The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1886-12-30

Court houses ttnQ other county buildings are TO
be erected and paid for; school houses built and
schools ma ntained: roads opened and worked
in snovt, all the necessary adjunctS to thriving
community arc to be called into being bv the
efforts and money CT the hardy pioneer. Every
other section or more perhaps, of the land In the
county district in which he has settled be-
longs to some one of these giant corporations
and reid by it freed from any liability 60 con-
tribute Il farGhing TO the Improvement which IL
Consistently and rapidly enhancing the value or
its holdings. The question oil the taXahlilty OF
these lands has been In i number of cases aud
il different forms before our supreme court. In
almost every such Instance the state has been
met with the provisions contained In the char
ters OF these companies, which grant immunity
from tavItion until y sale or conveyance or such
lands L. is for you to thoroughly Investigate
the status OF such lands, ana soc II There Is any
way By which YOU can obtain relief to the people
In this matter.
GRAIN STORAGE BY RAILROAD COMPANIES.
In connection with the legislation proposed by
the railroad and warehouse commission. would
suggest for your consideration whether 1t Is not
buth right and practicable that the railway
comps Mes which handle nearly all OF the grain
raised for market in the state should not be re-
oEired, when not receiving the same into cars
directly upon delivery TO them. to furnish
storage for IL in elevators or grain houses at the
stations where the grain Is received Tor Snlp-
rlant free of expense to the shipper. Is there
ANY SQUAD reason for making grain an exception
TO the general rule that common carriers snail
receive freight, and, IL not shipped at once. shpll
furnish storage from the time 1t Is cnered Tor
shipment until ready to be delivered to the con-
Signee: That such n requirement would lnNoive
the companies III much expense ana no htle
Inconvenience ut Irst must be Admitted: and II
the system should be iuaugurated a reasonable
time should certainly be given the companies
TO furnish suitable storage structures. Inc
proposed plan might, t. a limited extent. dis
place elevators and grain houses now employed
by other companies or persons, but doubt II
its effect in this direction would be material The
greater part of the grain now received by SUCH
houses is not delivered for transportation, but
is either sold for cash or receipts are taken by
10 sell futNrc
day and without shipping from the receiving
station Were the plan suggested to be put III
operation it Is not perceived that 1t would inter-
fere with the facilities for buying, receiving OF
STEERING of grain wherever such traffic Is or could
| be carried on but it would certainly stimulate
railroad companies to provide, as far as posi-
| bic, the necessary cars for the immediate ship
| ment of grain IA offered. No grain OF course,
would be delivered To the companies but such
as ths owners desired to have immediately
| shipped. The most OBVIOUS reason for making
grain al exception to tie rule in sections where
raised in great Gbundancs is that the bulk OF the
crop intended for sale Is thrown upon the mar
ket within few months after harvest and
hence it would be unreasonable 10 require the
companies to provide the necessary transporta-
ton to move il in 80 limited time, or TO store
| il for want OF cars to haul it away. But as the
wheat farmer becomes more forehanded and is
| not compelled to realize on his crop immed-
| latelv he will largely provide for his own stor-
| age, and this OBJ lection would soon be greatly
diminished. In this connection it would be W IL
| to consider whether the objections to the pro-
posed plan not to some extent founded On q
participation in the elevator profits by some OF
the officers or managers Of the roads, rather than
| on the plan itself
Whether or not these suggestions should be
considered by you worthy to be formulated into
| legal enactment have no hesitation in rec
omnendin. such Legislation will make l. a
| penal ofense for any person owning, operating
| or managing a railroad in the state to partici-
| pate i'll any profits derived from an elevator,
| grain house. wood or coal yard located on the
| line OF his road.
