The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1881-03-10

h8 cOmQCutOry by undertaking them. single
f"p = hoGHsstir car step the wheels q 81 the
BY determinations OF this kind the profits u
one coal mime may be qladrnpled, while an
other, with MI itS fixtures and machinery, IL
rendered worthless. Such wrongs % these are
DONE not only n Jew sporadic cases, but gen
orally and habittally on very large scale.
islahd; got rebates aponntlng to so, OOp, 900 III
eighteen moiiths aid sc+entss.nins hsuscs~~I
believe that is the nnmbcr-eiigaged in the
same business were broken up. The creditors
Of the Reading railroad, having coal lands Of
theft own, made DETERMINATIONS between them
selves and Others. .xhlch drove al composition
Philadelphia market and enabled tfieit ID
charge for their Goals ~ they charge for their
frtAghts whatever they pleased. Thus pro-
dnccrs,. dealers and consumers oil suffer to-
gelher
raE aEsuITs--A rEv RfoH, THE MANY room.
working Gs q s Es fsss sss lc sSS es s ss,as
are referred TO In q recent article in Sc1ita9,s
Magazine for December, 1850, in the following
FIT Il little inorc than 6ftecn years since
Huptinet0n, Hopkins 4 Co. were hardware
M escsans. Z litrltsd P,Qans E 70 San Francisco
servedly made fortunes estimated ut ifHtsh -,
900 to ". O0O, 900 each. They found the
railroad enabled them to tax the production and
corilmerce Of the entire Pacific coast. Twelve
yuatI kave rolled aronnd; and recent estimates,
based upon legal procc -.sig@ neeocssary N the
estate OF Mrs Hopkins, place the partnership
wealth OF MIR Leland Stanford ut 934, 543, 3cy.
that Of Mr.. Charles Crocker at f34, ,4s5, l58:
that OF Mrs. Hopkins at 425. 2SD, ,972, while Mr..
Huntington's wealth IL estimated even higher
thin thRt 81 Mersrs. Stanford and ClockeF.
III + about !serty sears siIse tie late Nj.
Vanderbilt graduated from the htc@r''.hsp busi-
ness into railroad management j: his possessie::.s
at that tune were valued 1t from Is, ,OO0, 900 TO
*lO,OOO,OO0; at his death, some three years
since. they were estimated at $50, ,O00, 600.
Mr.. Jay Gould obtained his start in the
management T. the Erie railroad, in connec-
ton with the late James tlsk at the tive be
gave his now-famons testimony Cn 1879, he
was considered worth from s3, ,OOO, 600 to 90
0OO.OOO: to-day no one knows how much ho y
4ctth, but in Wall street estimates arc made
ranging from &GD, ,OnO.nOa to ~. .OON, 900.
Railroad mcn who have aSc..in.s!aAcd, with
in few years. amounts ranging from u. .OOO;.
600 10 45. .O00, 600 are too numerous to mention,
% are those, also in branches OF trade depend
ing npon and closely identified with railroad
transportation shippers who, through the fa-
vor OF iailecad nanagsrsA have been enabled TO
outstrip OF break down a ccnp-tisso0.
III true history Of the Standard Gil Com.
pany could 10 written It would read more Ike
a romance Of the middle ages than ; statement
Of commercial facts possible in the nineteenth
century. This ID the organization to whlch the
Hepburn committee allndes 40 this mysterious
organization, whose business and transactions
Afa sf sssch 4 character that lts members de-
cline giving history OF DESCRIPTION Of it, lest
their Testimony be used to convict them - .
crime
HOW Abuses ARE PKRPEruATED.
The following extract from . recent letter
written by Hon. David Davis, once Judge OF
the Supreme Court, now Senator OF the Unit
cd States indicates the serious nature OF the
problem before -:
"The rapid growth Of corporate power and
the malign influence which it exerts bt cun.bi.
nation on the national and State Legislatures ic
wellgrOundei cause Of alarm. A struggle ia
pending IN the near future between this over
grown power, with its vast ramiticatiOns all
over the CniODand hard grip on much Of the
political machinery, on the one hand, and the
people in an unOrganiZed condition, on the
other, for control OF the Government. Il win
BIZ vatEhed b. stery patriot with intense
anxiety
ton were exposed 10 1873 through the agency
Of railroad quarrel in this State, resulting in
the appointment by the Legislature Of a CONF
mittee to investigate the management OF the
Erie railway. The following is from the report
of the committee OF Mr.. Jay Gould:
:. do not know how mti.h ! paid toward
helping friendly men. Wehad four Stafes to
look after, and we had to suit oar politics to
circumstances. In . Deriiocratic district was
Democrat in Republican distfict / vas 6
Republican, and in q doubtful district Was
doubtful, bnt in every district and at all times
l have always heen an Ere man."
The state OF things unearthcd by this investi-
cation was officially described IN the report Of
| the Legislative committee, AZ follows:
=, svp k1~nA ~. Ero,
/, the custom Of the managers Of the Erie rail-
| way, from year to year. in the past, to spend
I large sums to control elections and to influence
LEGISLATION. In the year 1864 more than II .OOO.-
600 was disbursed from the treasury for extra
and legal services" For interesting items zee
Mr.. Watson's testimony, pages sS6 and sS7.
| "Mr. Gould. when last on the stand, and ex-
anained in relation to various vouchers shown
him, admitted the payment during the three
| wears prior to 1872 Of large sums to Barber,
Tweed and others, and to influence legislation
or elections these amounta were charged in
the sIntlia-rubbcr account Tho memory Of
this witness was very defective AZ to details,
and he could only remember large transactions
bnt conld distinctly recall that he had been in
the habit Of ecndinr mohey into the numerous
districts al over the State either TO control
l nominations or elections for Senators and
members Of Assembly. Considered that -
rnle. such investments paid better than to wait
till the men got to Albany, and added the nix.
nifcant remark, when asked . question, that
it would be as impossible to specify the nu
merous instances aa Il would to recall to mind
tho numerous freight cars sent over the Eris
road from day to day." (See testimony, p. 556.
Tho report Of the Legislative. commute,
concludes with the following remarkable words
ssIt il not reasonable 10 suppose that tht
Of money for the purposes nen,ed: but th'
| snflden rav0lnti0n in the direction OF thia CON,