St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-09-15

rates reasonable and to bring the rail-
roads under the control of the state
On February 9th these bills were all
brought before the house, after able
discussion in their favor, and on a mo-
ton to indefinitely postpone,
were defeated by vote
of forty four ayes and forty-one
nays. Mr.. Merriam voted to indefin-
itely postpone these bills. thereby max
ing it impossible for the farmer to Sc
cure in that session the justice he
demanded.
The Frank bill was one of the faireSt
ever introduced IN a Minnesota legiSla-
ture. 1t gave to the railroads just rec
OgnitiOn, and yet made it impossible for
them to continue illegal practices. The
bill was so fair that the lobby organized
by the railroads to fight it was eXtraor-
dinarily strong. Yet even with this Op-
position the bill with the others that
shared its fate came within three votes
of victory, and would have been within
! one if Mr.. Merriam had voted with the
farmers.
Three provisions of the Frank bill
and which were practically embodied
in the others, were vitality important to
every producer in the state.
If Mr.. Merriam had cared a picayune
whether the farmers periShed or lived,
these alone would have caused him to
have given an honest support to them. If
he had not been bound up hand
and soul in the interest of the railroads,
and of every other monopoly in the
state he would have seen that the JUS
tice of the farmers cause demanded his
support Of these vital measures. Sec
ton 4. of the Frank bill was:
Makes it the duty OF railroad companies to
provide warehouses and elevators for the
receipt of freight, and makes it obligatory
upon them to remove freight to and from
warehouses and elevators and than those
owned by such company at the same rates
as from warehouses and elevators owned by
such companies and prohibits discrimina-
ton.
The law proposed to prohibit discrim-
nation.
Merriam voted to continue discrimin-
alton.
Section of the bill read:
Provides that the railroads shall transport
all freight offered within reasonable time
in the order of the reception of The same by
them for carriage; and provides that if any
railway company or corporation shall trans
port freight of any description for any per-
son or persons, company. corporation or as
sociation at rates less than are pres cribed by
this act,then such company or corpora.
ton shall thereafter transport frieghts of the
same description over its line or lines of rail-
road for all other persons at the same rates
during the time such discrimination is in
force, and in addition thereto such railroad
company shall be liable to each and every
shipper and receiver of freight who has been
Disseminated against by such railway COM
pany or corporation in a sum ten times the
amount of freight charges such shippers and
receivers of freight have actually paid in eX
cess of such reduced rates during the time of
such discrimination, with costs and disburse-
ments of suit. A proviso is added excluding
reduction or gratuitous transportation for
the relief of parties suffering from extensive
public calamities.
The last sections of the bill were
Sec. 9. Declares all lines of railroad in the
state public highways and the railroads COM
mon carriers.
Sec 10. Makes the rates the maximum Of
reasonable rates, and any railroad which
shall receive higher rate shall be deemed
to have misused its powers and YiO-
lated the terms and conditions on
which its charter and franchises We're granted,
and il is made the duty of the attorney gen.
eral to institute proceedings for the for
feiUure of the charter and franchises of such
railroad company or corporation, or for the
collection of a fine not exceeding $1,000 for
each and every violation of the provisions Of
this act, at the discretion of the court before
which the case shall be tried.
Did Mr.. Merriam support these? He
voted against them, and the records in
the archives Of the state show that he
did.