The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1888-02-23
RAILROADS OF DAKOTA.
A Synopsis Of the Annual Report Of
the Railroad Commission just /
Issued.
General Condition Of the. Roads TX.
cellent and Prospects for Exten-
sions Never Brighter. =

BISMARCK, Oak, Special, Feb. 1O.-Goy.
Church Is In receipt Of the third annualr re-
port Of the board Of railroad commissioner
Of Dakota This board is composed of Alex
Griggs, chairman. Grand Forks; A. Boynton,
Lennox; N. 7. Smith, Huron; j. ID. Quinn,
secretary, Bismarck. In the course OF their
report the commission says:
In no state or territory in the Union is the
railroad sproblem-the question OF policy,
the powers Of the legislature to control or
restrict-of greater importance h in Da-
kota, for she is not only a young and grow
ing territory, but the most productive agri-
cultural district on the continent She is
going through process of DEVELOPMENT, and
the relation of the RAILROAD to the producer
Is the one paramount question which her
legislators must solve. Since the passage OF
the interstate commerce law q renewed con-
ting all past plans Of the courts and the
public, and creating new obstacles Not that
the law is a detrlment or unjust, but 1t is
new and knotty to all who would interpret
It A case OF interest decided by the inter
state commissioner recently, and considered
here, as it Is Identical with many
in Dakota. The .millers of Mazeppa
complained that the Chicago, Milwaukee, &
st Paul Disseminated against them and in
favor OF the Twin Cities to such an extent
that it made it impossible for them to COM
ESbS "ANA tAo GbAS nAu Va SAS ~
les named. In reply the railroad company
set forth, that Mazeppa was not on the main
line OF ther road and that the along and short
haul clause Of the interstate law did not ap-
ply. The commission ordered the railroad
company to reduce its rates from Mazeppa
to Chicago from 121a cents to 10 cents.
With regard. to the railroads Of Dakota
there is much of which the commission can
SPEAK WITH PRIDE.
On several of the lines there have been
improvements which surpass the march OF
railroad progress In any other section Of the
ment in rolling stock and road bed, train
service aud time are alluded to, while the
increased traffic Of the roads within d.
kota show the steady increase in her wealth,
population and prosperity. The total num-
Dakota Rs1 OF p% duripg The os 4ess ending ey raf 9aae s n
1886, was 19,333,260, while during the
Der was 2O,637,8sO The total num-
Der of tons of freight carried In
1886 was u, 1874 $40, and in 1887,
2s4,674,46s. The n9mber Of tons ms Of flo local
1887. 10,O84, 1888. The reports Of the sew
eral companies doing. business III Dakota
show that there are 44S railroad stations in
the territory. and 1924 railroad employees
who received In salary during the last fiscal
year 81, 946, 1876. There are thirteen wooden
sixteen combination bridges, measuring
1852 feet; three iron bridges, 14,S1S feet;
and there are 3,041 @wooden trestles" and
"piles," measuring in the aggregate 2SO, 751
feet The railroad crossings at grade num-
Der So; over grade, 2; highway crossings at
3, and undergrade. 10. The following table
showsth the miles Of road constructed in Da-
kota in 1887, with the miles Of road now in
operation: