Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-03-01
cents our rates here wereten cents less from

Mr.. Finn: You don't know how II is now?
Mr.. Sage: have no telegram this morn
Ing and had no time to read the papers. |
am now coming to the State of Iowa, as it
was affected by the Interstate rates. The
railroads lowered the rates from Chicago to
council Bluffs from ninety to seventy five
cents, for first class, the corresponding re-
auctions below. Rates from Des Moines
were lowered from seventy-five to sixty -two
cents, ON the same basis. Your commission
ers thought that unless there were CORE
spending reductions made on the Iowa dis
fances, Iowa merchants would be shut out
Accordingly they wrote us to take the matter
into consideration.
The railroads, accordingly, made and form
ulated tariff, which tariff, after consulta-
lion with the Commissioners, and their as
sehtlng TO the reduction, went into effect
upon the Goth of last December The re-
auctions were lower than they ever were be-
fore. Now, / have those figures here. |
have, also, the figures that the Illinois Com
missloners intend to make on the goth of
February. These are the lowest figures the
commissioners have ever issued. And |
have, also, here the rates that were pub
iished this morning in the papers as the
House rates. The classes are 1st, I'd, 3D.,
4th, 9Th, and A, b, c, ID and Il. 1st I'd,
sd and 4th are merchandise rates, in less
than car loads. L will read from the Iowa
distance tariff that we put into effect on the
goth of December last, after consultation
with the Commission second, the Illinois
Commissioners official tariff not yet in
effect but which will go into effect the goth I;
and third, the House bill rates of this morn
ing. The one is the Iowa tariff lately low
cred, and the next the proposed tariff in the
House:
FIFTY TO FIFTY-FIvE MILES.
Iowa, reduced tariff q st 3 q IS "a 4 tth 9TH
Proposed rates, HF1O2..ss lSA l35,, lo2 s,
Iowa, reduced tariff l2 10 rs 8
Illinois. reduced tariff. 1913 1860 ia 5.Gi 500
Proposed rates. II. f. lOa.. III 6.5 G3 SO "A
Mr.. Finn: will ask you If the House
bill over there is not almost the same as your
actual tariff in Illinois?
MIR. Sage: l am reading what the actual
tariff is to be in Illinois on the Goth, of this
month, which is lower than il is now.
Mr.. Finn: l am asking you if the House
bill is not comparison now with the rates
you yourself established in Illinois, and not
the rates of the commissioners?
Mr.. Sage: i think Ihave explained to you
that the rates on the trunk line between
Chicago and Mississippi river have been low
cred to prevent ST. Louis from taking the
business. l want to state to you that south
that consider these reductions mean bank
ruptcy. The Rock Island road is practically
an Iowa road, gets more of its revenue in
this State. We do not care much what the
Illinois rates are, because we are compelled
to make what the canal and river, which
parallels us, make. We simply meet water
competition. Our rates from Chicago to
Rock Island are no basis for comparison.
am quoting you officially what the commits
sioners are going to do and which the Illinois
Central feels is a great reduction and injury
to there read fourth class. Fifth class is
twelve cents in Iowa at present. The Illi-
nOis commissioners are going to make it
eleven and sixty-four one hundredths The
House bill is eight cents. Mr.. Ripley has
done some figuring, l have not had time. lie
states that these rates in the House bill are
really twenty per cent less than the lowest
rates that any road makes in Illinois. They
are twenty per cent less not taking the COM
missOners rates but the competition rates in
Illinois.
Member: l have understood that they
have taken the rate in Illinois as a basis to
make the House bill FROM
Glass A is twelve in Iowa now, ten in IL
linois and seven-tenths in the House bill.
That will enable man to ship car of agri-
cultural implements from Chicago to Des
Moines and ship it out again about cent
less than think we charge. We want leg
islation for the whole State. We get great
deal of our business here but we do not
want to do everything for this town at the
expense of other localities.
Senator Young: How does the House bill
tariff as they proposed compare with the
present rates in force in Iowa?
Mr.. Sage: have not done any figuring I:
only got the figures late last night.
n A tu- Eya To, nv or
cent. 1t varies with the distance.
Chairman: want to say that that cannot
be uniform, because one member of the House
was telling me, he was large lumber dealer
and he says that it raised the rates on lum-
Der that he has been paying for some time,
every material, from II to 20 per cent
Mr.. Ripley: 1t is not uniform.
MIR. Sage: The lumoerman need not fear.
Whatever rate is made from Chicago to
Council Bluffs ON lumber, three and one
half cents less is made to Davenport and
Burlington. To-day, suppose the lumber
rate from Chicago here is eight cents, and the
rate from the river is three and one-half cents
less Weare compelled always to make diff
ferentials less at the Mississippi river, which
protects Iowa. Whatever rates are made for
us we have agreed, after great deal of fight
ing and bloodshed. to certain differentials
less at the Mississippi river than we do at
Chicago. We cannot get more across the
State, and we cannot certainly take more
from other points. l have given enough of
those figures.
Chairman What is class b?
Mr.. Sage Glass b is ten cents on pres
ent Iowa business, $3.50 contemplated in
Illinois, 6.5 in the House bill 4; Glass G, Iowa
rs, Illinois TIA, House bill 6.3; class ID,
Iowa 6, Illinois 5.64, House bill 5.3 class Il,
3 at present in Iowa, in Illinois sos, House
bill "A. Now l will put in the lumber.
Present rate in Iowa on lumber on 55 miles
is cents, in Illinois 6.75, and the House
bill makes it 7.2. That is the only case
see where the House bill is higher than the
contemplated rate in Illinois, but it is only
fraction. Lumber coming from the north
with the differentials agreed on will thor
oughly protect Iowa.
The railroad men cannot make the rates
themselves; how, then, can this General As
sembly?
lIowa and Wisconsin have flourished since
1879, when they abolished the granger laws
and invited capital in to build railroads tC
develop and make prosperous districts which
otherwise would have remained unproduct
i've and unpopulated till now. 1t is disap
pointment to us that after assisting in the
development of the resources of this State
by building branch lines, improving the ser
vice of the passenger and freight trains
LAYING steel rails and building stone and iron
bridges, that this honorable Assembly
should go back to the repealed laws of 1874
for the purpose of gripping and injurins
the railroads, who desire in every
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