The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1884-02-21
AeAIN NR. rOUzALINl

AGAIN MR.. TOUZALIN.
Mi. TohEahii. in his last letter TO the
railway commissioherp, has skain for
g item himself. The temper OF his letier
Is impaired the force of its arguments
and he has, rs IN in his former screeds,
allowed his Zeal for tbs corporation
which be represents, 70 get the better Of
his judgment. Il will not aid the canse
which he seeks 70 defend to charge
such men as Judge Humphrey and Mr..
Turn with q willful pervers;on Of the
truth AMI violation OF thsir oaihs, ard
to assert that their decisions have been
based upon the sordid desire to create po-
litIcal capital The commissloners are
gentlemen who stand far above such
unjust aspersiOns.
Mr.. Touz4lin ssys, first. that be has
demonstrated again and again that by
every just standard of comparison the
rates on the Sabta Fe road and its
aGxili%rY lines have not only been rea-
sDnabie on nearly all classes OF freight,
but extremely low en- the products of
the couhtry which CONSTITUTES the chief
Kansas products. He has been unfortu.
nate in not making this PLAN to the peo.
pie and the commissioners, who, In their
letter. prove, on the other hand, by con-
vincing citations that the Santa Fe rates
are excessive IN c. mraIison with rates
n otter railroad tan;oughfaros aad this
testimony Is borne out by shippers all
along the line of the read.
Mr.. Touzalln admits tn At the earniogs
Of the road are L.rge and pay hand
some return on the inYestnen', but
claims that the proportion of these re-
ceipts arising from local Kansas
traffic has been so meagre that
the road would long since have be-
come bankrupt had 1t not reached out
aud grasped the busin. IS Of other states
and territories. We believe that il Is
too potent TO require proof. that Kansas.
with her growing towns all along the
Ii, OF the Santa Fe, and with the pro
duclive country through which that
roa runs, with its bounicous products
of gsHia add stock seeking market east
anu west, has furnished a vastly la ger
proportion of the traffic of tue read
than any region which it traVerses, not
Ia speak of the tremendous immigra-
ton u this siaye which has swelled the
9 irnings of the road.
1t is claimed by Mr. Touzaiin that the
mCney earned by the SsLtI Fee in Kan
SIS within the last ten years has all been
expended in improvems nts on the road
GRAFT this to be true. Is I the value
of the road enhanced by this policy, and
are not its facilities for lsrger earnings
thereby increased We think that even
MIR. Touzalin will be slow to so insult
the intelligence ST the Kansas people as
TO intimate that these Investments have
been made as a bInus to the Common
| wealth. The hotels which have been
built iy the road out OF its
earnings have not profited the
state save 10 furnish the travelling pub
lie with accommodations at rates which
prove a source of large revenue u the
railroad company, and the newspapers
which 1t has establishtd and subsidized
are certainly rather in the interest of the
road than the people.
Mr.. Touz4lin dismisses as unworthy
OF attention the statement of the COM
missioners regarding the Kansas City,
Topeka 81 Western road, in correction
with the policy OF the company in build
ing and operating auxiliary lines, and
concludes his epistle with the sweeping
assertion that the act of the commIs-
sioners In reducing freight rates is
loithOut color of lao, and that all the
efforts which they have made TO adjust
the differences between the PEG.
pie and the corporations are commu-
nistic and without the limit
OF their power. lie would have the peo
pie believe that as able jurist as Judge
Humphrey would counsel and lend him
self t. course of action which tran
sends all legal authority, and thus place
himself and his cOmpeers on the board
In the light of miserable pettifoggerI
and political charlatans before the peo-
pie whose interests they have been called
to serve. He admits that the law ere
ating the commission contemplates IL
those cases where the boarC
shall find that charges TO
freight are unjust and extortIonate,
modified charge for service, but he cal
see no honesty or justice in any decision
which reduces the revenue of the roaC
and lightens the burdens If the people
, We presume that the board will, In du
season, reply to the arguments whicl
Mr., Touzalin advances in his letter il
behalf of the road and will furnish ad
J ditionaI facts to justify their action. tn
discussion is one of peculiar IL
} dresl TO the people, an
he correspondence, while 1t may no
t tend To harmonic m alters between tn
road and the commissioners, will 6
east go far toward enhghtenIng tn
: people on a question in which ever
; reading m IN in Kunsss is interG std.