New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-01-02
NORTHWESTERN RAILROADS.
REVIEW OF THEIR OPERATIONS DURING
THE YEAR
NOT MUCH NEW ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OF
THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW AND

NOT MUCH NEW OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OF
THE. INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW AND
THE RAILROAD COMMISSIONS.
frroM AN occA sloNa, CORRESPONDENT TRIBUNr.l
MINNEAPOLIS. Dec. o4-varous causes have
orera. Ell to prevent any largo railroad con-
structon in the Northwest in the year 1888. Tho
most important Of these have been First, the enof-
nous construction OF 1887 second the disturbance
and uncertainties in railroad management arising
under the Interstate Commerce Act; and third tho
accravat.on Of those uncertainties b. tho attitude OF
the Legislatures and Railroad Commissions of certain
of the Northwestern States. II may be that the
trouhles and dlsquietudes arising under the operation
Of the Interstate Commerce Act have been less the
result OF the act itself than OF the misbchavor OF
railroad officials under its operation. But wherever
the blame should properly belong, 1t Is certain thai
the railroads Of the MOI invest have suffered moro
under the operation Of the act than those OF am
other section of the country and that they have suffered
more than they ever could have suffered had the act
not been passed Rate wars and rumors Of wars
have filed the last ten months of the year The
clause of the act which prohibits pooling has mado
II impossible to adjust differences which had once
broken out while the long and short haul clause
compelling a reduction at all intermediate points
whenever war has broken out at tcrmnalsl has made
the wars of tho past summer incomparably more
costly than any previous The loss of revenue
10 the railroads has been tremendous: certainly ont
of all proportion to the gain to the public reckoning
the loss resulting from the disturbance OF general
business caused by nucuating rates.
In such troublos times the oder companies have
naturally not bcen inclined to make large additions
10 a mileage which already barely paying lis
expenses. while the iicul'y OF providing money for
new enterprises has been Unprecedented.
This difficulty has unqueStionably been largely IN
creased by reckless which the Granger element
has made of its power in some of the Northwestern
States In Iowa. the attitude OF the state officials
the acts passed by the last legislature and the zeal
OF fhc Railroad Commission in their endeaVors 10
reduce rates lin which the United States Courts have
been compelled check them have all stood in the
way Of railroad investment There have not been
ten miles of railroad built I'm the State this year.
In Minnesota the actions of the Railroad Commission
in The earlier part OF the year attracted The attention
OF the financial press Of the whole country and here
again the courts have intcrierel in two instances to
prey ent the Commission from putting In force orders
which would have reduced railroad revenues. In
Dakota the anttrailrOad sentiment Is supreme, and
will probably show itself I'm the shape of extreme
lcg sla ion in the next legislature In Nebraska the
state Board of Transportation has followed cloelT
I'm tie footsteps of the Iowa Commission
rs a result. capital has been very shy or invest
nlent in railroad enterprises in the Northwest. The