Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-03-08

THE PRESS AND THE COMMISSION.
The adoption by the Union Pacific
Co. Of nearly the entire schedule Of
freight rates rs prepared 10y the Ore
gon railroad commission is a great
victory for the people. Itmeans the
regulation and control Of freight
rates by the constituted agents of
the state, whose Investigations and
decisions are backed by the law and
courts of the state. They should be
backed by the executive power and
are so backed in other states. But
so far the governor Of Oregon has
Withheld his moral and executive
support, unless 1t was in appointing
an attorney general who has sus-
tanned the commission. The Ore
goniau of Portland has also steadily
and persistently cast its influence
against the commission. 1t wants
no commission, no regulation or con-
troll, or at best useless, inefficient
powerless commission.
The commission has received no
support or encouragement In its
fight for reduced rates from the Ore
-gonian. If that paper were TO come
out today aud support the commits
sion, it would do what no one ex.
poets It is capable of dOing-taking
the peoples side on any question.
The Union Pacific R'y Co. has
given up the fight on the rate case
brought by the board of railroad
commissioners In the circuit court
of Marion county to enforce Its or
der fixing reduced freight rates, but
the Oregonian has by no editorial
utterance done so. We look for a
reprimand of that corporation for
deciding to obey the law, and the
managers may hereafter look for nc
favors for yielding obedience to state
authority.
The stock rate as adopted by the
board goes into effect In full. The
wheat rate is modified. The new
rates go into effect March 10. The
company pays all costs in the case
and also in the writ of review pro
ceedings brought by the company
The wheat rate, as now made
amounts to reduction of $3.50 pei
car at The Dalles and all stations To
and including Grants and $500
reduction per car to all other points
where the commissioners rates
amounted TO that much or more. Tt
where the commissioners rates were
less than that amount, they stant
as made. This is all contrary to the
orders of the Oregonian. If 1t coulC
haye its way 1t would frown The
commission out of existence, restore
the old high rates, tax the traffic al
it would bear and say with Jay
Gould: "The people be ID"
But all the newspapers In thu
state do not see the case through thu
Oregonian glasses. The Newpor
Times, a paper more influential IL
its own county than The Oregoniar
is in Multnomah, and representa-
tive of the people, which the Ore
gonian Is not, says, In commenting
on the victory for the commission
"The above article should b
looked more deeply into than it
worth as a news item would seen
to call for. This board OF railroa,
commissioner Is distinctly Re
publican creation. The Democrat
of the legislature, backed by hi
Royal Highness Pennoyer worke'
to defeat the bill from first to las
and the Democratic state press ha
never lost an opportunity to ridicul
the board, its work and It's friends
saying among other things that
never would do any good and wa
q mammoth expense to the state fc
nothing. In this one case see wha
"a saving to the producers Of th
eastern portion of our statel
means hundreds of thousands {
dollars saved each year aud di
tributed among the farmers, stool
men aud other producers Of our ow
Oregon. Enough will be saved |
one year to pay the expense Of th
board for ten years, In this one cas-
Give the credit where credit
due--to the Republican party"
The Newport Times has been
Democratic paper and Its languag
above makes claim for the wor
of the commission which Til
JOURNAL nor the commission itse
has never made.
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