Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-07

The Acting Chairman of the Railroad
Commits sion Reviews President RaouF ;
Letter and Defends the Commission.

ana as q IdllIOau Olucldls
ssWhat do you think OF his posltloh as
to the fertilizer rates IN use, ana thOse
adopted by the commission
II shall not burden you with any addl-
tiOnal statements concerning TINS matter,
but will simply remark that might snow
damaging determinations in the rates
used BY the Central before the establish
ment of the commission. ms nave no
desire to do at this time"
ssThe point is made, Major, that the
commission does not give the roads an op-
portunity to be heard upon important
matters affecting their interests"
eyes. sir Judging from Mr.. RaouPs
letter this seems to be the case. do not
perceive that the law cOntemplates any
notice, except that the publication OF
the changes in rates shall be made one
time only, in one newspaper, IN eacn OF
the seven cities of the State, speclned IN
the law. The law does not now as amend
ed. nor did it ever require notice OF Ten
days, or thirty days, or any NUMBER Of
DAYS. Whenever complaints, OF charges,
or any other matters came before the COM
mission between parties IN interest ana
the railroads, we have usually given no.
tice, and brought the parties face TO lace,
and have endeaVOred to bring about a re-
Cancellation of interests, without judicial
action on the part of the commission.
sion to make all the rates, and, whenever,
i'm their Judgment, they do not consider
existing rates reasonable and just, to so
alter them as to make them so. And Wnen
the commission have had all the ln1orma-
ton in their possession from the monthly
reports, etc, of the railroads, they nave
never hesitated to discharge that duty,
For instance, in the case now complained
of bv Mr.. RaOu, we were aware, among
eI,s +hof tho nlontpr who nsp0
the fertilizers in producing cotton, ana
who bore the burden of payment, was not
getting within ten dollars per bale as
much as he received per bale for the years
1SSO-1-2. and hence we felt 1t duty to
make the slight reduction alluded TO.
This, however, has been done only on car
load lOts.''
'When was the notice of this reduction
first given, Majors"
''The notice was published according to
law on the 4th of December, and not on
the 18th, as you would be led to infer from
Mr.. RaouPs letter, and the reduction was
not to take effect until the 1st day OF Jan
uarv, 1884. The first and only complaint
that the commission has ever received OF
the rate was from Mr.. Raoul, and reached
this office on the 2Sth of December"
MIR. RaOul suggests that the farmer
does not get the benefit of the reduction
in fertilizer rates.
"Well," said Major Wallace, "the in
formation furnished you by the dealers IN
fertilizers, through your columns, few
DAYS since, does not sustain Mr.. Haoul in
his assertion that the foreign manutac-
turer gets the benefit of the reduction,
but shows clearly that the farmers do get
the benefit resulting therefrOm. Referring
again to Mr.. RaOuls letter, his great
trouble seems to be the failure of the
commission to give the railroads due no.
tice of contemplated changes. He says,
this, however, is the law, and it is against
this injustice of the law that l now COM
plain.' In answer to this, | have for my
self to say, and | am sure that the other
members of the commission Will agree
with me, that he shall have cause for no
further complaint on this ground. The
law certainly does not prohibit the COM
mission from giving the notice desired.
In all cases, therefore, of any real conse-
quence, Mr.. RaOul and all other railroad
officials controlling the railroads OF GeOr-
gia, if possible to be found, shall have
reasonable notice to appear before the
commission, and, as has been our custom
heretofore, so it shall be in the future
they shall be heard patiently and without
prejudice"
"Mr. Raoul seems to think that after
publishing an intended reduction the
commissions conclusions are formed, and
the railroads would be at disadvantage
if they appeared before you to discuss
the matter"
SIN this Mr.. Raoul is greatly in error"
was the answer, ''Hhe commission would
not hesitate a moment to retrace the steps
taken, if convinced that they were in
error. The commission does not claim
infallibllity, and why should they feel the
least humiliation by correcting an error
or making a change, when the general
freight agents of the various roads are en-
gagged almost monthly in rearranging or
changing the rates fixed by them. The
commission has retraced its steps in the
past, and will never hesitate to do so in
the future when justice requires it."
''What have you to say concerning Mr..
RaOuPs remarks on the lumber question z"
s'Mr. RaOul does himself an injustice in
attributing to me opinions on principles
which | have never, for one moment,
entertained. He should read circular No.
80, issued by this commission, and call to
mind the circumstances which caused its
adoption. The mill men had time and
time again petitioned the commission for
relief. We notified the officials of the
roads interested to appear before this
board. The rooms of the commissioners
were filled with representatives Of the
railroads and the lumber men. The COM
mission suggested a free discussion of
their troubles and interests, and that they
could possibly adjust matters among
themselves. Finally they did agree. Mr..
RaOuI did not controvert the condition of
the lumber trade, his shown by the mill
men in their petition, but admitted that
something ought to be- done lon
temporarily Tor their releI; me
Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad
had already granted relief largely
and literally, having reduced lumber
once 40 per cent. below class p. Mr..
RaOul suggested that he would be willing
to give for a time the old special rates
which his road had given previous to the
establishment of the commission. This
involved discrimination, which, of course,
the commission could not sanction. At
this juncture Mr.. Raoul proposed to haul
lumber from any point on any of his
roads to any other point, in either direction
20 per cent. less than class z, and to give
the mill men the benefit of the reduction at
once, that is, without the four publications
at that time required by law, on condition
that when their business justified it, they
would allow a restoration of the rates
without the usual publication of four
weeks. This proposition was cheeriully
accepted by the mill men, and Mr.. RaOul
has never failed to comply with this
agreement, nor has he to this day asked
the commission to restore that rate,
Chow did it work."
.SSOOn after this agreement cOmplica-
lions arose between the lumber men and
the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia
Railroad Company, making it necessary
for the commission to publish and put in
effect circular No. 50, which embraces
facts that cannot be denied. Where, now,
in all of this, or in anything else, does
Mr.. Raoul find evidence that | or the
commission would for one moment favor
the taxing of one interest or industry to
sustain another? The commission has on
more than one occasion clearly defined
its position on this question to be that,
while it considers the relative conditions
of the parties in fixing rates, it will not
require the roads to carry freights for less
than a reasOnble and just rate, for the
benefit of any one, or for any purposes"
Here Mai. Wallace paused a moment
and then continued his remarks.
Il cannot and will not be misunder-
STOOD" he said. The owners and lessees
of the railroads of Georgia have
rights, and no matter who
these owners are, or where they
live, their rights must not only be re-
spected but protected. The people also
have rights that demand respect and pro-
lection. An utter disregard of a proper
respect for and appreciation of these
rights have drawn them almost en- masse
to demand of the press proper considera-
ton of their equality before the law, and
a requirement of their legislative repre-
sentatives that they want laws within the
powers conferred by the constitution that
will protect them from the fur
Their encroachment of the moneyed powers.