, 1876-03-18
RAILROADS.
Tho Town Legislature and Its
RnlfrOnl LIsv.
Failure of All Attempts to Change tho
Present Oppressive Act.
Sncccllcs and Scenes in tho Lower House
..-Coniiicting Aims Of The Roads.
Reports of tho Receivers Of the r., P.
Gt W. md c., D. & Y. Roads.
IOWA RAILROAD LAWS.

Spread Correspondence " 7hs Ckkeaaa TrlbNns.
Dts MONIES, IT,, March 1G.-Tho effort 10 re-
peal or materially modify tho Hallway Tariff Law
OF this State haa been an uttor failure. Early In
the sossfon propositions to that otToct wcro intro
ducod In both 11ouacs. They embodied the lead
luR features Of the Massachusetts and Minnesota
Hallway laws, They proposed TO repeal tho pro
rata schedule Of rates OF freight fxod by tho
presont law, allow tho companies to mako their
own tariffs. prohibit thon from demanding un-
reasonable prices and making unjuat dlecrIuina-
tfnns, and provided for tho appointment OF o
Railroad Commissioner with supervisory powers.
They woro known ty tho names Of tho members
who introduced them. Iu tho Sonato It Haa The
Nichols, and In tho 11ouae tho Blsll bill.
At this 't.no tho indtcationa pointed very
strongly toward ropeal or modification. There
upon tho opposition drafted amoaaurc known ~
THE TnAYEn BILL.
It proposed to rotain tho present schedule Of
freight 1atcs, but would so change tho caasinca-
tion Of roads that railways or branches Of rail-
whyB which failed to osrn 10000, $4,000, or
$4,000 per mile. eross would bo allowed 10
charge tho rates proBc1bod for kccond, tf,ltd, or
fourth class roads, as tho case might bo. It would
alB0 empower tho Rni1roal Commissioner, II
any rates Wcfo shown to DO unreasonable or op-
preseivc, 10 Increase or iecrcaao them Is per
cent, aftor consultation with and the approval
Of tho Executive Council. The Limitation was
afterwarl raised to 20 per cent. THIS
Litter ansn.p .pfG,ssa Tss 70 b. essvoa bX
All tho bills woro refoFIed to tho Railroad Com
mittecs. Tho Sonato Committee was unfairly
constituted. Or tho thirteen members only two
wofo In favor OF repeal, whereas fully oae-half
Of tho Senators waFe believed 70 bo opposed
to the present Inv. Moreover. the pusatso
father Of tho Law, Bonator, Campbell, OF Jasper
County. waa made Chairman. Tho House Com.
mittec, through tue intlex!bo fairness Of Bpoak-
or Gear, waa hotter constituted. But tho Chair
man,. Nush CLARK, OF Iowa City. wss Intensely
hostile 10 repeal. Consequently ho kept back
tho Dush bill uutil BY E1eeutivoAnd othor po-
tant intinenccs its dcteat ldd boon assured. It
was not reported buck until tic day for final
sdIousnmcnt had boon agreed upon leaving
only about ton days ia whlcl, TO discuss tho
measure III tho uouso and got It through tho
Senate.
The Bush bill came from tho uouso Commit
ten With majority Recommendation. At tho
Bamo tims tho Thayor bill WAS reported by the
minority as \ substitute.
ltmaay be s,fely assorted tllat every member
Of tue Iou8e desired
BONE LIND OF MODIFICATION.
No ono MAS disposed to defend tbs abBolute JUS
tico Of the law. 1t was Tho outcome OF m OK
cited popular movement. Upon como portions
Of tho State It bad worked injuriouaIy few
by IT. Tho tates Oh lumber vcro 20 low that
Chicago Wss shut out from competition. hor-
chandiao fateH wore similarly affected. Tho
local rates were fixed % to 4o per cent bolow
tho law. 10 1oooup themHe1yeu against expect
ed toes, the trunk lines raised their through
charges. And what has bean tho result
The railway companies tnade moro money than
thoy would hnve done Lad tho law not passed !;
hut the producers, tho farmers, WHO clamored
for itB passage, hayo paid tho hundreds Of
Thousands Of dollara moro to sond thcIr grain
and live stock to the Chicago meslct than they
simply been enabled to ship few boards and
ltslo fcnqe-Wise cheaper than before from Du-
bu4ue, Clinton, aud Dayonport. Naturally, the
great body Of producers declined to couttnuo
paving such tribute to these river towns there
fora they Hooded the Legislature with petitions
for repeal. Their earnest prayers wero uu-
heeded.
