The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1880-01-31
RAILROAD DETERMINATIONS.

Mr.. + y. Ehurbcr. tho we'll known whole
galo grocer Of New York, Inns sent Il 0ommu-
nication to the Tribune In which Id discusses
nj some length the subject 81 railway dis
| crlminatl one and clearly points ont the hard
ships of small shippers. In tho course of bis
argument he nlludes TO tho fact that tho
votea Of the small shippers had ng much to
do with comforting tho franchises under
which the railroads nro managed M did
those of the largo shippers. and consequently
tho right Of tho clifton on tho highway here
comes In 10 limit tho op' ration Of tho usual
principle OF wholesale and retail Tho law OF
composition, us between railroads. falls TO
work tn tho same extent TINT IL does between
lndivdunls. most Of the time with railroads
II does not work Mt all. while In tho nature of
things IL In utterly impossible In the distrlbu-
tion of articles consumed by tho public for
individuals to combine to tho detrIment OF tho
public interest In support OF this Mr.. Thur
Der cites the fact that the pooled limos reoog-
nize these principles In their west bound
traffic. for the rate s alike to NIL shippers,
whether small or large which he regards as
u rcdceminR feature Of tho pooling system
In connection with thiH he thinks TINT If tho
pooled lines would only charge reasonable
rates. such as would yiold fair return OF say
or 10 por cent upon Tn 'upital actually paid
In by stock and bondholders there would bo
no cause for complaint Of that system Mr.
Thurber asserts that the compact forcs OF
corporate organizations acting upon politics
has. during the past twenty-five years. re-
suited In the legislation Of that period being
largely In tho interest Of corporations, to tho
great detrimont. In many cases, OF tho public |
interest. and that whenever II Ia proposed to
hold these powerful and compact interests to |
q responsibility 10 the public loud cutlery liz |
mt once raised In their behalf while |
the public interest Is. as u general thing. |
left To take care OF itself As mn Illustration |
OF tho effect of giving railroad managers the |
right To charge tho small shipper more than
the large one. Mr.I hurber refers to mn instance
where MIR. Herman Brock In 1873, was
charged moro than other merchants on the
Produce Exchange. and complained that the
private rates allowed to some firms, to tho
exclusion OF others. were running his trade;
that he had Just received orders from Europe
for certain quantities of lard. bacon and tai
low, which he was not abI0 To fill upon prices
a. favorable as other firms. without losing
As q sequel 10 this Mr. Thurber
states that Mr.. Brock has since failed. and he
b only ono out OF large number OF small
houses on the Produce Exchange TINT have
been crowded to the wall through railroad
In this connection II may be
well to state that Mr.. Thurber Is a member Of
he Board Of Trade and Transportation, an
dealers OF New York, and has taken
N active part In tho cndeavor to secure con
yressionaI legislation on the subject Of rail-
Dad determinations. Ile Is understood to
avor tho passage Of the Reagan bill as tho
vest measure SO far offered for the solution OF
he important problem.