Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1884-01-31


board of railroad commissioners yester-
day evening, had very noticeable
effect upon all who heard it. As SO
many people have been very anxious OF
late TO know what the Santa Fc road
proposes to do, with reference to the
law, and what course Mr.. Touzalin, its
general manager, would pursue, the
talk he made is here given in fall. He
said
Railroad companies, like all others, must
bear and forbear. In answer TO almost all
atcments that are made, they reply with
silence, leaving time to tell its story, and that
rule would b. pursued in this casn, except for
certain remarks which have been made and
which may go to the public and be misAter-
prctcd unless the road makes some statement
In reply.
The Atchison road comedies that until its
rights under its chirt,r shal have been deter
mined, that the legislature Of Kansas has the
pOs er TO regulate its tariffs on the local traffic
Of the road wttuiu the state OF Kansas, and
when the honorable board Of railroad commits
siOI or. shall have reached definite cOncluS-
ion In matters now leniirg leture them the
Atchisun road will be found amongst the I. re-
most II It's obedience to the avs I the state.
'Lle Atchi'On road believes that the law which
h been passed and tn dcC,son which has
been reached hereunder will prove themselves
great injurious to every commercial manu-
iaCturirg and other interests IN the state, aud
wltn this b,lief the AtrhisOu road has asked
the comm ssiOners for a rrhearil Of their
dccisi II IN order hnt the fullest possible CON
sidcratiOn III ght be- givon to the inevitable
Cpnsr qucDCcs Of taking away that cOmmcrc Il
freedom "hch thus far has built up the state
of Kansas; but in spite OF the protests uf the
AtchisOn read the commissioner, find IL their
d.ty tu enact a tariff for the road, the
Al, hisoH ad will be found complying with
the aw passed by the last legislature.
Low System OF RATES.
In all the history OF transportation, both in
tn IS country aud IN ty' ~ other, 1t is fact
that 10 section Of country IN the wAo &c word
has been b Csscd with so low system Of
rates, 10th lor internal traffic, as vel as for
intcrst STATE traffic, Ms tnat which has prevail ed
in the states west II the Missouri river, and
Kansas more particularly than any other, aud
81 Oncr r later the people liyinL on the line II
the Atch,on rrad will get down to the bottom
facts in this whole ma't-r, and will find that
the rates Of freight which have prevailed for
the last four years ON the Atrhs IN road are
as whole Us low, and in many instances
lower than the rats prevailing in other states
like Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, aul even
portions Of Illinois, with a popuatiOn and
traffic many times greater than that on the
AtChisOn road.
In concluding the business Of railroad II is
well nigh Impossible to suit every community
or every Individual. The trouble is that every
community or every individual wants arrange
ments male for lin little bet er than Tor
anybody else, and Of course it is impossible tu
do that.
An examination into the records and ac-
counts of the AtuhsOu road for the last ten
years will show this rcmarLab . fact, that
every dollar and much more, thar has been
paid N fr,ights hy the people Of Kansas To
the AtChisOn road, la ,bccu spent III the safe
FIRST, in expenses for opera Ing the road;
s. cOnd, IN Improvements upon the fOal and
third, in building new lines to develop the
county. In other words the people who avn
tn, Atchison road have had such faith In the
enterprise that as rapidly as they h We earned
the interest on their money, they have REIN
vested that money in the state Of Kansas.
Qu tly, but thoroughly, the owners Of the
property have been building up system Of
railr ads in other states and territories, ami
have been making Kansas basis Of their
Oprrat ons. ENaniue the accounts and You
will see that the whole system of repairs, Of
equipment, motive power aud all machinery
connected with the Operat on Of the
VARIOUS ROADS
has been brought here to the state OF Kansas.
