St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-08-12
MEN WHO TALK.
Interstate

Commerce and the results pro-
duced by the interstate
Law. commerce law are
again becoming topics
OF public discussion. There exists at
the present time imperative necessity
for new railroad outlets and inlets for
st. Paul, and for general combination
state against the unjust determinations.
OF certain railroads against the state. ii
Space is given by the GLOBE this
morning to two significant interviews OH
this subject n
The one from CLAIMING SEA-BURY.-
III relation to the interstate com.
| MERGE law, comes from an authority. 3,
AS chairman of the freight committee
OF the st. Paul chamber of commerce,
MI. SEABURY recently submitted a re-
port on the interstate law in which it
was said: Il
1.-The entire policy of the Interstate
law. under its present workings. is
detrimental to the interests of the far
Northwest -
j. *. Armsby, Of this report. J. K.
Armsby, of Chicago
OF says: 7
I'VE call attention
chicago. to report of the
-, freight committee of
the st. Paul chamber of commerce on
the interstate commerce law, that is so
Iiil OF good, sound sense that it is not
only well worth reading, but it is worth
giving some serious thought to. We be-
lieye it is the first instance where a
board of trade or any body of large
Shippers have come out boldly in oppo-
slti0n to this law. The cry of Down
with m0nopolists and capitalists has
become so popular that an unprecedented
foreigner would think that no one had
any rights in this country unless he
carried bod or drove pair of mules"
Charming Sea- The interstate COM
merce law goes too far,
curry, OF and seeks to legiSlate
against old and time
ST. raul, worn business prin-
ciples-I refer to the
.'long and short haul" clause. A
hackman will, and can afford to. haul
four persons over the same route '.under
the same conditions. "etc... for a less rate
each tnan he could haul one person over
the same route. Why not legisiate and
compel him to treat every passenger
exactly alike? This same principle en-
tiers into all business, the world over.
but this law attempts to make an ex-
ceDtiOn of railroads.
Governmental supervision over these
vast interests is all right, but it should
be confined to few general principles.
such as preventing combinations foc
pooling" forbidding exclusive privi-
leges to one set of men not open to 9TH
9rs, ETC., ETC.: but it is misuse of power
to place any railroad in the condition
this law has forced the Minneapolis & st.
Louis railroad into. viz, bankruptcy,
caused by their inability to compete for
long haul business without running their
short haul business.
L thlnk the Chicago, st. Paul & Kan
sas City railroad has lately struck a
death blow to some of the fallacies that
nave obtained in the minds OF the peo-
pie since this law was passed, and am
surprised that it has been left to a ST.
Paul road, and st. Paul president of
one. to have the courage to assert the
other side of this question. Where
would the Twin Cities and the grain
fields OF the Northwest be to-day, but
for the unreSlsted competition, for years
past. by the railroads penetrating this
undevelOped eXpanSe of country? The
cities would still be frontier villages.
and the fields would still remain only
the wild prairie. Why, then, this uni
VerSal howl about tie railroads? The
main grievance we have just cause for
complaint against is the enormous wa
terlng of railroad stock. 1t is certainly
a wrong to tax the producer to pay an
income on fictitious railroad capital. |
expect some time to see a commission
appointed by the general government.
and having jurisdiction in each state,
with power to appraise the then value
nj nnh IF f1n ~
their plant, franchises, terminal faciIi-
ties, etc. and, having ascertained this,
compel the railroads to retire all bonds
and stock representing a larger cap
italiZation than they find. the road
to be worth. This done. let them
| manage the details of their bust
ness to suit themselves, only restricting
them to fair and reasonable return
upon the capital actually employed.
Such law would remedy most of the
| evils now complained of. and such a
law should like to cast my vote for, if
| l had one.
l regard the present interstate COM
merce law as total failure to accom-
| pllSh what was expected of it, and
| think congress IS constantly making it
worse, instead of better, for the country
at large.
st. Paul has never enjoyed cheaper
| transportation from the seabOard than
during 1888, Notwithstanding the sup
posed effect of this law And it is right
she should have, because she has be-
come a large trade center, bringing into
full play all the well recognized differ
ences between the wholesale and the re-
tail business. in freight, as in every
thing else.
| xA
William Nj. Iankton at the pres
| ent time lacks only
! Powers, sixty and one half
| miles of railroad to be
| OF Yankton. in direct communica-
ton with ST. Paul If
these sixty and one-half miles were now
| constructed, Yankton would have a di-
rect line of railway to st. Paul. giving
| her lObblng resources, which she does
not now possess, and yet needs and
seeks.
AS now situated, through roundabout
Sioux City connections, Yankton is
forced to buy of Chicago at the merci-
less disadvantage of long haul.
This same situation is true also of
all that valuable and fertile country
tributary to Yankton, and which for
lack of direct st. Paul connections
must remain at the mercy of Chicago
combinations and untapped by the true
commercial center of the Northwest.
The advantages of an extension of the
| Willmar & Sioux Falls division of the
4anktOn, over an easy grade and
through a country famous for it's di-
verSified products, would be mutual to
Yankton and st. Paul. Southeastern
Dakota and Northeastern Nebraska
| would have given them new and