Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-04-25
what Was Lost 2"

Davenport Gazette, the purpose of
which was to show that the O'Don-
nell Bill with the Keables attach
ment, which was defeated in the
Legislature last winter, was so i'm
perfect, contradictory and imprac-
ticable that It's failure to become
law was not to be regretted. In
subsequent issue our able in mbcr
Of the lower House, Hon. J. M.
Hovey, published in our columns
an answer to the Gu@ctte article, de-
Tending the Bill and its utility, cx-
planning his idea of its workings,
repelling the charge that the O'Don-
nell and Keables Bills were incon-
sistent, and finally declaring, in
answer to the Gdzette's question,
that 1.-TWO years were lost" by the
failure to pass it. The letter of Mr..
Hovey was courteous and able, and
his defense of the O'Donnell Bill as
good as could have been made.
The Ga@ettc's rejoinder appeared
last week. We copy the material
portions of it:
Mr.. Hovcy denies that the O'Don-
nell bill and the Keables amendment
are inconsistent, or that the latter
'forbids Discrimination" and says
such an idea was not raised in the
Assembly debates. The first branch
of the amendment forbids the charg
ing of any greater "amount" as
compensation "for any distance"
than is enlarged for carrying the
same over q greater distance. Mr..
H. emphases amount" as not being
crate per mile" but the gross sum
on given distance. We accept
the definition. The second part Of
this famous amendment, he says,
"forbids the charging of u greater
amount for carrying goods over a
given distance on one part OF road
than is charged for carrying the
same over an equal distance on an
other part of the same road The
language of the amendment is:
"Nor shall any such railroad
charge or collect for the transporta-
tion of goods, merchandise or prop
erty, over any portion Of its road, a
greater amount as toll or compensa-
ton than shall be charged or col
lccted by it for the transportation
Of similar quantities OF the same
class of goods, merchandise, or
property, oyer any other portion of
its road Of equal distance"
Now if Mr.. Hovey is right as to
the meaning of this clause it would
only apply where the distance be-
tween any two points was ecactiy
the same. AS to all other points the
railroad could discriminate as to
rates, so that if there was a mile
difference in distance between any
given station and the next station,
east or west, the rates might be
twice as high one way as the other.
Standing by itself we think the nat
ural meaning Of this clause is, that
there shall be one rate per mile ev-
erywhere, on any given road; but
attached to the O'Donne.l bill and
rendered according to Hovey, it
might not apply anywhere. thus
restricted it is an absurdity.
SO much for the principal point
in the Keal les Amendment, over
| which so much INK and breath have
been wasted Now let us see what
the effect of the other clause above
quoted would have had if kept in
the bill and passed into 4 law. 1t
forbids the changing of any greater
amount for any distance than is
| charged for carrying the same over
a greater distance. In other words,
the charge for given distance
must never equal the charge for q
longer one. We doubt whether any
living man is equal to the drafting
of such a schedule of rates, and we
are quite sure it cannot be done
under the O'Donnell bill. Accord
ing the 10Th section Of that bill
whenever the change to lower
rate will make the charge less than
it was at the previous station the
higher rate is to be continued to
the next station. How is it posi-
BILE, under that provision, to prevent
a higher rate being charged for
some distances than will be charged
for equal distances elsewhere? But
this is not the worst of it. That
provision of the O'Donncll bill is a
manifest absurdity. The Iowa City
Republican recently showed that,
taking Davenport as the starting
point, and the stations as they are
on the c., r. l. & p. road, the rates
will not change from to 3 and 2
cents per ton per mile, as contem-
plated in the bill, but under the 18th
section the cent rates will be con-
tinued indefinitely. The Ottumwa
Courier has shown that the same
thing would take place on the Bur
lington and Missouri road, and that
the 4 cent rate, on car load of ten
tons, instead of stopping at the end
Of SO miles. would extend all the
way from Burlington to Ottuma,
Is miles, thus doubling the present
cost Transportation from that city.
Is it matter of regret that such a
bill failed to become a law?
But suppose we assume that this
bill was not absurd in its provis-
ions, and could have been executed
if passed, what would it have
amounted to? How many railroads
would have come under its provis
ions? Let us see. The bill makes
it applicable only to roads whose
gross receipts last year were $4,000
per mile.
Here follow tables showing tho
number of miles and gross receipts
per mile of five railroads an6
branches, subject to the O'Donncl
bill, and list Of seventeen road.
not subject to its provisions. Tn,
Gazette then proceeds:
Here are II roads, including sucl