Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-03-01
II with grateful hearts. don't know Of any
people that need II moro.
SPEECH OF HON. N. NJ. uUBBAaD.
BEFORE THE RAILROAD coMMIrrEE OF THE
1

| SPEECH OF HON. N. NJ. HUBBARD.
BEFoRE THE RAILROAD COMMITTEE OF THE
| HOUSE.
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen Of the Com
mittee:--We are very much Obliged to you
for an opportunity TO be heard touching the
railway interests of this State. There have
been lately many claims by very excellent
citizens OF the State of Iowa that the rail-
way companies were appropriatng an undue
share OF the prosperity of the State by OK
tortionate charges and unjust discrlmina-
tons. II Is claimed that railway companies
| are endeavoring TO earn very much larger
| sum for their transportations than In neces-
sary Ia a fair remunerative return for the
| capital invested and for the services rem
dered. Aud you gentlemen have been called
upon by the people OF the State, ~ II Is
| your duty, Ia investigate and SEQ whether
these charges are true, and II they are true
the good people of this State will expect you
u apply some remedy, and l agree with you
as citizen of Iowa for thirty-four years,
that you ought 10 do so.
| These charges, however, are made In
very general way, and rs | understand, not
based upon any specified facts. This leads
| me- gentlemen, to make some remarks ~ To
the past, and to give n slight sketch Of the
railway growth Of this country.
| There are now about $50, 600 miles of
railway In the United States Nearly all OF
II has been built within the last thirty years,
and more than half Of II within the past IF
teen years, and $4,000 OF II during tho past
| year. They only have 100000 miles OF
railway In Great Britain and ON tho contn-
ent, and 10000 In British India. On the
continent and In Great Britain they have
800, 900, 900 of people, and We have 90, 000.-
900 people. II Is true that We manufacture
| 10, 900, 000, 900 of goods rs against less than
| 81, 600. 900, 900 by Great Britain, and we
| manufacture more than any two countries on
the other side of the water, and therefore
we need more transportation. In France
and on the continent they have always made
charters TO their companies, allowing them
certain specified territory, so AZ 10 avoid UNI
necessary competition and tho unnecessary
building of roads In non-paying terri
tory. They have divided up the country
In France absolutely by divisions
of territory In which railroads may DO built
and prohibited tho building Of them else-
where. They have In that country combina-
alton OF railroads, or pools. In this country
the 10000 miles of railway have been
built entirely by suggestion NJ the law of
trade made TO the people. There has been
no limit, there has been no prescribed place
where railroad might or might not be
built. Capital has been FREQ ut all times to
build railroads TO any point, or parallel other
roads, or In any other way that they SEQ III,
and SO the railway system of the United
States isvery much In the situation that ropsy
was, II has simply ''growed." Now. the
theory on which the railways Of the United
States have been built 80 far as the people
were concerned, was based upon tho COM
petitlye principles, believing that railways
by competition. by reasonable competition,
| would always secure to the peo-
| pie reasonable and just rates. AS
| you all know land l mean to detain
| you ut no considerable length with the his
tory of poos)-in 1879 the pooling system
| began In the United States because c0mpeti-
tlon was 80 sharp that rates were cut ut com
| petlng points 10 q non-remuneratye rate,
and the consequence was that points which
were not competitive were changed very
| much greater rate for their traffic than thcy
| were at the competing points. When the
| railways commenced the system OF pooling
| they made an agreement 10 pool the net
| earnings, allowing u reasonable sum out OF
| the earnings for carrying the freight. 1t
| was soon found that that did not work, be-
| cause tho railroads did not know how long
| the pooling might last, as 1t was usually
I, made for six months or q year Mt time, and
| so they were all the time anxious 10 got all
| when the pool broke they would have con-
| troll Of the business, And finally after a
| good deal OF experience In trying TO divide
traffic and make a pool that would last, In
| 1877 they adopted the gross money pool sys-
| TEN. Then they gave nothing tO the rail-
| ways for carrying the stun, but the gross
proceeds were divided according 10 per
centage between the competing parallel
roads. But under that system nobody want
| ed to carry any more freight than their
share, because they got nothing for IL, and
therefore that resulted practically In dlvis-
ion of the traffic, so that the percentage paid
| over was very small. But these pools were
| only made at competing points, and 80 II
| TRANSFERRED that when the railways were
| charging seventy-iiye cents on first-class
| goods from Chicago TO Council Bluffs, they
| were charging ninety cents hundred 10
| points east OF Council Bluffs The objection
| TO the pool was that II allowed this dlscrim-
| nation in rates between different localities,
| and 30, finally, after much agitation, Con-
| gress came to the conclusion that
| the pooling system, n adopted
by the roads In the United States, led 10
| unjust determinations between places; 1t
| led to unjust discrimination between per-
sons; 1t led to an unjust distribution OF rail-
| way charges upon the people. And there
upon they said that pooling should be abso-
mtely prohibited, and they also adopted the
fourth section, the long and short haul pro-
| vision, which absolutely prevents the charg-
| ing OF n greater rate for shorter distances
on the same line In the same direction. So
| that when there Is cut between Council
Bluffs and Chicago, or Kansas City and Chica-
10, that cut operates all the way from Council
Bluffs to Chicago, through the State OF Iowa,
| by virtue Of the Interstate law. Every To-
| callty gets It's benefit of that cut and In that
way justice and equality to all. l am In IA
| vor of the interstate commerce law. i be-
lieye the railway managers themselves feel
that they have been relieved Of a very great
burden by getting rid OF pooling, notwlth-
standing they are now In war of rates
again, so soon after the law Ia gone into
| effect.
The next subject desire to call your at
| ttntiOn TO Is the present railroad situation as
10 exists in the Northwest. Only three or
four years ago there were only two lines OF
railroad between st. Paul and Minneapolis
and Chicago, competing for the business and
these two lines were not taxed 10 their full
capacity.
A railroad, too, Is unlike ship. That
| may sail from one port TO another ut Will,
and II trade becomes duh between two cities
where 1t has been plying, 1t may at any time
leave and go TO other points A railroad Is
| a fixture. 1t Is down there on the ground.
II cannot be taken away, and its only value
Is the value Of the trade along It's sides and
at its two ends, after paying the operating
expenses and maintaining 1t. So that you
readily see, gentlemen, that 1t Is the highest
interest OF every railroad company to turn
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