The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-03-09
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1878.
The State and the b. &c o. Il. r.
Co.

While from day to day we see &C.
counts of what is being done to COM
promise the matters in dispute
between the State and the B. & o.
r. R. Co., we hear Of no steps to-
ward protecting the interests of the
LEGAL shipper, unless the bill proposed
by Mr.. Brace shall have some such
hoped for effect. 1t will oe an act
of gross injustice to settle with that
company with no provision for our
protection, and will effectually put
back the prosperity and growth of all
interests tributary to the railroad not
less than twenty years, or at any rate
bill death shall remove the "paten-
tees" of that "policy" that to this
day has wrought our ruin, and prom
ises to give us over to begging, idle
ness and poverty for another decade,
ifnot restrained therefrom by whole
some legislation. If the measure
proposed by Mr.. Brace will help us,
then let it be passed in connection
with the other acts of settlement,
snd be considered a necessary part of
the legislation that shall bring
"peace" to the "high contracting pow
ers." There can be no excuse for
neglecting or postponing this matter
longer, and no man can fairly ask for
such postponement. This "local
trade" has been made too long the
beast of burden, that through good
and evil report has carried the "sins
of omission and commission" that
have marked the administration of
its affairs from the time of its organ
ization till now. The plumbers,
mistakes, speculations and losses
have all been lifted over their "quick
sands" by taxing some local interest
so as to- fill the gap, and now we are
confronted with the possibility of a
total humiliation of all industrial
pursuits. unless we can have some
relief. Lumber, grain, and all west
ern products, Including cabbage are
carried through our town at cost of
freight. say not exceeding $40 per car,
while precisely the same products
from our hills are charged not less
than $50 to $50 per Car. Added to
this every agent in this State EFFORTS,
Jhe can, an agents fee of so cents to
81 per car. and from 10 to % cents
per package for all goods taken away
from the stations, and in this way
this corporation pays its own agents
for attention to its affairs at stations
in this State, by taxing the customers
of the road to the onerous extent
named.
The onerous freights exacted of the
citizens of our State, as also the other
taxes, direct and indirect, that are
loaded on the domestic trade amount
to prohibition as to enterprises in
eur midst, and if We are not pretec-
ted fully in the legislation now pro-
posed, then, for the future, as in the
past, our hope for relief from this in
iquitous thraldom is childish folly.
Nor will we consent to believe, till
the act is consumated, that the rep
resentatives of the State will, while
this corporation is asking for favors,
pei NIT the reasonable interests ofany
portion Of the people thereof to be
neglected, and ignored, and in the
name of long suffering community
we implore them to enact such meas
ures for our relief as are just and nec-
essary. If Mr.. Braces bill does not
contain what we need, let it be
amended and enlarged till it shall
protect US from the outrage. injustice
and unjust determinations, as com.
pared with rates paid by citizens of
other States, to which we have been
subjected these many years.
We cannot exaggerate the evil eff
feet this policy of discrimination
against local interests has wrought in
our midst. Let any one pass through
our county and say where more
unpromising outlook can be seen.
And yet there are few localities that
are richer in natural resources. Our
mountain tops produce oats, potatoes,
buckwheat and wheat in great album
dance and of superior quality our
streams are full of trout, bass and
salmon, atfording cheap table sup
plies ; our valleys are full of the best
of timber that falls to the ground year
after year, while car load after car
load of the manufactured article goes
through our town paying rate of
freight which, if we could avail and
profit by, would put large numbers
of men to work within our borders
at profits that would be satisfactory