St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-24
ANOTHER PHASE OF IT,

which no one can generaliZe about.
ANOTHER PHASE OF IT.
The joint rate provision of the CUR
RIER bill meets with as vigorous opposi-
sition from the railroads as does its
proposition that traffic rates shall be
fixed by the railroad commission. The
GLOBE has already explained several
times what this proposition is, and the
argument in its favor appears on the
| face of the explanation. Wherever two
railroads cross or intersect they will be
required by this law, should it be enact
ed, to locate connecting switches, over
which the cars of one line can freely
pass to the tracks of the other. 1t is
not especially prescribed that such
switches shall actually be put in; but, if
they are not, the road to which a car
load IS offered for transportation by an
intersecting road will have TO transfer
its contents to its own cars without
charge. This would be SO expensive
| that switches would undoubtedly be
placed as matter Of economy. A ship
| per, then, according to the bill, who of
| ferS a carload merchandise to the road
! which is most convenient to him, either
because of its location or for any other
reason, can designate the route
over which it shall pass TO its
destination, even though this involves
| the use of the tracks of several lines.
Starting it from its initial point on one
road, he can direct that it shall remain
on this until it arrives at place of in
terSection with some other line. where it
shall be switched to its tracks, to be
carried over these to its destination; or,
perhaps, if more convenient, to be
switched again at some point further on
to another road, and so on until the end
of its journey. The successive roads
are required to accept the car, and to
transport it according to the desire of
the shipper without switching charges,
| and at rate to be fixed by the commits
sion, in which there will be no element
of discrimination because it has been
carried part way by some other line,
but which will be the same as though it
had been received by each road along
the route from the shipper for trans
though the point of its transfer to some
other line were the end Of its journey.
AS the GLOBE has already explained,
the purpose of this part of the bill is to
approximate the railroads of the state
to the condition OF the wagon roads over
which the farmer with his load of prod
uce drives freely, passing from one to
the other where they intersect, if he
can in this way reach his market more
conveniently and easily.
The GLOBE understands that the rail
roads objection to this scheme is based
on the grounds that it is unconstitu-
tional, unfair and impracticable. They
say that at the present time railroad
companies by contract and usage trans
port cars of connecting lines to points
OF consignment or to other connecting
lines, but that this is matter of con-
tract between them. That it has been
held by the interstate railroad commits
sion and the United States courts that
one party cannot be compelled to make
contract with another; that one rail-
road company cannot be compelled to
make contract with another, and that
one railroad company cannot be COM
PEELED to deliver its cars to another or
to receive those Of another for trans
portation over its tracks. But, apart
from this, they claim that the require
ments of such an act would be unjust in
the highest degree and incapable of en-
forcement. They call attention to its
operation on the use Of terminals which
bave cost existing companies large sums
of money. Under section of the CUR
RIER bill any company may connect its
line with existing tracks, whether sid
tracks or main tracks, and compel the
company owning such tracks to haul
cars over them and leave them
upon its terminal tracks to the
partial, or, it may be, the COM
plete exclusion, of its own bust
ness. Again, a shipper under this bill
may require, for example, of the North
ern Pacific Railroad company car at st.
Paul, and may load it and direct that it
be delivered to the Great Northern
railway line at the nearest track con-
nection, to be hauled by the latter com
pany to Helena or Butte. The North
ern Pacific company mist yield to such
demand, and consent that its own car
shall be hauled by another and com
peting line from st. Paul to Butte,
station on its own line. Cars of the
Great Northern line could, without its
consent, be taken from its line and
from It's control, and sent to San Fran
cisco, California, or to Portland, Maine:
and the bill contains no provision as to
how it will receive compensation for
such an appropriation of its property.
The effect of such provision would be
to force railroad companies to make
contracts with each other, which they
say is unconstitutional, and to deprive
them of the exclusive right to the use
and control Of their own property.
which they say is unfair.
The GLOBE thus presents the two
sides of another of the important points
involved by this bill, partly in its own
language and partly in the language of
the respective parties interested. 1t IS
a very serious matter, but may the
right triumph here as elsewhere.
TREAT ALL ALIKE.
In the debate in the house on the SUBJ
sidy of steamship corporations, refer