Examine the accounts again for the years lSNl
and lSS2 and part Of lsS3, and you will see
that over 80, W,WOOt new money subscribed
by the owners was spent in The state Of Kansas
alone for developing the Atchis II, Topeka and
Santa Fc railroad, so as to make 1t the trunk Of
great railroad system IT, is true that during
the last few years the road, like other Interests
IN the state OF Kansas, has been successful,
but compare Investments made In the AtChi-
son road with other investments made In the
state Of Kansas in past years and YOU will
find that there is hardly an intcr ST, com
mCrrial, manufacturing, real estate or other
classes ufinvrstmcnts which bas not iuCrea. ed
in proportion far hey the investments
ma 'c In the Atchison road by the 5000 people
VINO now own the property. The fact that
the road has been successful is the chief rea-
son why the vast develop mcnt has been made
IN its system he fact that It is successful
should be a matter Of con- ratu 'attOn to other
interests ON the lire Of the road, for that sue
cess has meant additional invcstm MS IN
build ng up The property. Cln it be denied
that to h. great enterprise uf the AtchsD
road is largely at ributab'c the success uf the
various interests sl ng the line: Is 1t fair to
refuse tO the road a risht to share IN the
prospc riy viii Ii the r1ad itself has been such
a great factor |" producingi
DISCRIMINATION.
A word or two AS TO disctiminatOts. The
law which has been pass says as follows:
"NOr shall it (auy railr company charge
more for ir ,nsportug freight from any point
ON its line than fair and just proportion OF
the price 1t charges for the me kind uf
freight transported from any other pOirt."
We venture 10 say that this regulation alone
would throw the stare of Kansas ba, kwArd
tvs wears in the history of It's internal i'm.
prOvcments The tact is, that what is c illed
"d,s rimina' ion" but wiich properly speak.
lug Is really commercial freedom, is the
absolute life ami necessity Ol the country.
Without diScr miatiOusn the far west can
not i've. Should the national congress pass a
law regulating the railroads, like The Reagan
bill, that law must nccrss ,rily lie passsd likr
the Kansas law as upon fair and just proper
tons" TO- distance hauled. Apply such law
to the United States at large, and Whi . II
would largely advance he Interests OF New
Y rk, Pc nsylv mia and far eastern s'at-s, IL
would cripple the II iddlc st tics and III n the
states west of the Missouri river. The AtChi-
son rad in the Transaction Of S eternal
business IN the state of Kansas has up to this
time exercised comm rel j freedom In he de-
velOpmcnt Of the interest Of Kansas COM
IluIlll'Es anu llt grow III VI lut ebHlt II
" due to this fact. Usage Ci Is a point i'm
mrdiately IN case. Coal Is the chi industry
there, and is mined at a cost of ei h. cents
per bush ! c val is mDed Of ~ g0t d qu 10y
and for straming urpCs''s better, In eastern
Kansas than In western Missouri for four and
four aud a half cents per bushel. How Is 1t
possible for Usage City to thrive and prosper
with rates made upon "fair and Just propOr-
tons Of the rates from Fort Scott ard Rich
Hill, ttsburg and other districts. Up to
this time the railroad company has been able
to give and has given large assistance in the
develobment Of
THE OsAGE DISTRICT,
and the road itself has mined and used over
two millions Of bushels Of Usage coal per
year. If the railroad company, In order to
obtain its own cal more chpapiy, ard in or
der to Obtain the lowest rates for commercial
coal, has developed its miniug interests at
O,age so as to make a product there Of five
millions of bushels per year, has II not then
been right In the interest OF Usage City and
right In the interest Of all points on its linel
Time, we believe, will show that the POWER
which the railroad has had up to this time 10
develop its local interests have all been in
the line Of good, aud that the loss Of that
power will seriously cripple every industry on
the road and will eblige the owner, OF the
road to look for r.l ( to the development OF
traffic in other directions.
A word or two In regard to moving the
shops and general offices of the Atchison, To.
peka and Santa Fe railroad out of Kansas and
away from Topeka, as have been mentioned
here. ln such matter as this words are
worth but llttle-deeds speak for themselves.
What is the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
railroad ! 1t is a road as we all know extend
ing from Atchison to the west line of the
state of Kansas, 400 miles. What have We
here at Topeka The shops and general Of