WHEAT GRADING.
| One Of the most frequent and serious COM
| plants among wheat producers and dealers in
grain is the difficulty Of procuring anything like
uniform grades at different times and places
| too often, indeed at the same time and place
ON wheat of the same kind and quality. The
| railroad and warehouse commissioners have
| done much to lessen the evil, but there is still
wide room for improvenlef t. II possible, the
! Inspection should be made by persons not only
| disinterested in the result, but without knowl-
| edge of the ownership of the grain of the prob
| able purchaser-or. indeed of the person or per-
sons interested in commissions it. Under
| conditions of this kind am satisfied that the
surprising and incXplicable differences in official
grades of wheat of the same variety and quality
would rarely occur. Every avenue to dishonest
practices should be closed by the law where pos
sible. With the door to favoritsm LETT open,
dissatisfaction will prevail, even in the absence
of actual fraud.
| WATERING STOCKS.
| commend to your special consideration the
legislation proposed by the commissioners to
paid stock by railroad companies, and TO regu
| late proceedings in the matter of increasing
| their capital stock. 1t appears to me that the
proposed bill is well calculated to suppress the
evil of watering stocks by railroad corporations,
trick by which fictitious capital is created, and
upon which the people are required to pay divi-
| bends. This method of diluting and expanding
| capital, already dangerous to the public from
| its very vastness and its absolute control by u
| few persons,-sometlmes practically by one
| man.-costs the producing classes OF the
| country many millions annually. There can ex-
I list no moral claim to dividends on watered
| stock and there should exist no legal right to
| such dividends.
| CHEAP PASSENGER FARES.
| Cheap passenger fares on our railroads. though
| with us Of secondary Importance as compared
| with freight charges. are nevertheless of public
| moment. The territorial limits of the state are
| SO Creat-the masses Of the people so remote
from our large cities and chief public inst1tu-
| tfons-that travel is oftentimes burdensome to
| them and that free intercourse between the
| people, 40 much to be desired for many reasons,
| is greatly retarded. Still, it must be remcln-
bered that the very existence of these ma nicent
distances and the comparatively limited popu-
| lation scattered over them render it impractical
| BILE that the passenger rates here should be MS
| low as in the thickly settled communities of the
East. where the average number Of passengers
per mile Is many times greater. CommendGble
| progress has been made during the past year
toward standard of cheap passenger fares, but
to be desired. There is, apprehend, one obsta-
Gle in the way which it is within your power to
remove. | allude to the practice. obtaining
among railroad companies, of issuing free passes.
This custom, besides being Of questionable pol
icy, has become burdensome to the companies
1t favo-s the few at the expense Of the many
TO suppose that the amount charged them is
governed more or less by the number who ride
free. 1t is custom which smacks of favoritisu
on the one side and injustice the other, and
like many other, would be more honored in the
breach than in the observance. 1t may, how
ever, be safely assumed that the influence OF
DO
generally supposed, If, indeed. the cases where
it swerves them from duty are not too rare *
merit consideration. The custom has become
| 60 firmly established that men holding public
| positions are apt to regard themselves as en-
titled to free passes by virtue OF the offices they
held. On the other hand the railroads are sub
doubtful IL the practice can be suppressed with
out legislative interference. Unless forbidden
by law, passes will be issued and with rare ex
oeptions those to whom they are issued will &C
| cept them. The inf uence Of the few who refus,
will be slight in restraining the evil that Their
| will be but little encouragement to individual
| action. In my Judgment the free pass system
| in its present magnitude amounts to public
evil, and recommend the enactment Of suitable
legislation to destroy it.
THE TAX LAWS.
There Is no more important subject concerning
| which invoke Immediate legislation than tina
of the amendment Of the general tax laws of tn
| state. Under these laws, as interpreted by on
supreme court in its decision Of the now cele
brated "Chauncey-Wass case" rendered sinc
the adjournment OF the last legislature, an,
lately teaffirmed, though by divided court
any frechoder is liable to be Invested of the It'll
to his real property through the operation OF TIL
tax laws or the action Of those who administe
them, although he may have paid his tax In ful
and within the statutory time advance n
censure Of the court, and find no good reason TO
; doubling the sincerity, high motive and loft
Independence of the judges. The provisions Q
Z the statuteare intricate, and there is too muc
: | room for division and doubt The law should b
| oJa y,1a tn 6ctr In tNp ud Ia mr. =,