Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-04-12

GAuOADTDn, APnIk n 10.
The Carriers Duiy.
Tho changed attitude OF Andrew Car.
$oeso towards The Pennsylvania railroad,
+ y beinging The friends Of that company
Z Reward with divers statements TO show
8 ztAat he b lighting the railroad because
- cannot control it; and the
1a1sst story 10 that the Edgar
Thomson works secured from the
4ailroad company, during Mr.. Thomson's
Presidency, ten year freight contract at
1vssiehths Of cent per ton per mile
md That Il Il the expiration OF this con-
&ACt that hurts Carnegie. All Of this is
Ioor ammunition even ag ainst him person.
/ ally, since it 10 quite in the natural order
q things for q new industry to securc
3um railroad company freight rate
eontsAct before 1t IL established. Ordinary
prudence requires this precaution on the
Hort Of tboee starting the works, and Mr.
Carnegie was justified in getting a good
= rate - the company would give him.
1f the rate was too low, compared With
ehose given Mr.. Carnegie's competitors,
She fault was the companyS; and II he
&nds now that others are given better
1Ates than himself, he Is not barred from
seeking redress because he had been him
nelf unduly favored.
And at any rate 1t Is very poor argu.
nent against the position that Penn.
aylvania railroads should give Penn
sylvania shippers as good rates Of freight
- they give shippers outside the state, to
6how that in one case they did give such
rates. II they could afford to
give the Edgar Thomson works
. freight rate Of fve.eighths Of a
cent per mile for ten years, 1t shows that
there is nothing in the air Of Pennsylvania
which forbids the granting Of the low
rates Of freight to her citizens the. are
commonly given to the dwelleis on the
I lakes.
But the truth, as we all know 1t, Is that
the Pennsylvania railroads have no ani.
mostly against Pennsylvania people,
and that their managers simply feek
TO conduct their railroads Is they would
private business, and do not hesitate to
! charge one customer more than another
when they can get 1t. Such conduct in
general business does not come under the
condemnation of the law. But the law
has, from time immemorial, imposed q
higher obligation upon the common
carrier, and has forbidden him to charge
one customer more than another for the
same service. This iB the common law;
and the Interstate law but provides the
means by which this ancient law may be
readily made to control the conduct Of
the national railroads. The Pennsylvania
constitution declares this duty Of the
carrier, but it has been ineffective
because no penalties are provided for
Its violation. It is these penalties
i chat are proposed for enactment in Mr..
Wherry's law, that Is being 90 strenuously
resisted by the railroad interest and that
there seems tobe little prospect Of enacting
at this session. The Republican leaders
& Of our Republican state government are
the hirelings of the railroads and they
viii be able to defeat, for further period,
: the statute that will make our constitu.
ton effective.
1t Ii strange indeed that people have
patiently submitted for fifteen years to
the notification OF the constitution by
the Republican government OF the state.
Since the date when the constitution of
Pennsylvania forbade railroad discrimi.
nation, the feeling against 1t has grown
20 strong in the nation as to secure
the national law that now forbds 1t.
But while ths nation has gone ahead,
Pennsylvania has staid behind. Her
People declared for the principle when
they adopted tho constitution. But
their voice has been steadily ignored by
those to whose hands was conhded the
simple duty Of declaring the punishment
that should follow the act that the con-
stitution declared to be an offense and
forbade to be done.
Before Congress passed the interstate
law, 1t was urged that the enforcement
OF the Pennsylvania constitution would
put Its railroads to disadvantage, since
they could not compete with other rail.
roads that were not repressed by such
state legislation. And there was great
deal Of forcs in the objection, though the
Lesislature had no right to weigh
It against the positive mandate
OF the fundamental law. And
since the national legislation, 1.-The
argument is altogether gone. The effect
OF the interstate Ia " has been to increase
the local freight charges in Pennsylvania,
because Of the effort to recoup the lower
charges made for interstate traffic. The
Pennsylvania railroad reports that its
local traffic receipts have swelled to
ninety.three per cent. of Its total receipts;
and well they mayIgrow under this policy,
which saddles upon PENNSYLVANIA the
provision Of The fatness for the road and
oil its connections.
The logic which demands that Penn.
sylvanis railroads shall carry for Penn.
sylyania people as cheaply as for other
people Is one that is evidently unanswer-
able; save by the logic Of the fact, as it
appears to the railroad directors, that
any diminuition Of income will cause
. diminution OF the dividend; and that
IL q catastT tTophe that seems to them
greater than any other that can be i'm
nnfuaA vnau 10 haA -