The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1890-08-16

Much has been written ana 68lQ our
ing the past year for the information Of
the people, by many papers in the State,
about the way the people were being
robbed by corrupt Legislatures and State
officials, but not word have we ever seen
in any paper in the State as to the rob-
berries being perpetrated upon US by rail-
road corporations. No State in the Union
is to-day so entirely in the grasp Of rail-
road corporations as the State Of Colora-
| do, and of the many great lines that
travers the State, none are more grasping
and rapacious than the Atchison, Topeka
| and Santa Fe. For years they have
practically owned the Arkansas valley
and grown rich upon the earning they
have forced from the people who were
powerless in their grasp. The Inter State
commerce law has always been a dead
letter to them and their rates were made
without any attention paid to it. Some
two years ago the writer in moving to
Colorado shipped a car load OF household
furniture from Kansas to Lamar. The
Santa Fe agent wrote or telegraphed for
rates for us and received reply to give
us Trinidad rate. That meant that we
paid the same rate to Lamar as we would
have had to pay to Trinidad, some two
hundred miles farther west. Hundreds
of such cases could be cited, that have
come under our notice. Many poor en-
igrant who has come west IN the endeav-
or to better himself and make for himself
home in this fair land, has shipped his
household furniture and often few head
of stock from his eastern home. Upon
reaching his destination at some station
upon this railroad, he found when he
came to unload his freight, that some
agent of the company was on hand to
check it over, and whenever they could
find few sacks of grain or feed, nything
that could be construed as outside of the
bill of lading, by any stretch OF the i'm
agination, extra charges were clapped on
and the poor emigrant forced to pay,
sometimes large amount before he could
get his goods. How long do the people
in the Arkansas valley intend to stand
silent and let this monstrous wrong be
perpetrated? Within a few weeks you
will be called upon to send Representa-
tives to the next Legislature, and We ad-
wise you all to look carefully into this
matter and send no man that will not
pledge his best efforts towards the en-
actment of railroad law. Our rates OF
fare are four cents per mile. They should
be cut down to three. Our freight rates
should be regulated. Within one or two
years the valley will double in popula-
ton and vast amount Of grain and pro-
duce will be raised. Do you intend to
pay this monopoly all it is worth to ship
it to Pueblo or Denver, your nearest
market? We hope not. This matter is
fruitful one and cannot be treated in
a single article, but the REGISTER will
place this matter before its readers from
now on and use its best efforts towards
the election of a Representative to the
Legislature this fall who will use some
effort toward railroad legislation The
REGISTER will under its present manage
ment always be found ready to champion
the cause OF the people, and We feel GER
tain that the Republican party in this
State, as it has in the State Of Kansas,
will take this matter up and pass a rail-
road law, that will tighten the burdens
placed upon them by these great corpo-
rations. The attempt was made in the
last Legislature and failed, through
measures that will be the subject Of an
article in the future. We were present
during the session and know something
of the methods employed by the rail-
roads to choke this same matter of. It
may be done again, but we propose our
voice shall be heard in protest, and that
the people shall know by what means
they are being robbed, and who the gull
ty parties may be.