Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-03-01

objects of diplomacy is peace and prospe lty;
the object of war is destruction and death.
The object of this war is to hurt each other,
and bring each other to terms. That is
wrong. War in Europe is wrong, and in
| America is wrong. Under the provisions of
| the lnter-S State law, the long haul will be
| the maximum rate, and we cannot charge
| any higher on the short haul, which will
ruin us all. Formerly when we had a war
| at Council Bluffs, l did what some friend
| did not do. / said to our local towns we do
| not want to hurt you. We cannot charge
| you ten cents but adding the local rate of
| twelve cents, we will charge you % cents,
| instead of 90 cents, the tariff rate. That
| was getting little more out of them than
| the rate to Council Bluffs, but the local
towns Were getting lower rates. But now
| whatever the rate is at Council Bluffs, must
| be at every little station-eyery small sta
| ton has the same rate as the maximum rate.
| Remember the bulk of our earnings is paid
| out for labor.
| Senator Young: What effecthas the inter-
| State commerce law had on the income of
| your road? Has it increased it or decreased
it, the freight department?
| Mr.. Sage: Partly because this great war
which was impending did not occur until
| now, we have done better than before on our
| gross earnings in all the States. But you
|
| New roads had been built and hence tire
decentralization which is affecting us ser-
| ously.
Senator Young: And the law is able to
take care of you better than you can take
| care of yourselves. Would not some good
healthy legislation enable you to take care of
| yourselves better and protect each other?
| Mr.. Sage You must see this, that the
national law is also the law Of Iowa. Now,
in justice to us who feel we are
| greatly injured by that national
law but yet obey it implicitly, if you,
gentlemen in Wisconsin and Illinois
and Iowa, make your laws out of your own
head, all different, how can we assimilate all
the different laws of the different States and
keep the national law, too? We must either
carry the freight for nothing or retire from
business. The people of Iowa do not
want to wrong the railroads. If
one great house here fails, you all
suffer. Every member of the community
suffers by one failing and not paying one
hundred cents on the dollar. If you think,
or the merchants and manufacturers think,
they are going to aid their interests by TAX
ing from the railroads what is fair and just
and making lower rates by law, the building
the railroads are doing to-day will stop, and,
on the contrary, the railroads will cut down,
large numbers of employees will have to de-
part to other States; the retail merchants
who used to supply them won't know what
to do with their stocks, the wholesale man
| won't be able to sell to them and the col
lapse will come. Look at the history of this
State since the granger law has been abol-
ished. 1t has been prosperity. In spite of
short crops, the development of this State
has been onward and upward.
Mr.. Chairman: Isn't it fact that real
estate, farm property, in this State, has de-
creased very materially in fifteen years?
| Mr.. Sage: 1t is; but why? Emigration
becomes a fashion. Kansas has the fash
ion. The northern roads had an immense
rush to Dakota and Manitoba. 1t comes in
fits and starts. The fact is, there are noble
domains in Virginia for sale to-day, and you
can't sell them for what you can get for
| farm in Iowa, with shanty on it. No
| doubt Iowa farms are not what they were.
Whenever man gets so far as to desire to
go west and do better, he will go. Nebras-
ka has taken great many Iowa people, and
Iowa has not been the fashion lately. When
the Rock Island road had some land to sell,
several years ago, it went like hot cakes,
and every man that bought the land and is
now cultivating it, has made an enormous
and splendid profit.
Mr.. Chairman: Isn't it fact these trunk
lines have developed the States and Terri
tories west of Iowa, really at the expense
of Iowa?
Mr.. Sage: Here is Des Moines. l think
see my friend, Mr.. Harbach. He employs
the largest number of men in the city, and
think he will tell you he can supply Nebras.
ka and Dakota and perhaps Kansas, with
his manufactures. The more you can build
the country west of you the better it will be
for Iowa.
EiyY, Il xra,,tf TO acly Inxu ~. In
ter-state commerce law in its effects inter-
feres with your system of charges SO far as
the shorS and long haul is concerned. L un-
derstand you TO say in answer to Senator
Young, that that was the system you had
always adopted
Mr.. Sage: Except during a war.
showed you we are compelled by the long
and short haul to make certain rates at Day-
export the same as at St. Louis. Now the
long and short haul cOmpels us to make no
Iowa rates higher.
Senator Finn: That was the system you
voluntarily adopted?
Mr.. Sage Yes Now am showing you
would not have put my rate down from
Davenport to Council Bluffs to fourteen and
one-half cents if / could help it, but must,
because | am bound to keep my rate at the
Iowa gateways on the same terms as st.
Louis, If do not, the trunk lines will turn
everything to st. Louis.
Senator Finn: You always adopted the
practice of not charging intermediate sta
tons any more?
Mr.. Sage: The tariffs were made up on
that practice. 1t is difficult for manufac-
turer like Mr.. Harbach to bring his material
from the east and manufacture and send his
manufactures 10 the east again. In old
times we helped the manufacturer by low
rates on the material, we could do that with
out lowering the rates ON the entire line.
Mr.. Finn: You do not believe that is hav-
ing uniform price?
Mr. Sage: i think the commissioners of
any State should be permitted on proper
hearing to authorize us to charge less for
material b be manufactured in this State.
Senator Finn: Why should you give the
manufactures of Council Bluffs better rate
than you give the manufactures of Des
MOines?
Mr.. Sage: This is not fact, not what
mean.
Senator Finn: Why ever suspend the
principle of the short and long haul?
Mr.. Sage: will show you a case. Take
Grinnell. There is a large agriculture
works there that supplies harvesters tC
South America. They have to get all theil
material from Ohio and Indiana and Penn
sylvania, and they have to ship back to New
York to go to South America. i used to-
before the law, with the full accord of every
inhabitant of Grinnell give them lower
rate than did their neighbors, the store
keepers. on their iron and other material
1t developed the town. / went to Washing
ton 90 l. 81 fNr GRIN II oattII ~