumbermeu have
had TO dance attendance on the railroad OH.
c1als, day after day, and week after week.
Rnd beg for carB to carry Off the lumber ]
which they have sold. As for the dsT goods
they have been obliged to send |
Ehe great bulk Of their goods by the .scx,ress
!" which are nnrsed and to,tercd |
BY these same sra1lroad oflcinls, at rates
Which are PERFECTLY enormous.
There arc some Of our eitizcus who have +
such strong faith IN The destiny Of Chicago,
That they may look upon all this indignation
On thcspar Of the people Of the interior rs
mere temporary outburst; but We warn our
merchants against any such dcl1siun. The |
people Of the Northwest. arc In earnest and.
unless something Is done to remedy the evils
complained of, . large proportion Of our
trade will seek other chanucls, Dr1rtnp ,the 4
fast TWO OF three months several millions of |
dollars Lave becn; Lost to our city ia con-
sequence cF the ecandalons proceedings ofour |
rui1rpad corporations; ind our merchants
Enow well tas- It Is much easier to keep
trudc than 10 get it back ai1crisas Loaf
The Hlooming!ce Ccc.c.!.:.. .. : ..ve their
nt!czation also to the subject Of new chaupcls
ofwatcr communication will the East and
with Europe The Niagara Falls Ship Canal
and fhe ST. Lawrence liver were erbraccd In |
The resolutions adopted By the CouycatIou,
and were discussed by the speakers with de- |
:srec Of Intelligence and esrpesincss which
1nust excite the admiration ofall who per11se