The Red Cloud chief., 1878-02-28
The Commission System.

A citizen of Iowa i'm a letter Ia the
Chicago Times presents in a succinct and
lfOrcible n some leading consider
atoms which demand the repeal of the
Railroad Tariff Law. and the substitu-
ton of thecOmmissioner system adopt
ed by Michigan and Minnesota. After
commenting on the abuses and dis
ordinations, practiced by the railroad
companies, which led to the enactment
of 1874, and declaring that the deter
mination of power i'm the State govern
ment to control the railroads in all
their relations with the people is a step
in advance, a step which must sooner or
later have become inevitable. the writer
proceeds to show that the effect of such
power is better in Obeyance than if at
tempted To be enforced by Legislative
enactment He cites in support of this
position the successful operation of
the commissioner system in Michigan,
| Minnesota and Massachusetts.
The writer then examines the effects
of the present railroad law, its inability
to accomplish its own special ends. and
the injuries which its practical opera
ton inflicts on the material interests
of the State. In this branch of the dis
cussion he makes the following points:
The absurdity of a classification of
railroads which permits m road
earning 81. 999 per mile to charge l05
per cent of a fixed tariff, while a road
earning just $4,000 per mile can charge
but 80 per cent of the same tariff.
The violation of natural justice in
fncp r,.lc tru,-nnn c,,rc- ont
tied districts and which do not pay OPP
Grating expenses, to rank with leading
through lines merely because operated
by a company owning a class a.
road.
The fact that a fixed tariff IF rates
cannot maintain equity between the
different roads, because the natural
laws of compel a weak road
fettered by the provisions of the law,
to carry its through freight at the same
rates as a leading trunk road crossing
the weaker roads at any point on its
line.
The fact that the law ultimately de-
feats the end sought, viz. cheap trans
portatiOn, because it retards the per-
feet development of railroads in the
State on which cheap transportation de-
ponds.
The fact that the law unites and con-
sOlidates the railroads i'm sympathy,
suppressing all competition between
them, thus denying the people of the
State the benefits of competition in
railway enterprise. The writer says:
"The manufactures of Iowa are in their fee
bic infancy. Before the present law went in
to operation the railroad companies recognized
their need Of encouragement and support. As
a rule they gave the Iowa manufacturer ex-
ceedinCly liberal rates, enabling him to
put his products on the market with some
show Of equality with manufacturers abroad.
The statute now fixes the rates for the manu-
facturer. The law Is having a depressing eff
feet on the manufacturing interests Of the
state.
The effect Of the law, as intimated above, is
to weaken and depress, to invOvle i'm loss and
precipitate toward bankruptcy, the local lines
within the state. II does this by restrain
ing their free action; by compelling them to
accept I'm order to retain their through bust
ness less than a fair and equitable prO-rata of
earnings, which but for the law they could oh
tain. Besides the violation Of equity between
the roads, the state has nothing to gain by the
bankruptcy Of these important interests. In
many ways there cannot bat he resultant loss
and damage tn the community.
The effect Of the law is to quite DESTROY the
confidence OF capital in railroad enterprise in
Iowa, to stop the construction OF independ-
ent lines, and to suppress the branching out of
lines which have already established them
selves. The capital of the east exacfs from
the railroads Of Iowa the pledge, as q condi-
ton of loans, that they will not seek to extend
their lines, nor attempt new construction while
the present legislation is i'm force. This plain,
palpable, conspicuous result Of the law car
ries with 1t the consequence OF slow and ted
ious development Of large and productive dis |
tricts, thus oper ting as a blight on the mate
rial interests Of the state. These secluded,
thinly populated districts, which, II developed.
would decrease the percentage of taxation per
capita are now a burden on the older and
Weather communities.
The law reflects discredit and dishonor upon
the community Of Iowa in the great centres of
capital from which has been drawn the money
to construct her railroads. II does so because
II impairs the obligation of the implied con-
when those loans were made. 1t
tends to make railroad securities worthless by
making the roads unremunerative as property,
thus assailing the integrity Of the investment. |
an denying it a fair and reasonable percent
age OF profit. 1t is not necessary to indicate
examples. There are plenty Of them in the
state to-day. The law is, tn %refore, consider
ed an act Of dishonesty. Can Iowa afford the
discredits Can she afford to repel capitals"
The writer, then reviewing the histo-
~ of railway legislation in Europe and
the United States, shows that legisla-
tive panaceas have always proved hurt
full and ineffective and have been aban-
doned. the state of Iowa alone of all
states in the Union standing
in an ill considered attempt to adjust
all the intricate and comprehensive re-
latiOns of the great interest of transport
tation with the body polite by q fixed
of rates.
The Massachusetts, commissioner sys-
tenn for Iowa is then advocated, as it
has been adopted by Michigan and
The force and effective
ness of that system depends on two
considerations. First: 1t enlishtens
the public mind with the results of
thorough investigation throughout the
whole field of inquiry-studies which a
legislative body cannot undertake.
Second: 1t concentrates the power
Of enlightened public opinion on the
conduct of the railroad companies in
Ill instances of injustice and wrong.
Montgomery Blair is credited with
having told this story: Ivan Buren, said
m n IN c. nr lo- ~ L. L.: