The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-08-03
THE IRAILIROAD N1ONARCHs
How the Great MonopOlIsts ggran-
die themselves

01zc TncAnSc1uc8-
1t is notorious that for many years
a few railroad mohopolists have COM
trolled national and state legislation
SO that they could WELD an almost
despotic power and enrich themselves
by taxing the people generally in the
way of excessive changes. To show
how Jay Gould, one of the men who
rown the government" manages to
pocket an extortiOnate share of rail-
road assets, we clip the following:
From the GlObe-Democrat.
On Sunday last the 1st and 2nd
Regiments, United States Infantry.
ordered from Atlanta Oregan, left St.
Louis for San Francisco, the fare to
which point was fixed aG Sill. To
show the enormous discrimination
practiced by the Uaion Pacific rail-
road company against connecting
lines, we give the manner in which
this sum of Sill on each passenger
was divided:
st. Louis to Kansas City, 273 miles,
81 so, or 2.79 cents per mile.
Kansas Pacific railway, $50 miles,
81 so, or IL cents per mile.
Denver Pacific railway, log miles,
So. 80, or $50 cents per mile. ma
Union Pacific railroad, Sic miles,
$3.50, or 800 cents per mile.
Central Pacific railroad, SSS miles,
$4,000, or $40 cents per mile.
1t will be seen that the Union Paci-
fic got nearly eight times as much per
mile as the Kansas Pacific; nearly
three and q third times as much as the
st. Louis, Kansas City g Northern
railway nearly three times as much
as the Denver Pacific, and almost
twice as much as the Central Pacific
for each soldier per mile travelled.
All this in the face of repeated acts of
Congress providing for 'Eequal advan-
tages and facilities as to rates, etc.,
without any discrimination of any
kind"
The ordinary passenger rate from
st. Louis to San Francisco, via Omaha,
Is SIG, divided as follows:
st. Louis to Council Bluffs, 43S
miles, $3.50, or 354 cents per mile.
Omaha bridge, so cents.
Union Pacific railroad, SIG miles,
$54. 90, or % cents per mile.
Central Pacific railroad, $50 miles,
$4,000, or $40 cents per mile.
This shows that the Union Pacific
charges over its entire line about one
and half times as much ner mile as
from st. Louis to Council Bluffs, but
only little more than half the rate
it charges from Cheyenne west on
passengers taken to it by the Denver
Pacific railways. The through fare is
$54 the fare from Cheyenne to Ogden
is $46.5O, or only $50 less for Sic
miles than by its through rate for L.
033 miles.
These practices are not only in vio-
latiOn of plain United States statutes,
but are also flagrah5 departures from
the system of division of earnings
which prevails among railroads gem
orally. In fact the Union Pacific is
the mOnstrous Ishmael OF the CONT
nent, with It's iron hand against all
other roads, and the hands of all of
other roads ought to be against it.
We learn that steps are to be taken
to put in force the act of 1874, and we
advise Jay Gould at once to put him
self under the law. If he does not,
the people will soon demand a new
law, not simply to compel him to di-
vide fairly with other roads, but go
ing further and limiting his rates.
The regulation of rates on the CONT
mental road is clearly within the pow
er of Congress, and the representa-
tives of the people ought to see to it
that they are reduced to a reasonable
fiOnra