St. Paul daily globe., 1885-06-26

gagged III the business OF transport
alton since 1886, took the chair.
He said that many had made up their
minds that the river was the lever TO hold
down the railroads in the matter OF rates.
He was in favor of a commission, the
powers of which 1t would, however, be i'm
possible now to define. There were cases
where it would be impossible, in the cap
tain'S opinion, to make rates less for short
than for a long haul. 1t would take a COM
mission to decide these things after care
fully examining all the facts and conference
with both the transporter and the shipper.
Asked what influence tended to reduce
railroad rates in Minnesota, Capt. Blakeley
mentioned capital invested in property,
as a road can carry to its limit without ma
terially increasing its investment. Most OF
the roads have less than half the business
they can do. The fixed charges are the same,
whether there is much or little business.
The operating expenses are less, toe, than
they were; locomotives and rolling stock
are cheaper, interest is less. although the
price of labor remains about the same.
Asked whether, in view of the cut ON
through rates, the local rates could have
been reduced more than they are, the
captain said it would take railroad man
TO answer. Still, local rates were not re-
duced in the same proportion as the through
rates, which were sometimes reduced to
nOn-remmeratiye figures.
Concerning pools, the captain said there
hadn't been a time in three years when
there was not a competition between roads
from st. Paul, and still they were always
talking about their pools. When two
roads were built where one could do the
business the people must suffer.
HptUrnino tn tha OriUinal nupSAiOn Cant
Blakeey was in favor of having commits
sion consisting of one from each state to
discuss The whole railroad question, hear
complaints, and decide between the rail-
road and the shipper, although on the
question of giving the commission any Ju-
dicial or executive powers or authority he
was nebulous.
He was in favor of prohibiting pooling
and rebates. HewaS in favor of uniform
classification and uniform bills of lading.
At this point the committee adjourned
for dinner.
MIR. MIIRATH.
On reaSsembling the committee heard
Mr.. Charles McIlrath of the board of trade,
who desired to emphasize the fact that the
board of trade is in favor of a limited gov
eminent control of the transportation, with
commission to protect against eXtOrtlOn
and the evils of railroad wars, to make rail-
roads publish rates, and that the lowest
cut-rate during war be the ruling rate until
the next rate-Sheet is made, this latter pro-
vision for the purpose of preventing railroad
wars. The feeling among the agricultural
people in the remote parts of the state was
that they are paying too much freight
Railroads are paying rebates frequently
secretly. which system he thought bad
l., Cnfnl
be left in the hands of commission. He
thought classiiicatiOns should be equal as
possible. The board of trade was opposed
to pools unless the state or the United
States should have some power over the
pool. The long and short haul question he
would leave to the commission rather than
regulate it by an infeXible law.
Mr. Z. f. Drake, the former president of
the st. Paul Il Sioux City railroad, knew
of no reason why pooling should exist eX-
cept to prevent ruin0uS competition. but
from this point of view it had been beneh-
cIal. Pooling had only been resorted to to
end a war of rates, and did not ordinarily
raise rates higher than they were before the
war began. The people usually regard the
railroads as rich mOnopolies, when their,
0wners are usually pointed for the poor
house. At stations near competing points
people are apt to feel that they are discrim-
mated against As matter of
fact, Minnesota railroads have
never received fair compensation.
Their revenues are too small; and very
much so from competing points. The ques-
ton was so complicated, however, that no
one that Mr.. Drake had found had wisdom
enough to solve it. He was very positive
that a long and short haul law would be in
l Il
discriminate for the sake of discrimination
only when forced to do SO by competition.
He knew of no eXtortion that was ever
practiced on shippers ut nOn-cOmpeting
points. Speaking ofrebates, he said it was
necessary sometimes. i'll order to retain
business in competition. He thought the
rates ought to be public, and still he
thought unfavorably OF an iron-clad rule,
prohibiting the change of rates without a
certain notice; especially unless the rule
could bemade binding upon steamboats, also.
lie called attention to the fact that some
times parallel and competing roads run on
opposite sides of the same river. One Of
them runs through two or three different
states, and is amenable to the national law.
The other is entirely III one state and does
not come under the United States law. 1t
could easily break up the business of the
competing road.
Senator Cullom-That's a phase of the
matter that never occurred to me before.
Mark II. Dunnell, a farmer from Owa-
tOnna, gave an entertaining history of his
record in congress as member of the COM
mittee on commerce. He didn't believe in
pooling, rebates or discrimination.
OLIVER DALRYMPLE,
the bonanza farmer, was asked what COM
plant he had to make against the railroads.
He answered, ''as al individual. nothing"
He thought there should be national com
mission to look after the railroads. He be-
| Iieved the best results could be obtained not
by interfering with the tariffs or with pools
so much as by enlarging the waterways.
He believed that the Erie canal should come
| into the possession of the government, SO as
| to make an uninterrupted waterway between
| the West and the seaboard. y mill ton
a mile by water against cent ton per
mile by rail was sufficient argument for this
| As to the specific grievances of the Western
farmers. he said that they complained more
Of the want of freedom in elevators than
| from pools or rebates. Some railroads had
| favored one line of elevators. much to the
detrment of the farmers. but recent Min
nesota legislation had corrected that in
| large measure. He believed that the gov
| eminent should regulate land-grant rail-
roads so as to prohibit them from giving eX-
! elusive elevator privileges to one line or
| company.
MIR. Z. MYER
of St. Cloud, one of the granger representa-
| tivcs in the last legislature spoke of the
wide discomfort against the railroads grow
| ing out of eXtortiOn and unjust discrimina-
| ton. lie mentioned the injustice OF the
elevator system, transit system, etc. He
showed that farmers had organized 200
secret societies in this state to protecG