This conclusion WAS reached in The faeo Of
HOST CONVINCING ARGUMENTS.
ARtdov from tho very learned appeal mado OH
behalf Of tho companies by tho lien. James F.
Wilson, Of Fairfield, H., Col. Will Smith, Of
Clinton, veteran 1airoRd manager. parttnently
illustrated the intuaice and folly OF tho tariff Inv.
nois Central, mud Mt. @. ". Smith, General
Froighs Agcut Chicago, darlington i Quincy
Hallway, alao appeared Gofo1e tho Committees,
aud toward tho cioae Of tho session It was nhov,
Hallway, that the Iowa local rataa tl1od by law
| were very much lower than the local rites Of
leading Eastern railroads tlat do from flva to
ten times more buAinoss pnr mile OF road than IL
within tho reach Of any Iowa road. These latter
statements. which. according to the best ruilngs.
form the noaeuro Of reaHanabloneaB, were In no
respect asaailed, aud som.lu unanswered.
THE CONDUCT or THE AAILEoApS
| In nomo degree contributed to th0lr defeat.
They lacked unity Of action. Thu Illinois Cen-
ttal lad not complied with tho law therefore
they woro regarded AZ not particularly entitled
| to generous consideration. Moreover, they
wero tlsrcatepod with cxpensYe, littgatton for
ptnIa fiOna Hf' fhA tyfct, maf[n Tho (inutrn1
people extremely anxious to Becure any modt-
cation whatovoE, and 10 DO enabled to plead. In
otIeet to any olaiEa, that tile rates axcd by law
wore unreasonable, tho bost eytdoace Of Which
the Legislature had changed them. To
this policy tho Northwestern and. the
Itock Island companies wero opposed.
Thsy Desired Sabst.a reoe * nono st
1t would help tho Illinois Contral by furnishing
| the Giesirst} EXCUSE, and would enable them to
charge highar rAteH ou their branch llnoa. Tho
Ts,e et s1g e!sg hS hs ,v
when 1t had nut donc 80 In reality.
Tho matter waA mado tue special order
| III THE HOUSE
for Tucaday, the 7th Inst. Cons!derab'o Tina
was spent III deciding which should DO first taken
decision VA iu favor OF tLo latter.
10th wore asiko up to tho lfteenth soctlon.
Whom that was reacled tllo I,nhh bill WAS offered
l
Thayer bill It WAS defeated by twenty- four u,a-
5ority: With Il went down tho hopos Of tbs
| friends OF repoa1 The yoto Showed decided
sentiment against any rnasotlal modification.
Tbs representatives from tho riyer towns ve1e
jubilant. They raw It nas possible to dofoat
INV modification. Thia could bo accomplished
By delay. 1t would a!so afford ample
| opportunity for eloquent bursts. And It
| aid. Ionr correspondent has frequently
attended tho sesaioua Of Legislatuloa In
other States but he ventures to say that no
did. For seven days tta American chglo prond-
lytanppod its wlugs over the "soplless corpora
tioas, taking In tho horoscope, ~ the member
from Harrison County said, "frotn tho gltter-
iog sauds Of tho South to the ics-c!ad rocks OF
Plymouth" And when tho 1rsnsos'a peculiar
vocabulary had been exhausted upon tho huge
monopoliea," tho Iusnl stateHu,au would ill.,
eylt.bly SINK Into blu seat with tho declaration,
"Th!s zero law" and tho "Logislator "
tAst en.etoa i were fsFSon.ly oalog,xs,d.
dssp!te tho spt Y not SlegMsnt ~ assertion q the
inenlbors who passed. it knew 10 more about tho