Omaha daily bee., 1890-02-22
WAR AGAINST THE B, 4 NJ,
The Kansas City, Wyandotte &
Northwestern on it's Ear.
ALL ABOUT THE COAL QUESTION
The Burlington Charged With Ref us-
ing to Haul Northwestern Cars
Because IL Hurts
its Business.
Trying to Freeze Them Ont.

egram 10 lHE BEE. There is war between
the Kansas City, Wyandotte & Northwest.
ern and the b. & M. The trouble has grown
out of the purchase by the Burlington of coal
fields in Iowa. The Burlington therefore
raised a tacit refusal to haul the Northwest
ern's cars OF coal into Nebraska from Beat
rice. As a result of all this a wonderfully
large amount of correspondence has passed
between General Manager Newman Erb of
the Northwestern, the coal companies and
the general officers Of the b. &
z. The coal dealers, who have been
supplying hundreds of tons of Leavenwort nth
coal TO Nebraska consumers through the
Burlington connection at Beatrice, ara COM
planning vigorously. MIR. Erb thinks the
action of the Burlington an outrageous and
unprecedented one, while the Burlington
folks themselves say that no injustice is
meant aud that 1t does not pay them to haul
the cars of other roads, and at the same time
they have no cars of their own system.
Meanwhile the L~eavenworth mines are suf-
fering, Nebraska coal dealers are
fearful of losing big business and
the Burlington is preparing to supply
Nebraskans with coal from it's mines in
the Hawkeye state and in north Nebraska.
Mr., tirb has prepared all Of the correspond
ence in the case and will submit II to the
Nebraska railroad commission at Lincoln
next Monday, while the same complaint will
at once go before the interstate commerce
commission. The cause is q peculiar one
and involves the right of a railroad to say
whether it shall discriminate on the question
of the character of business it receives from
another road where the full tariff is paid.
The following extract from an interested
dealer is self-explanatory: 1--WE now
have at Beatrice four cars Of Goa
from our Leavenworth mines destined to
points on your road, for which your full
local tariff rates from Beatrice was Intended
to be paid. These cars were refused by your
line and we are informed by the manage
ment of the Kansas City, Wyandotte 81
Northwestern road today that your COM
pany claims to be short 900 cars and to be
therefore unable to furnish cars of your
own. Under these circumstances you can
readily see that 1t is an insult to our in
telligence to be told that you cannot
take the coal in foreign cars and that you
have not refused to furnish cars for our coal
at Beatrice. You may say that you can fur
nish cars into which coal can be transferred
at Beatrice for local points when offered, but
the shipper of course is required to transfer
the coal. L do not know whether TINS Is in
tended as irony or sarcasm, lnasmuch as
the. transfer of coal from one car to another
ia transit is itnpracticable., The facts are
that We propose in view of the present rates
on coal made by the Kansas City,
Wyondotte 81 Northwestern road
to deliver coal at Beatrice
pay you full local tariff and vet deliver it to
the people IN Nebraska at better rates than
they can secure the cheapest coal that you
deliver. We understand that the people of
Nebraska are interested in securing cheap
fuel ana supposed that you would do all you
could consistently in cooperating with US in
furnishing cheaper fuel to the communities
served by your road. Your efforts appear
to be on the contrary directed to increasing
the price of fuel, regardless of the fact that
expected, your full tariff rate being
paid. l shall confer with the management
of the Kansas City, Wyandotte & North
western road and see what can be done to
aid in compelling your company to perform
its full duty to the public and prevent a dis.
elimination against the coal mines of this
state"
Mr.. Erb, speaking to THE BEE correspou
dent tonight, said: "rhe tendency of legis-
lation in recent years, both state and federal,
has been in the direction Of a strlcter super
vision of railroad corporations and to check
the powers which were supposed
in the early ;development of other
railroad systems to reside with these
corporations. The habit of discrimination
against individuals and localities, the pro-
motion of purely selfish interests of rail
road officials at the expense of the general
public naturally resulted in what railroad
companies now condemn as hostile legisla-
ton. III VIII De found that every such law
was invited oy some evil which the public
found itself compelled to correct or check.
The action of the Burlington road In refus-
ing to receive from US coal. though full
tariff rates were rendered, is just such con-
duct as is liable TO invite more
stringent and aggressive legislation.
from which We with other roads
are bound TO suffer. Here is a road, directly
or through it's officers or some of them, l am
informed, interested in coal mines IN Iowa.
Our road, recently scompleted TO Beatrice,
finds itself able at a fair living tariff to
handle coal from the mines in Kansas, which
are nearer the points of consumption than
those in Iowa, so as to deliver II at points in
Nebraska on the Burlington system at less
than can be done from the Iowa mines and
vet allow that road the full legal tariff
rates from Beatrice to destination in other
words at the sum of the local rates. The
Burlington, despoticaily disregarding the
interests of the people of Nebraska IN secur-
ing it cheaper fuel aud especially at a time
when IL is a most important and vital mat
ter and while the distressed farmers are
many OF them compelled TO burn their corn
as fuel, refused TO perform its moral and
legal duty"
Western Freight ASSOCIATION DOings.
CHICAGO, Feb, 2I.-TSDeclaI Teleornu