, 1874-04-30

"hoh 'ne Hour iH shipped In lota Of I'd barrel,
may ohargo IA cents por barro1 70
ZIG 'lrst 25 milos, but not moro tin
oonts por barro1 for tho second 2
nlieo' or moro than conta por barrel for onc
"ou1aohat 20 mtloa, oto Tho maximum rato 70
o1hor artielan Of merchandise, -cotnont, wator
hno' htacco, lumbcr, allnglos, live atocA, agri
CULTURAL Implements furniture, otc., oto.,-i
also prescribed. Tho ponaltios for rooeivin,
creator compensation for carrying freight or paa
aohgefs arc forfeiture Of all right to rccovo an
oompeneatton whatever for tho service rendered
~ III aoolarod to DO mislomeanor for any agon
OF any railway or otAor corporation mentioned
! IL 'no act to rofuao to rocoivo for transporta
9'on oVor tho railroad for which llo is agent an,
1r1loto at tho rate prescribed by tho act; ant
every agent 30 rofusng to aocopt freight at tlcae
3atos, or who violates or attempts to violato OF
osaae 1ho provisions Of tho not, subjects himHoli
10 pay limo not exceeding 5000 for each olfouge
BESIDES all Of this, tho injured party has right
OF action agaiust tho railway company or Ite
agent.
,Tho Directors Of tho Chicago & Northwestern
declare that, II thiB law In 10 DO enforced, thoy
cannot continue to operate tho road. Tho 1ottor
OF Mr. Keep, Which wo publish, is d dignitled,
temperate, businosa-1ike document. 1t cannot
DO doubted chat railway companies llavo, in cor
tain parts of tie country, boon guilty Of oxtor-
tion. aud that when thoro ia no competition be-
twoen tliom-nnd thoro raroly is-thoy need close
watching, But thon whatevor Ia dono in this
direction must bo done wisely. In WISCONSIN
tho 8tato has reserved to itsof tho right at any
timo to annul or modify tho franchises of corpo-
rattous. Tho net above referred to is, therefore,
no vioiatfon Of tho Constitution Of Wisconsin,
unless 1t can be shown TINT it ia virtually IN act
to oon0acato tho property Of tho railway COM
panies. or to deprive cit2ons of thcir lawful poH-
session without compensation, and without 'duo
process Of law" The companies claim that to op-
crate tho roads under tho schedule named in tie
acts would subject them to hoavy 1ossea, and,
rather than undergo tloso. they propose to stop
doing business. They have, as wo have already
Informed the public, consulted aomo Of tho best
loghl talont in the country, and aro now noting
under the adyioo Of such mon as Judge Curtis,
William IL. Evarts, and G. r. Hoar.
II: tho Chicago d Northwestern Company can
show, as Mr. lleep is confident they can, that
tho ratcH fixed by tho law ARG 90 per cent less
than thoao mudo now by tho Company; TINT
it takes 10 per cont Of their groAB earnings to
operate the roads; that to reduce the rates
charged by them hitherto would DO to lcavo tho
interest on their bonded debt unprovided for, to
say nothing Of . surplus for dividends that the
not is covert contiacatlon and cortan ruin to
them, 1t will bo impossible to hold tho not con~
atituttonal or just. Before rates can bo pro,
Bcribod for railrond, Investigation must bo made
into tho cost of operating tho road and into tho
extant Of It's 1iabaitios. It is not reasonable to
suppose TINT hg,lroa taken ut hap-hazard
by men not acquainted with tho cost Of running
q railway can constitute fair freight tariff.
It is asserted that tho Wisconsin legislators
mover requested tho railway managers to accord
them any information relating to tho operation
Of tho roads, and that, therefore, tho ratos
adopted by them arc entirely arbitrary. sucl,
procedure was certainly noithor statesmanliko
LAVA hAAAAIoA@AAof oAIo} Ao 4AAs AUHR 0Atbs WILLS
out euch knowledge it is impossible to fix
m oanitablo thrift" A1r. Mitchcllts argument Is
to tho ofeot that the Milwaukee, & st. Paul nafl-
road WAS constructed as choaply. as possible, has
boon economically managed, and has yielded.
including stock diyidcndg, not moro than G por
cent por annum to tic s.oclkholdorH. He GLAZING
hat tho present tariff would reduce tho rocoipta
'clow tho operating oxponaos and that 1t is,
therefore, an invasion Of rights guaranteed by tho
aud confirmed by decisions OF tho
Wisconsin Supreme Court. Itmay be tlat the rates
hargcd on WisconBia railroads mny bo cut down,
md ought to DO out down as they. havo boon. !
But it should have been done only after caro- had
ICON talon, first to asoortain whether or not |
They could DO diminished without interfering
Tith tho operations Of tho roads, or
o A1 them at auol figures as not |
% violate or Interfere with tho property.
ights OF tho Stockholders. 1t tho Wisconsin /
legislature failed to do this, as tho railroads
lain, it may bo necessary to revise the tariff in
he intorosta Of justice. But thore will enter
nto tho investigation tho question whother tho
ailroada are not now paying interest md divi-
ends on watored stock and indebtedness. All
hat can be expected from the people Ia tlat
hoy shall pay fair profit on actual invost-
aents and economical management. II tho now
Wisconsin tariff fai1B to provide for this, tho
atlroads can unqucsttonab1y forco q revision.
tut 1t Is not probable that thoy Gun over again
omand prices that will yield dividends on wa
'red stock. All this is to DO testod iu tho Wis l.
'nstn contest, which may now be said to be
'irly lnauguratcd.. Though the railloada aro in
10 attitndo of Resistance to tho Law, this was
loir only moana Of testing the validity Of tho
'cont acts, md 1t is to 10 hoped that both tho
lilroad managers and tho people Of Wisconsin
III regard tho contest calmly as means for tho
gal settlement Of their differences.
THE SWING TRIAL.