Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-01-18
MERCANTILE VIEWS.

MERCANTILE VIEWS.
The National Board Of Trade, in SEES
sion the past week at Baltimore, may.
we suppose, be taken as an index to the
prevailing views among the mercantile
classes. The resolutions passed by
this body look exclusively to State ac-
ton on the various questions involved
in the railroad problem. They appoint
ed committees to memorabilia the va
rious State Legislatures to enact stat
utes IN accordancewith the common law
regarding public carriers; but they dis
courage direct legislation on railroad
rates, ON the same principle, we sup
pose, that they would discourage such
legislation as to rates of insurance; !.
e., that competition is the more natural
and more effective remedy. The pro-
posed double track national freight
line from New York to Omaha found
no favor with them, and they went to
the extreme of discouraging Congress
iOnal appropriations for any artificial"
means of transportation. This covers
all proposed canals, but we presume it
was not designed to discountenance
the improvement of such natural chan
nels as rivers and harbors.
One of their resolutions touches the
abuse of fast freight lines. tits charged
that these outside combinations for
forwarding freight are really composed
Of the managers of the various rail-
roads. and that these managers actual
ly ob5truct the transportation of or
binary freight on their own roads in
order to compel shippers to patronize
their fast freight combinations at high
er rates. 1t is a sort OF Credit Mobilier
style of running the roads, fleeing
both the stockholders Of the railroads
and the public. In forming these out
side freight lines, the railroad mag
mates have given color to the bold the
DRY of Gov. Palmer that the roads
must be treated as public high
ways. When they give the use
of. their roads to these freight
lines, why should not any combination
of merchants have the use of the roads
on the same terms, furnishing their own
cars, etc? The National Board of
Trade declares that the railroads should
either assume the direct control and
responsibility Of their own business or
leave it open to the competition of all
freight lines that may undertake it"
Justice requires that the present
freight Zines should be abolished, I'M
less the use of the roads shall be open
to competing combinations on equal
terms. These fast lines occupy the
same relations to railroads that the old
st lge companies occupied in relation to
turnpikes. By, analogy they make the
railroad a public highway. Having
gone so far of their own accord, justice
and equity require that the use Of the
rails be open to all competing lines.
Then rates would be regulated by de-
mand and supply. 1t is the existing
monopoly which defes the natural laws
of trade, and runs up rates to extor-
Tomato figures.
In regard to national finances, the
Board of Trade denounces If
redeemable paper and urges specie re-
sumption. As to the latter, it makes
the valuable and practicable suggestion
preached IN these columns last Octo-
Der, that resumption should begin with
the retirement OF the redundant frac-
tionaI currency and the substitution
therefor Of silver coin. The amount of
this currency is less than fifty millions.
and its redemption by a government |
which holds from eighty to one hun
bred millions Of specie idle in Its vaults
all the year round, seems eminently |
practicable. 1t would be likely to |
hasten resumption IN full, as it is al |
ways the initiation Of a new policy that !
Is difficult.