Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-02-21

erCy OF asking your Honorable Board for
! your opinion on certain responsibilities
involved IN sections 10, IS and 20 Of the
law, and apologizing for the extreme
length of this one, l beg to remain,
Yours truly,
j lSlgnedi A. 3. ToUzALIN,
Vice President
LETTER NUMBER THREE.
On THE LINE, January 81. 1884
TO the Honorable Board of Railroad Commissioners
Topeka, RaR.
DEAR SIRs- have just learned by tel
| egraph that your Honorable Board has
reafhrmed your decision of January LIST.
| 1884, and instead of giving as the relief
that we had asked, you have still further
reduced portion ofthe rates promulgat-
ed on January LIST, 1884.
need hardly express to you, after the
Two letters already written this day, the
regret we feel that you have found it nee
essary to reaffirm this dec ision. We ap-
| preciate the difficult position in which
you stand, and how difficult it will be
for you to satisfy the vague wants upon
which the Railroad law was founded.
We appreciate the fact, that after having
made the BelOit decision, it has been
necessary for you either to go forward
with additional decisions, or admit that
been successful. We appreciate the
fact that the law itself is difficult
of execution, and that you have
difficult task in hand. But. on
the other hand, permit me to say that
you have greatly mistaken the real in
terests and the wishes of the people liv-
Ing upon our line. / gather the motive
which prompts your Honorable Board in
the action which you have taken, from
the statement made by enc of your hon
orabIe members still present with you,
on the 9th of November, 1888 On that
day the Railroad managers conferred
with yOuand earnestly requested you to
refrain from making tariff for the roads
as such tariff would work no real good
but much injury to all the interests of
the State The reply received was. that
unless the Railroad Commissioners made
railroad tariff reducing the railroad
revenues, the people would do much
worse, and would eventually ''tear the
railroads out root and branch" We be-
heve That you have mistaken the wishes
of the people in this matter, and have,
perhaps, given too great credence to the
statements and writings of those who
have little or no interests at stake, and
whose business it is to make trouble be-
tween the people and the railroads
We regret your decision, because we
are afraid that the immediate effect of
your decision upon the people in the
East, who own the Atchison road, will be
to lose confidence in their investments
in the State, and thus discontinue the
system of improvements here and else
where. We regret your decision because
it has upon its face the appearance Of
injustice, for you have reduced system
of rates that were already as low and
lower than those in States east of us. We
regret the decision because it cuts us off
from the ability to exercise that COM
mercial freedom upon which our asst
prosperity has been based and without
which no commercial enterprise can be
successful. But perhaps above all other
reasons, we regret the decision because it
points squarely to the fact that the pros
perity of the company and its good fnan-
cial condition has been used by the
Board as good reason for reducing its
rates, and limitations are clearly made
that further reductions will be made if
the prosperity of the road should in
crease.
We think that this increased prosperi-
ty should be basis for reward and not
for punishment. 1t has been proven
time after time that our rates have
always been reasonable; that indeed
trey nave D60n extremely ROW dS GULL
pared with other States. Is not this in
creased prosperity, then, the legitimate
and equitable reward for the faith shown
and money invested by the 10000 share
owners of the property? This increased.
prosperity has not been one quarter as
great as that which has come to nearly
every other investment in the State.
This prosperity has been secured by
great risks, large expenses and unf8nft-
ting labor. Now, that at the end OF. &
long term of years, when this risk, ex-
pense and labor is bringing moderate
return to the investors, must the fact
that they have become prosperous Ope-
rate to deprive them of the fruits
of this work. Does not this cutting
off of the fruits of their labor,
tend to prevent any further improve
ments by those who are thus treated
Is not such action taken by your Honor
able Board in the nature of Public No
tice to all investors in railroad property
to abstain from placing their means
within the Jurisdiction of this State
May not the inference be fairly drawn
from this decision that whenever rail
road property in Kansas yields fair re-
turn, the revenues will be reduced by
your Honorable Board? VIII not the
fact that our revenues are to be reduced,
vvo ORC T3TOcOorOJIC TO 10 QTuqU