Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1881-02-26
aiken before the Hepburn Comm;tteo

testimony OF experts proved that 10
cents gave living profit, 1t would
not give big dividends. At 20 cents
they make an enormous profit. But
they brought it up to 40 cents by
combinations that took place in three
months of one year. They reduced
it to 35 cents where it is now. If il
is not plain that this is Is cents per
100 more than it ought to be there is
an end to human reason. On the
grain crop of last year, an advance of
cents would amount to $75, 100000.
But that was not one third CT their
business. To see what the effect of a
5 cents per 100 is you must multiply
that by three, making $225,000,000.
But they are not content with $685.
100000, they have taken three times
that, $675,000,000, or enough to pay
the national debt. Yet in the short
hauls they charge fifty times as much
as they charge for long freight. When
the excuses of the short freight are
added, you must double the $675,000,-
900 to get at the aggregate amount of
the plunder. Take one case: A man
who wants to haul a ton of coal
twelve miles from Philadelphia will
have to pay as much as he would be
charged to bring the same ton from
Chicago 10 Philadelphia. The
charge is fifty times too much. Forty
nine dollars is robbery. 1t may not
be stealing according to law, but the
difference between that and the lar
ceny for which you send man to
Sing Sing is purely technical. Great
laughter. A man in Georgia under
took to manufacture a corn planter.
He built his factory and made his
goods, but was ruled out of business
by the competition of distant manu-
facturers, who got preferences in
freight. He was obliged to shut up
his factory, and he wrote over it,
CLOSED by order Of the Georgia rail
way" Then he got his machinery
manufactured in Pennsylvania, 700
miles away, and had his goods carried
for the same price that he used to be
charged for short distances. 1t was
shameful that there should be one such
case. Yet whole communities had
been treated that way. He had gone
among his own friends owning coal
mines, and had found desolation
spread over whole region, because
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad
would not carry the coal to compete
with their own mines. The same
desoIation was spread in other parts
of the country. In Kansas and Tex
as they had suffered beyond concep-
ton by railroad eyactions, which had
been harder upon them than flood
and frost, A voice, "And grasshop-
pers," yes; harder than mildew,
army worms, potato bugs, grasshop-
pers, and everything else. Laughter
How lie this to be STOPPED? Judge
Black ssked. A voice, "Confscate
their stealings." Laughter and ap-
plause. l am in favor of letting
them keep what they have get. But
they r,ust stop now. / am willing to
admit the good that railroads have
done; we could not have got along
without them, but that is no reason
why they should go on uncontrolled.
Suppose Washington and the fathers of
the republic had got possession OF this
country for their own purposes, won. d
their memories be respected as now?
Suppose an official abuses his trust,
what ought you to do with him? You
should do precisely as you ought to
do with these railroad people-turn
them out and get new set. Who is
entitled to tho benefit of the increas-
cd facilities for carrying passengers?
Surely the railroad companies should
not have all the profits. What are
the remedies? Some gentlemen pro-
rose confederating railroads Origi.
nally there were four running from
the east to the west. They put their
power under one man and pool their
receipts. All the profits of tie four
are divided equally. They coll them
selves, not the Confederate States, but
the confederate railroads. They have
a constitution in which they have d.
vided their departments into legisla-
tive, executive, and judicial. Laugh
ter. They charge what they please.
They propose to destroy competition.
They will decide whether rates shall
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