The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-10-01

WHEELIl
the power itpossesses by passing througha
series OF great cities from New York to the
North and from Albany to Buffalo; il
any line has gained such strength that 1t
can. step forward and through its
President, say: u will strike the rights Of
the railroad interests and OF the people Of
this country by reducing the rate OF trans
p9rtation to such improbable figures that
ival lines will be prevented from being
built" then II has reached position
when the whole interests Of the country
will be benefited and all will be gratlfed
to see Il parallel line which will divide that
vast business and bring the New York
Central road within the ordinary conditions
OF railroads that should serve the country
ut moderate and reasonable prices and pre-
vent II from exercising such power as can
destroy the railroad rates OF the country,
thus affecting the properties which should
have regular, reasonable and properly re-
munemtive rates alike for the interests Of
the producer, consumer and proprietos Of
the properties, When this policy was
presented to President Garrett he objected
to It us unwise and disastrous, and us cal
culated not only to lead to n temporary,
but to u great permanent evil, 1t would
arouse the whole country to feel
that competition must be encour-
aged so as to prevent abuse
by few controlling parties OF inter
ests too immense TO be needlessly and
iniudiciously je0pardized. President Van.
derbilt's colleagues, representing. other
trunk lines, perfectly understand his em-
barrassments, anxiety and his difficulties,
but certainly they clnnOt sympathize or
cooperate with him In his extraordinary
and destructive mode for relief here. Before
the SO styled wars of rates have always
proved injurious to the commerce OF New
York. When the Pennsylvania and b.
& o. roads had been required to take very
low rates for the transportation OF grain,
the result has been with such singular
uniformity that the business Of the New
York & Erie Canal has been seriously lesr-
ened, and that the transfer OF enormous
shipments OF grain to Baltimore and Phila.
delphia have occurred. SO the aggregate
receipts OF New York have been thus
seriously damaged and great gains have
been made by Baltimore and Philadelphia,
II will be well for those interested to
examine into these "wars Of rates"
rs to whether the New York canals
and the trade Of New York has
been benefited by tho policy Of President
Vanderbilt under consideration. The in.
righteousness OF this breaking down Of
rates to an unremuneNtive standard Is
shown very distinctly by the statistics In
regard to the tonnage and revenue from
through traffic over four trunk lines dur.
ing the months Of July and August, COM
pared with the corresponding months
is g., ,00l ,505. This decrease Is actually Of
net earnings, and at the same rate would
be, for one year, $12,54O,570. The
Baltimore 4 Ohio has com.
mon sense and justice, experience
and the interests Of the people whom 1t
represents as the basis Of its policy. 1t hNs
also the interests OF It's shareholders to pro-
tect. President Vanderbilt will find that
he must yield not to the presidents Of the
trunk lines, but to the principles Of com
mon sense and justice, and thus aid In re.
storing reasonable prosperity to the rail.
ways Of the country connected with the
through business especially OF the West,
and Cease 10 think that the assertions
about the interests OF New York, based
on empty dcluslons, will control inter
ests Of such magnitude and Importance
us those embraced by the trunk lines
OF the United States and their connections.
AS has been repeatedly demonstrated the
Baltimore & Ohio and Pennsylvania rail.
road companies with their respect.
i've termini, can fully take care Of their sec.
tions and Of their interest, and us New
York itself is deeply allied with the trans
portatlon traffic by these powerful organi'
zatiOns, the unsound position taken by
the President III saying, "what need Is
there OF % conferencep there Is nothing to
confer about; tho war In rates7 know OfnO
war; am fighting nobody Is apparent,
He liRs shown railroad managers that
ilis great wealth and power ~ a dangerous
factor in damaging neGdlessly leading In.
terests and industries OF the country, and
that too when he knows he can agree to
and re-establish proper rate; or II he can
not agreO with the organization already ef.
fcctcd, he can refer any difficulties Of
ratcs or distribution Of business
to arbitatos OF skill and experience
and honor and thus arrange at once to join
other railroad managers OF the country In
acting on principles Of fairness, justice and
good sense, in connection with NIL great
interests affected, by the establishment OF
judiCious and suitable tariffs, and thus
Withdraw from his isolated position, which
he must now surely perceive can be fruit.
ful Of no good, but only OF harln