St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-07

west which met in st. Paul recently, APP
pointed committee to embody the resolu-
tions adopted by the convention IN the form
OF an address to the people. A copy of this
address was received at the GLOBE of
fee yesterday, and an examination it appears
to follow quite closely the statements and
plans of action set forth in the resolutions of
the convention. 1t is presented entire be
low:
When, in the history of a great nation
guaranteeing to all classes of its citizens,
equal rights in the possession of property,
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it
becomes necessary for one class, comprising
the great majority, to put forth organized
effort to relieve themselves from unlawful
entertainments and oppressive burdens i'm
posed by another class, comprising the few,
duty and due regard for the opinions of their
fellow citizens require that the casuses which
render organized resistance necessary, should
be made known.
To that end, the farmers of Minnesota and
Dakota, assembled in convention in the city
of st. Paul, Minnesota on the IS, 10, and 20
days of March, 1884, with forty six counties
represented, through the undersigned com
mittee, address our fellow citizens of the
Northwest.
During the past few years, the few who
control and operate corporate monopolies,
have accumulated immense fortunes by I'M
lawful and oppressive burdens imposed upon
the industries of the many. Kings of mono
poly have secured favorable legislation
through bribery of legislatures, a subsidized
public press and unlawfully usurped powers,
until the industries of agriculture, the trades
and commerce are made to contribute their
Legitimate profits to corporate monopolies,
beyond reason or justice. These abuses
have grown until they have assumed the
form of burdens so grossly unjust and in
tolerable, that our fellow citizens Of the new
Northwest have been forced TO assemble in
local, county, state and general conventions
for the purpose of devising means for the
redress of grievances and the protection of
constitutional rights guaranteed to American
citizenship. Railroads, endowed by charter,
with extraordinary privileges, constructed
for public good and duly compensated, have
been and are being used as a means of out
rageous oppression by Illegal assessment of
unreasonable freight rates charged for the
transportation of the products and commodi
ties of agricultural and other legitimate in
dustries of our country. Roads traversing
the great cereal districts of Minnesota and
Dakota, are especially censurable for impos-
ing exorbitant and oppressive freight rates.
The officers of one of the said roads, in
answer to specific requests made by COM
mittee appointed by convention of the
people of North Dakota, claimed to have
made liberal concessions in the interest of
the people. OF the three specific concessions
claimed to cave been granted, two are with
out foundation in fact, viz: the granting of
the privilege to construct elevators of 5000
bushels capacity, and secondly claiming that
the road had reduced freight rates during last
year 10 per cent less than the previous year.
In the first place, the roads unlawfully usurp-
ed control over elevators by establishing the
present system, and therefore had no power
to do otherwise than abandon usurped control
thereof. In relation to this matter Gen. j.
d.
state of Minnesota, says:
cat the time Of the proposed issuance of
the rule, (that is the regulating of the capa-
city of elevators), this Office protested against
it, and in the light of experience, still more
strongly declares its opposition to this regu-
lation, as being unlawful. unequal in its
operation and against public policy" ''In
our last report, with the approval of the at
torney general, we pointed out the Illegally
of the rule. The railway in question, how
ever, promulgated the order, in defiance of
the commissioner and of the law, and this
regulation is now practically enforced by all
the lines in the state" In demonstration of
how legislatures are corrupted and honest,
equal and just legislation is defeated, he
further says: eff it be said that the recent
legislature took no action in this very mat
ter brought before them by the commissioner,
he has only to say with the mercy of charity,
that he will not discuss the causes of the sup
preston of such legislation"
In the second place, concerning the claim
ed reduction of 10 per cent. on freights, by
Redistribution of freight rates, weighs and
local rates, an average increase was made as
! claimed instead of a reduction. Instead OF
the operating expenses of this said road be-
ing 60 to 70 per cent greater than any other
road operated in the northwest, the sworn
statements of the officers of the road, as
published by the commissioner of railroads.
shows that their operating expenses are that
much less than some other roads, and much
less than any other road operated in the
northwest. AS to their promise of through
transportation of wheat and so called further
reduction of freight rates, these are ques-
tons and promises for future action to dem
onstrate their good faith
Of the past and present conduct of these
railroads, we can only say of them that, their
exorbitate charges on products lumber, fuel,
machinery and merchandise have resulted in
extraordinary and unreasonable profits, which
amounts to this, that, for every dollar paid
to these corporations, forty to over fifty-two
cents goes into their treasury as profit.
Though the usurped unlawful control of ele-
vator capacity by railroads, rich elevator
companies have secured absolute control of
the wheat by driving independent
purchasers from the agricultural districts.
These elevator companies are a part
of the Minneapolis Millers' association, and
through these usurped powers by railroads
and the latter corporations, gigantic monop-
olies have been created with power to con-
troll the wheat market of the whole northwest.
These monopolies have exercised these
usurped powers and other dark practices to
an extent. which, for the year 1888, has re-
suited in corporate greed absorbing several
millions of dollars on the wheat crop of Min
nesota and Dakota, which should have gone
to the producers as their legitimate profits.
These are the greater evils of which our
producers complain, but there are others
which are oppressive and unreasonable. In
the markets, the farmer finds authorizations
! and limitations of butter which centralized
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