Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-02-17
RAILWAY MANAGERS HEARD FROM
Exhaustive Statement by General
Solicitor Cary, of the st. Paul Road.
THE COST OF OPERATING LINES.
Manager Haupt Explains the Operations
OF the Northern Pacific.
REMARKS BY MARVEL AND DELANO
The Entire Subject Of State Control Of
Railroads Treated.

Railroads Treated.
The joint committee of the senate and
house upon railroads met in the parlor at
the Metropolitan at o'clock last evening
Hon. Gordon E. Cole, of the house com
mittee, presiding. In addition to full
attendance of the two committees, there
was large attendance of members of the
two bodies, and also quite a large
sprinkling OF railroad men, including Gen.
Haupt, of the Northern Pacific, Assistant
President Winter, of the Omaha road, Gen
eral Manager Marvel, of the st. Paul &
Manitoba, Assistant General Manager My
ers, of the Chicago 81 st. Paul, F. R. Del
ano, Esq, Judge Chandler, of the Chicago
& st. Paul road, JAS. Smith, Jr., of the st.
Manitoba road, and others.
The bill under consideration was that in
troduced in the senate by Senator Clark,
and in the house by Mr.. Marcus Johnson.
commonly known as the Baker bill, Great
ing state board of railroad commission
ers and prescribing their duties. At the
request of the committee
MR.. FRANK, OF MOWER,
repeated the statement made at
the former meeting, that the
people of southern Minnesota
complained of determinations made by the
Milwaukee road. 1t was not so much at
the high charges, but they could not see
the justice of charging more for hauling
freight from Austin to Minneapolis than
from Milwaukee to the same point.
There was no opposition to the
railroads, but to the system of
discrimination, which was impoverishing
the people and driving them out of the
country, the actual population being less
now than ten years ago. Another thing
they complain of is that by the tariff estab-
lished the people are cut off from st. Paul
and Minneapolis, their natural markets.
To Mr.. Doran-We can not get rates to
Minneapolis.
To Mr.. Castle-Attempts have been
made to ship to Minneapolis, but we could
not get rates either at Minneapolis or
Milwaukee, though the. officers at both
places had been applied to.
JUDGE CHANDLER
explained that the low rate of twenty cents
per hundred on bran from Minneapolis to
Milwaukee, as against sixteen cents to
Austin-one of the complaints made by
Mr.. Frank at the former meeting-was be-
cause if not hauled at that low rate to
Milwaukee it could not be hauled at all,
and leave any margin to the shipper. It
was one of those cases where the company
was forced to accept what they could
just as in the case of competing
points. The company could not regu-
late rates at such points but were COM
PEELED to take just what they could get
If the company Disseminated under other
circumstances it was something of which
he had never heard.
Mr.. Skinner-How do you explain that
$50 is the charge for car of freight from
Milwaukee to Mortified against only $65
to st. Paul.
Judge Chandler-Simply that st Paul is
a competing point at certain seasons of
the year, both by rail and river, and we
cannot govern the rates. The surrounding
circumstances govern the tariff, and we
have to accept the situation .or get no
business. We have to take what we can
get.
HON. JOHN w. CAREY,
general solicitor for the road, next addressed
the committee on behalf of the road. He
said as nearly one-fourth of the roads con-
trolled by the company were in Mime
sofa, he was gratifed at the opportunity
given him to give his views as
to the pending legislation. 1t was
for the legislature to decide whether any
legislation was to be adopted at this time.
If it was thought advisable to adopt any,
he would say that the system of commits
sioners, as in Massachusetts, was the best
in his opinion. The matter of fixing tariffs
had never proven satisfactory, and
when tried were soon abandoned. He
had witnessed the contest in the
legislation which foisted upon Wisconsin
the Potter law. The courts declared the law
constitutional, but it was found to work SO
disastrously that two years later the gov
ernor recommended its repeal. 1t was SO
repealed, and that has been the end of
such legislation in that state. And so far
as appears, the people seem satisfied
with the system of one commissioner as at
present in operation in the state.
THE BAKER BILL.
Referring to the bill under consideration
the Baker bill-Mr. Car said the COM
pany which he represented objected to it
as ruinous and disastrous to the company
and state as well. 1t proposes to make a
law which cannot but do great injury. The
law might not injure some roads, but
the rule would operate upon all
roads alike. The bill in fact
proposes to take the roads out of the
hands of the company and place them in
the hands of the commission. The com
mission is made absolute. The commits