The Russellville Democrat., 1893-04-06

Hon. Lawrence Russell on House Bil
 No. 34, q Bill Requiring R. R. Com
 paaies to Furnish not Less than On, | nor More than Ffteen Freight Car'
 on Five Days Notice from any Per
 son or Corporation Desiring to ShiI Freight.
 MR. SPEAKER: Before proceeding
 regularly with my argument, l de sire to answer few objections rais
 ed by gentlemen upon this floor who
 oppose this bill. They tell us that If the bill becomes a law, the railroad
 companies will dump our freight al
 the end of their lines of road. This l is only wild, an unreasonable con 1 lecture of theirs, and in making the prediction they are not grieved by precedent as our wise judges are, foi they have no precedents upon which
 to lose their judgment. They con tend that the law would injure the
 large capitalist and give the men of
 small means an undue advantage
 In the first place this assertion is
 without foundation, but even if it
 were true, the bill should pass, for
 who is it that needs protection, if it
 be not the poor and men of small means? We need have no anxiety about the strong, for they can and
 will take care of themselves, but the small and the weak are the ones who demand our immediate care.
 The opposers of this measure also criticise the people because they are not here as lobbyists. They ask, "Why are not the people here work ing for the passage of this bill, if it be true that they want it passedy' I will answer the gentlemen It IS because the people have sent the members of this house here to rep resent them. Why send these rep resentatives here in the first place if they (the people, have to follow them up and lobby with them to get them to do their duty? The people are not here because they are not idlers but have duties at home to discharge They are busy, many of them, planting crops for the coming season.
 Now, to proceed with my argu- ment I will say, the bill is fair in all of its provisions. It eXempts from it's requirements all short line roads under thirty miles in length and all roads under course of con- struction. 1t places fines upon both the shipper and railroad company for failure of duty. It does not al low any one to demand more than IS cars per day, and requires five days notice to be given to the rail road company. In order that the shipper may not unnecessarily de tain cars he is required to load with in forty eight hours after they are received.
 The requirement as to the number of cars is not unreasonable. The average number of cars for every one hundred miles of railroad in the U. S. is TAI, then in Arkansas where we have more than 2000 miles of railroad, we are entitled to more than l4O00 cars. Where are these cars? I am told that when we need them here to ship our cotton in the fall some of them are being used in other states to convey the wheat crop of those sta tes to market. If the companies need the cars they now have to accommodate the wheat growers in other states, they should be required to build more cars to ac- the cotton trade of this State. I am also informed that the Jenny Lind and the Huntington coal mines in Sebastian county are owned and operated by railroad cor that the Jenny Lind mine has an output of coal which demands about sixty cars per day. am told these mines are supplied with cars, while mines owned by private individuals have to go without cars for days, at time when they need them. This is an injustice practiced upon the people. The railroads were in part at least by the lands and funds given for this pur- pose by the government and by the people, and it was expected when they were constructed they would serve the people, but judging from present indications they are here to serve themselves first and the people second, provided they have any cars left after supplying their own wants Our saw mill men with thousands of feet of lumber ready for shipment have to decrease their output of lumber for want of cars, while pos sibly hundreds of families in Kansas and Texas are shivering with cold for want of adequate shelter
 Some of the companies and private individuals operating coal mines ia our State are greatly damaged for want of cars, and have to suspend operations while people at the north may be freezing for want of fuel.
 Our farmers who sell and our merchants who buy cotton are great ly damaged each fall because they cannot get cars at times when they are most needed. While waiting for cars cotton sometimes goes down in price and they lose thousands of dol lars. Shrewd cotton buyers will not pay the farmer full price for his cot ton in the first place, because they know they will likely be unable to