The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1886-10-14

OBVIOUS @0V00laA0 OF t3e 000x00 UlI - I0oe
II Ii shorter. II ID not half - long = the
Culiom bill and gfves therefore less opportu-
nifty for doubtful meaning.
The frat section OF tho Reagan bill PRO.
yides that all charges shall b reasonable, and
prohibits unquali6edly Ill liberalization DO
tween individuals. II there any one disap-
proves that.
The corresponding section Of tho Cullom
bill IL the second. II also prohibits individual
discTinl 4ation In case of like service but with
the qualification Of being done ..1nder SUBJ
stAntially sim!isr circumstances and condi-
tisns."
Now that leaves tho very eytl comp L. D
Of without remedy. The railroads Claim that
. like service ID not rendered under snnstau
TALLY similar circumstances and c0Hs.tsasis
when done for q small shipper aE ~he. tssne
for largo. And this clain has received th..
sanction OF cur cnmn.issicn 10 tf'. npn-
ton In the Merrill, Keeney Go. cass .ruceed-
Ing upon the very sr.nespic g his section.
they sustained this sia.m Of the railroad COM
paaies a. sound. Aud Major Anderson for
dissenting from that opinion was denounced
~ . demAgOgue and 40 catering to tho mob.
Thus the obnoxious distinction between the
rich and the poor ID incorporated In this DILL,
guardedly II IL true, but none the less eGect-
unliy. This construction Of the CuEoM bill II
enforced by tt THIRD .1ctl0n wh.ch enacts
that ths companies shall gre TO no Individual
or locality or trafiic any undue preferences
nor subject my lEulVI0u0ls lUC0uty Ut IlUHiO
TO any unreasonable prejudice. A. II pub
liz institution could grant proper preference
or subject = person 10 . reasonable prejndice.
Equality before the Law b tho birth right OF
our people, and svon tho railroads must 70
spect II.
Section two OF the Feagan bin prohibits
pooling. The Cullom bill instead provides
that the commission TO be appointed under it,
terms shall. inquire Into the matter and report
% congress- what, II any. legislation 70 ad-
vsable and expedient upon the subject II
expresses no opinion whether pooling u right
or wrong, indeed It's friends don't seem TO
know and want 70 End out about II Mr.. Fink,
tho author Of the pooling system himself
thinks that some legislation 10 necessary. He
wants legal sanction for the pool % that lts
conditions can b enforced. Tho argument Tor
the pool ID that II prevents inous quitting Of
rates, and Ii necessary 70 protect one conn
pany against tho raids Of reckless rivals.
The claim for protection q Just, but the
method provided Ubiquitous Recently the
Milwaukee road out passei Tor rates from
Dies Moines 70 Chicago % el.0o. The fegu-
lar rate was $500. The cut rate was un-
doubtedly below co. /, and the Rock Island,
ct which the out Va. .tsn~d - usually Il did
tho bulk OF tho passenger b,.sln >, was greatly
hurt. Like Ill other D. uh Cuts, however,
this was not BY way Of .Orpf ltion but for
the purpose OF oombinatfcu. II Wa done 70
force pool. Legitimate O. mpsution b never
have no such trouble. Among them oompe-
tition ID limited by cost. So Il would b
among railroads but for their combinations.
When they disagree they do not compete, they
make war. and tho war always ends Ii m a.
lance, offensive and defensive.
They cut rates not to create but 70 destroy
competition. Destroy the pool and you end
the wars for iAtes. II the destruction Of the
pool alone would not accomplish 1t, another
principle OF the Reagan bill, that OF the long
and the short haul would. II, whom tho MIL
waukeo cut Ito Chicago rates from Dee Mo.nes
to one dollar It had been compelled TO reduce
the rates corfespondingly from al intermedi-
ate points. It would not have ventured tho
out. Make the reduction Of rates operate all
along the line, Ut non-competitiv0 40 well ~
II competitive points, and II will stop, where
II ought TO stop, ct the point Of cost and
fright wrongs no one" The righteous regu-
lations Of tho Reagan bin do not wreng the
railroads.
