The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1872-12-13

ttC hccttt W s'ihS W tuo why's dhu incau
they use TO Il ece the po"p'e
rne man, uvers 10y which railwa
compiuIts practice ex'oriions upon Il
public are as umerous as they are -
traordinary. 1t is not enough that the
absolutely plumber entire Districts by,s
oIbitaut rates of frei, ht charges between
non competing points; that parallel line
OF road invariably combine TO raise tan
IFS on the day of the close of uaviga
ton, which stops competition by waite
rcut's OF transportation that boatds o
.,rectrrs have ere ted hundr ds of nil
ions &C dollars Of stock which does n
represent penny OF actual capital, bu:
upon viii II the pub 20 Is com oe'lcd to
pay interest in tho shape of increased
tariffs for treil BIT aud passengers; that
considerations o. competing Inns arc ct
fected with the sole purpose Of egtorting
from the people higher rates Of trans
portstiCn, aud that a thousand other DC
vices arc +, sorted to to put money 10
the COVERS Of ttc mons; oI.ts But an
enormous system Of cub ffGlgh: com
NAMES has been established to transact
the business which properly belongs TO
the Original corporations themselves, and
to receive the cream Of tho profits of
transportation 1hcsl are huoTa -
the public ns tbs Red Line She ''B'u,
Line" ard the "Diamond Line ard
hundred other distinctive names. They
',re stock companies owned for the most
part by sailway directors, presidents
superintondt MS, aud other tiiicla H.
tine railway service, aud by favored raj.
way stockholders Having formed one
Of these combination the company pur
ctasts cars and proceeds to make a cou
tract With q line of railway for tie trans
portatico Of freight over It's road the
sub-ccnlpary furnishing carr and The line
providing motive power and handling
tie freight, and receiv ng certain low
rate Cor The service 1t is generally the
case that tbe railway fiicial xecliug
the contract in behalf of the railway
company owl more stock III the SUB
company with which he is contracting
than IN the one by which he is employed
and for which be is acting In this way
the common stock, the preferred stock,
AID the watered stock Of the companies
composing The Inc upon viii ii Che sub
oompauY mto o. crate undergo process
81 deicte sSruuing, and the proceeds
q .Ar b 10 jt,r t:r. poke, o. che
lew continuation. = il Uss the Interest
O. lie raiic y ii ,al t. make i.tor
ou.ccoatrac. with the company OF vajcli
J l. a part oNu.r, sou o,com -.gualiy
II; interest 10 * ctrr teat tie ars al
tat eu' company are pushed through
rapidly SO SIC secs'iig" of the general /
business OF the ii0e iiolcc tue maua4
e.a Of stc -1h comp are able o. say
10 ,Gc pubic ;hat ,A,lr 'iue Is . " fast
.ne, tui hey accordingly get high prices
f0r ira, spoitatiou. o. the b1s of the
fact of handling a vast amount OF lrclgllt. I
the sub-cOmpanies get extremely low
wholCs &c RAJ 2, and tie duf-rruvc b.
tween The lew rate obtained AID tae high !
late charged ,ho pubic constitutes az i,
enormous profit, no part Oh which g1,s I
30 the stockholders Of the original o0ul
lanes composing the line. |
Two y,a's ago an investigation wax
Lsd Il &c Ohio Legislature which dc
velopei all ,heso facts, aud many mere
cf startling nature, 1t was shown
jbere that, IL scme instances OF sab.
freight comr2pies, they DID no, eyed owu !
cars; that ;bo cats % Jia railway com.
psuies we're marked ID ue J. ut, Or
8 He'd LINE" or " It'll some other name. !
as the case night be; that the orieinai /
companies did all tie work, and that
the sub-compaui5s simply Issued bills OF |
lading and collected freight; aud Zoe this /
service pOcketcd an imm use aggregate !
difference between the low contract price ,
with the OH, iuo, companies and tho rate
charged the public. In short the in.
vls,igation showed tLat tho sub com
pauies acted simply Is a sponge u ab /
sorb all the profits OF the freight business
of the companies from which they re-.
ccivcd ttcir cantrac e. But, uo,w,,h
staa - the Investigation was exceed !
IN, scurchi,g aud developed 90 array
OF t.o grosscst abuses, tho comb ned IA
iiucDce snd power OF The rai,wty offs
was sufficient to prevent prohjbttory leg
islation OIL the subject.
Tire eject Of these su6 companies is
as disastrous TO the public as to he stock
holders III the companies they bleed -
Through them merchants aud business
men arc compelled to pay two prices for
transportation, or wait the slow process
es Of the Irregular freight lines, which
are subordiusted to che interests Of the
ieeches that on the Que hand fattGn off
the people, sod on the other shave away
tie profits Of tho railway stockholders
The sysicm is part and parcel of tho
general corruption and extorsion which !
peryadcs railway management. There
Is no reason why the railway companies
themselves should not handle, az we'll as =
transport, every pound of freight offered !
at their stations, instead of countenanc.