The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-04-08
The SaiIg Argns.
APPRECIATED.

Our editorial entitled Railroad Trans
portaton- How Frauds are perpetrated-
Proposition of. the Peoria & Rock Island
Railway Co. to add Million to its indebt-
edness, published in The DAILY ARGUS
Of the Goth ult., and in THE WEEKLY
ARGUS of the odd, has attracted wide no
tiee through the press Of the country, as
laying bare one cause Of excessive rates of
transportation. 1t has also brought Us
the following letter Of thanks from the
Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners
Of this State
RAtARoAp ASH " uruou-E COMMISSIONERS,
OrrtyF 30 SEcHETAEN,
srntsurtrtu March 2tth, 1873
Enron np TuE DAILY ARGUS, Rock
TsIAyp LII. near Sol have the hon
or 10 acknowledge the receipt of copy of
ynur journal Of the Goth instant, contain.
ING an expose Of the management and pro-
prirt0rship Of the Peoria n Rock Island
Railway Company, and OF the Rockford
Rock Island x st Louis Railroad Com
pany Allow me to thank You for publish
ing this article aud for furnishing me
copy OF the same.
Nerv Rcspy Your OFT Seryt,
j. II RAYMOND. Scc.y.
Among the prominent newspapers which
noticed the article and reviewed it, the
Chicago Tri5ms had two long and able
articles upon the subject in one of which
it said
The Rock Island ARGUS has done the
public substantial service in printing the
details of the construction ut the Peoria
a Rock Island and the Rockford, Rock
Island a ST. Louis Railroads The publ
cation of these facts should call the attcn-
ton of the farmers. and especially of the
Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners.
to another evil connected with railroad
management, which is fully as important
a. the special evils now under discussion
IN the farmers conventions, aud in reality
Is one Of the principal causes which leads
tp the the GXurbitaut rates of freight and
determinations Of which the farmers com
plain
Aud the Inter Orsm, of the I'd inst.
says
Railroad stocks have been So increased
by watering and other processes of
fraud and chicanery, that every cNpedient
known 60 the ingenuity Of railway official,
has to be- adopted % collect sufficient
sum for transportation To pay dividends ON
capital created out of nothing but cupldity
and avaricc. The cause Of discrimination
Is watcred stocks fraudulent capital void
capital In other words boards Of direct
ur- vote themsclvc "a gratuity Of $1,000.
OOU or s2U hOO, 900 and direct their super
intends % adjust a tariff a. the CXigencv
of paving interest on the newly created
stock IL thus appears that the cause is
morally infinitely worse than the effect Il
Is worse than stealing certain sum and
then permitting the pluudered individual
o. gu free. in this that it i, "a deliberate
attempt 20 impose u tax upon an entire
community for al tiHt, 10 rolgs When the
railways declare that they cannot live with
out discrimination they are not So far
wrong But they have made discrimiua-
ton necessary by gigantic frauds They
have committed crime 10y corruptly add
inc millions Of dollars tu their capital stock
and established extprtionatp tariff, from
which a. derive an income o. pay dividends
on the crimlually issued stocks On the
original iraud-void ,tocks-rest, the ex-
tortiru. unjust discrimination and before
the latter can be entirely destroyed the
former must be- swept away
Let the convention address itself u this
question, for thi, is the root Of the matter
The recent report OF the Railway and
Warehouse Commission declares il a. be
the opinion Of the Commissioners that the
people Of Illinois are paying interest to the
railway companies on S1j,UOOOUU of void
capital ErTH da'iIr of rHlcdV cGyif'