Col. Hepburn In bis Shenandoah speech
gave his reasons for opposing the Reagan
bill. His lrst was that Mr.. Reagan had taken
part in the rebellion. He would have you
rather submit " these abuses then accept .
remedy proposed by rebel Next he said
the bill II its prohibition Of pooling was not
efficient, because II did not define the form OF
pool now In use. A. tho bill prohibits beth .
pooling of frcights and . pooling Of earnings,
either Of q freight or money pool. the force
OF tho objection IL not obvious. III IL bo true
that ho voted against this bill because It was
not radical enough, how came he TO vote for
the Cull0m bill, which does not prohibit pools
at au3 His actions - N odacor and his
trast Mr.. Hepburn said that he wanted to
prohibit all pools and the Reagan bill not do
Ing this its enactment was worse than use
less. 10 hs sincere IN thisi In January Of
this year he introduced . bill on this subject
and It's provision - TO pooling was taken word
for word from the Reagan bill. Was he prac-
ticing fraud upon his constituents BY pro-
posing measure which he himsclf believed
TO be worse than useless or 10 ho attempting
an Imposition on them n0w2 Ho says he
doubted tho honesty Of Mr.. Reagan himself.
] leave the question OF his honesty with you.
And yet for this man. Anderson, did not DO
gin his assaults on railroad abuses soon
enough, and Reagan continued his too long
and nobody 10 jast right upon the question
except himself. With his own bill borrowed,
| so far ~ it has merit, from tho Reagan bill,
he prOcisims himself the only true railroad
rcformer. Like the patent medicine man, he
| gives notice that the genuine article has the
name Of Hepburn blown In tho bottle, al
others counterfeit.
The fact 10 that I'll these later bills are
modelled after Reagan's, with holes punched
| In them 90 that they won't hold water. Tue
Culiom bin ID ~ fun OF holes - . skinner
and will hold nothing.
! The fourth section OF the Reagan bill pre-
1 vents charging more for long hAul than foI
= shorter one included In It. Tho Culiom bill
contains . like provision, but provides fur
ther, that ths commission may upon appltcA
ton OF . road, suspend Its operation aud the
ruling Of the commission until changed
| shall nave the force Of law. Again, you set
the Law ID rendered abortive. II needs no ar
gument 70 show that tho advantage 70 q
left on tho side Of the roads. lndivtdua
| shippers can not meet them on far ADt
equal footing before tho commission, and
| this sect pn Of tho Cullom bill would In sil
1 months become dead letter.
Section I'VE Of the Reagan bin provides To-
| \ publication Of the tariff rates that the pub
Tic may know what the charges are. and THU
/ Ii essential to maintaining uniformity. Int
Culiom bill provides that the rates shall b.
| made public, 40 far ~ may, In the judgmen
| OF the commission, be- deemed practicable.
Again. you see, the commission 10 interposet
between sound principle and IL enforce
/ menG
Tho Reagan bill presoribes By general lav
| the relations Of the companies to the people
| and provides for tho enforcement Of the 70
| sulting rights Ia the regular tribunals Of Jus
| tico. The Cuilom bill, distrusting tho people
| and their representatives. so far ~ It inter
feres at all, leaves 1t 70 the arbitrary discre
ton OF commission, not responsible to thu
people, to determine what these rclatfoni
shall be. Why this departure from tho ordl
nary methods Of our government When h1a
these men denOunco . democratic admins
tration as dangerous 10 the public welfare.
| wonder how they can consent TO entrust to [
the constitution Of commission that shall
have In charge the most important interests
OF the people. Some Of them 70 90 far - Il
dcnounoe the president - Q monoplist. d
they believe Il, and 10 that why they want II
vest him with this great authority We, viii
i ~ AsnA -