New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-08-05
RAILROAD ABUSES.
FRAUDS IN CONSTRUCTION AND MANAdh-
MENT.


-. ,,,rxpFRING IN RAILROAD CoNsiho'
,,,r FARMERS COMPELLED TO fAi me 49,
sr ON TWO OR THREE TINES THE Nh'
,,.oryST OF BoNDs-wHEAT RINGS foh"AD D.
THE RAILROAD MEN-PRoVisIoNs VI LIE
RAILROAD LAW x,v
,rDo,, THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE Tribune
Sr PAUL. Mimi, July SO.-The new scheau'eS pre-
nared nv the Railroad Commissioners OF Minuo'o''
h;h orc n take effect the first OF August are
"ui," nuhI;sbed this morning filling nearly %
saInr,nS ~ The st. Paul Press. In the language OF
tL,,o law nassed last Spring. these schedules are
=. .,ho daemed and taken in all the courts OF TINS
CT. 90 rirao face evidence that the rates therein
6xod are reasonable maximum rates Of charges 1or
the transportation of passengers and helghts' &C
The freight schedules are SO volumlnous ana conip
Gated that it will be impossible even for the raoau
managers to determine at once what the enece Vi
their adoption will be- The people who are fahiiiia'
with the present rates charged by the conpa"i''
will be able to see at once whether reu"o"cu ~
an increase of charge has been MADE Oh II. 80.
shipped from given station, but 10 n'.u o'' ~,
this change affects the income OF 'ne I;noss
many il is necessary to know the amount Oh o"S''''
done at that station
FAVORED STATE -,
NJ, :,uoss;on derived from conversations WIN
o,,,,on,on operating some of the leading rmlroa"s
- rho State is that the Commissioners nave III oS'
.oses aimed 10 reduce rates but that the reducton
has been so slight that while the relief anorueu 'he
individual farmer will be small as not to be 1e
its aggregate effect on the receipts OF the companies
will be considerable The passenger rates are hAeo
at 4 A. and cents mile. On few Oh the roaus
this is reduction of one-half cent a mile.
The neople of Minnesota are suffering less from
railroad exactions than those of any other grapro
dnc,ne State. This is the conclusion arrived at
Last
servat,ons have confirmed the impressions then
rcce,yed Wheat flour, and lumber are the chle1
articles which Minnesota exports The value OF the
first Two is so much greater in proportion TO thelr
buIk than that of corn, and the cost OF production
in this State so small that they will bear the hieh
nrces of TRANSFORMATION and still leave TO the farmer
and the miller good margin for profit Great guam
titles of lumber are RATED down the MISSISSIPPI
River the cheapest kind of transportation that mas
vet been discovered, and that winch goes by rail- IS
manufactured so cheaply at Minneapolis and sui
water that il is furnished TO consumers IN distant
parts of the State even, at reasonable prices The
people of Minnesota prosperous IN spite OF the
great cost of transporting everything which they
have to buy or sell.
THE RAILROADS CARRYING TOO MANY BONDS
But while say that Minnesota is growing rch'
do not wish to lose sight of the fact that there are
struction and management of most of the railroads
of this State The Legislature of last Winter IN
cnacting a law which l consider the most moderate
and equitable of all those passed In the West since
the present excitement began, attempted to deal
with the results of the abuses to which have re-
ferred Instead of striking at the root OF the evil
There is not in this State, suppose, single rail-
road which is earning enough money or more than
enough to pay the interest on its bonds Inc
trouble is not that its rates too low or In many
cases that the road is extravagantly operated but
that il is attempting to keep atoat too many bonds
The main line Of the St. Paul and Pacific Road, for
instance, is, and for sometime has been, on the
verge of bankruptcy. Its managers will tell you
that TO reduce its rates in the least Will precptate
the ruin of the Company. and destroy all hope that
il will be able to meet the interest its bonds But
the people of Minnesota ask with great deal Of
force, l think, ought that road to be expected to
earn the interest on debt averaging at least SG5,
600 a mile. while to build the road ought not, and
probably did not, cost more than $4,000 a mile
The readers of THE TRIBUNE are familiar with the
system of railroad construction through the unset
tied portions of these Western States but will ven
ture to illustrate it by an example which just now
comes TO my hand AT the time of the panic, last
September the Minneapolis aud ST. Louis Railroad
Company was about making contracts for the con-
struction of its line from the Falls OF st. Anthony
to the Iowa line. The terms of the contract were
that for completing the road and placing it in run
ming condition. including the iron, side-tracks and
local stations, the company was to pay $4,000
mile In order to raise this money they proposed to
bond the road for $4,000 a mile. 1t was supposed
that the bonds could be sold for about eighty cents
on dollar thus giving net profit to the Company
on the construction Of 5000 a mile, beside the
money which they expected to collect from the
towns along the line The Northern Pacific Com
pauy was TO take long lease of the road and pay
the interest on the bonds
THE FARMERS OBJECT TO PAYING THE INTEREST.
Had that road been built, its freight and passenger
rates would necessarily have been fixed at from 50
90 per cent higher than they might have been if
the road had been honestly built with cash sub
scribed and paid in by the stockholders; and if the
farmers who had voted local aid to the road com
planned of rates just enough in excess Of what they
should have been to take the whole profit on their
crops and tried through the Legislature to get them
reduced the cry would have been raised that the
farmers were Communists and wished the railroads
TO carry their freight for nothing. know that the
capitalists both at home and abroad, who have in
vested their money in railroad bonds have very sell
dom been in these Rings" or had anything to do
with the stealing of which so much complaint is
made and that, as innocent men, they ought to be
protected from loss But the farmers reply that
they too innocent; they got none of the plumber
and TO expect them pay these high rates to enable
the Company to pay the interest bonds that never
ought to have been issued, to them like rob-
bling Peter 10 pay Paul. In some other States more
than in Minnesota this has become almost ques-
tion of life and death with the farmers and finding
themselves in possession of the power without, in
many instances, the knowledge or experience that
is necessary to its proper use think it not strange
n