The Grange advance., 1873-11-19
The Transportation Problem.

pOrCatl0n ASSOCIATION was 1Ormeu at NeW
York, and meeting of delegates from State
Associations appointed to be held in Janu-
ary. 1874. The call to be issued for the
convention was to contain the general drift
of the views Of committee appointed to
draft it, Of which committee the Hon. Jo-
siah Quincy was chairman. This call has
been looked forward to with much interest
and is now published. We give the essen
tial points, its length prohibiting our CIV
ing it entire:
Among the many charges that have been
preferred against the managers OF Ameri-
can railroads, the mention Of few will be
sufficient for the purpose OF this address.
Mr. Rufus Hatch, in his circular upon
Frauds in Railroad Management" offers
statements to show that at the time OF his
publication the watering Of the stock Of the
Hudson River and the New York Central
Railroads amounted to $57, SIG, 700, which
exceeded the capital actually paid in by
S., 1868, 400 He likewise asserts that the
| watering in the Cleveland. Painsville and
Ashtabula, the Buffalo and Erie, and the
Cleveland and Toledo, together with the
excess of new capital over old, amounted to
| $40, ,O65, $40; and this watering Of the Lake
Shore, added to that Of the Hudson River
| and New York Central, amounted to $77,-
GA, 10, equaling $4,000 mile for the
whole distance from Chicago to New York,
and paying on every mile an annual divi-
dend Of $6,325.
Mr.. George 0. Jones, at recent hearing
before the Congressional Committee on
Transportation, corroborates these state
ments, and estimates that New York pays
$lO, 900, 600 year on watered stock. 1t is
also charged against come of the managers
Of the great lines Of railroad that, while
Congress has granted immense tracts of
land in order to reduce the cost of roads
and the fares for transportation, means
have been employed to separate the rail-
roads from these grants for the purpose of
dishonesty appropriating these benefits
Railroads thus favored by the Government
have been constructed at great cost,
through the issue of bonds, and then leased
to lines of which their managers had the
control. Rings have thus obtained posses
sion of land and shares at nominal prices,
and have imposed upon the people such tax
es as their directors might choose to levy.
It is charged that, while our several
States have granted charters authorizing
railroad corporations to take land Of any
citizens, and to issue shares for the con-
struction Of their roads, and permitting
them to collect liberal interest for all
moneys invested, shares have been issued
gratuitously to stockholders, with the view
Of exacting interest upon fictitious values
and also that officers and influential share
holders who have been interested in express
companies, mineral land companies, and
other associations, have caused peculiar
privileges to be given to such bodies, en-
abling them to gain unj just advantages over
all others who depend upon railroad trans
portation for the transaction Of their bust
ness. 1t is also asserted that accommoda-
tion has been refused to those who have
made themselves obnoxious by exposing the
unjust proceedings above specified, and
that shippers of merchandise not in favor
with inner rings have been denied fair op-
portunities for competition.
Finally, it is alleged that no action Of in
dividuals is capable of resisting corpora
tions welding the vast powers and backed
by the immense wealth placed at the dis
posal of railroad managers. 1t is alleged
that some Of these managers have already
packed conventions, bribed Legislators,
and subsidized Judges, and have obtained
through currupt means, an influence sub
versive Of the rights Of the people, and
most perilous to Republican institutions.
The Cheap Transportation Association |
asks that these charges, brought by respon-
sible citizens against the managers Of rail- |
roads, be thoroughly investigated. We as
sert that it is the right and duty Of Con-
gress to inquire how it's liberal grants of |
land have been appropriated. They were |
granted to give temporary credit to certain |
railroad corporations, and to constitute q |
sinking fund which would ultimately pay |
off debts contracted in the construction Of |
roads. They were granted, in the interest |
of the country, to reduce rates Of transport
alton to the cost of maintaining the roads. |
Should it be found that these grants, COW
ering an area greater than many Of our
States, have been obtained under false pre-
tences, and used for private aggrandize-
ment, we ask that they be reclaimed from
those who unjustly hold them in possession.
Our several States have surrendered the
privilege Of righting their own wrongs
upon the understanding that Congress will
do it for them. The railroad power Of the
State Of New York, for instance, may levy
for the benefit Of watered stock the esti-
mated tax of ten cents per bushel upon corn
and wheat, and the farmers Of the West
and the citizens Of New England have no
remedy except through the action Of the
general government. For this reason we
are forced to ask Congress for thorough
Investigation of the measures that have
been adopted to affect the interchange Of
products among our States-measures that
are alleged to have destroyed the value of
the production of one section, and to have
increased the cost Of the necessaries of life
In another. We ask for thorough inves-
tigation into special contracts made for the
Of freight and passengers