The record-union., 1893-01-12

! Wlthln Its limits, having respect to local
puDIlc interests and those of the State a
/ large, are diversified and complex in de-
t14 beyond auy precedent. The most
exhaustive and comprehensive inVeStioa-
I tIon OF those conditions must be made
I INVOLVING much time and very consider
/ apIe expense to satisfactorily determine
the question of what would be lust and
/ equitable rates for each road and system
OF roads IN the state so exactly as to ius-
lily any declaration that as a rule those
now existing are not as lust and e0uita-
bic as practicable
Inc general tenor of this report has
/ necessarily been conservative, but it
aHofds me pleasure. to say that my in
curry has touched the clearances of the
san Francisco clearinghouse. the re-
sources OF the State banks, the assets Of
the savings banks, the value OF exports
ana imports Including grain and coal,
the rapid increase i'll the volume of the
various products of the State, the mining
interests; also, the progress in building
and general improvements.
hese and many other considerations
@ tildI nave come to my notice justify and
conIlrm the congratulatIon Of President
=. l.. Taylor to the members Of the Cham
Der OF commerce of San Francisco in his
| report OF January 18th last, i. e.; 1--WE
/ may congratulate ourselves upon a sea-
son OF reasonable prosperity and progress
Tor both city and State"
From these it will be seen that months
OF palnstaking labor have been devoted
10 a SUBJECT requiring an intelligent studv
OF economics. Turn and twist the sub-
Ject OF common carrying as you will, it
resolves itself back into the relation that
one industry bears to another, that COM
munltles and individuals bear to each
| other. economic science has determined
the relations which industries bear to
each other in the direction of PROMOTING
ana accomplishing the greatest good to
the whole community. Upon these lines
nave the relation OF transportation agen-
/ cles, as related TO production, been
| formed. That perfection NAV not ALWAYS
have been attained need not be argued
But to take the position that the managers
OF 10000 miles of railroad and twice that
| number OF miles trayersed by their ocean
steamers will deliberately inaugurate n
policy detrimental to the various States
and communities which they serve with
transportation facilities, is an impeach-
ment Of their capacity to understand
their own interests. The true economic
rule when the managers have sought to
establish has not been the oft-repeated
slogan of the demagogue, "All the traf-
nc Will bear," but what the producers
OF traihc can afford to pay for the
service rendered This is simple and ex-
act justice between production and trans
portatiou. 1t was to ascertain these facts
and have them presented to the public in
an intelligent form that induced the Conn
nlSsloners to employ Colonel Morgan as
an expert OF large experience to examine
the whole subject matter which has been
done in very creditable manner. He
demonstrates the fact that equality of
rates are permlssibleonly under equality
OF conditions. The Railroad Commission
could have made perfunctory report to
| the Legislature without the Endorsement
Of an expert 1t did not choose this course
but to show the public that their own
views We're sound, their own report will
be fortified by an expert whose ability
cannot be questioned.
Colonel Morgan justifies the rate sched-
ules recog nized by the Board of Railroad
| Commissioners and all their predecessors
as being Just and reasonable by the extra
cost of fuel alone. To more thorouphly
fortify his deductions he might co1Die
with the latter the extra cost of wages
paid to employees, which average not less
than 20 per cent. higher than the wages of
employees of the railroads which have
been selected with which to institute com
parsons. Fifty per cent. extra cost of
fuel and 20 per cent. extra to employees or
wage-earners alone should speak with
emphasis in favor Of the conclusions
reached by Colonel Morgan.
10 attempt to educate the producers of
| California into the belief that the railroad
companies are inimical to the best inter-
ests OF San Francisco is position which
! no man OF sound mind can occupy and
retain his self-respect, much less the re-
spect OF the people at large. The railroad
question may again be forced into pOl1-
tics, but 1t will not stay there, Those
who assume the responsibility of il will
lind themselves without following The
question OF just and reasonable rates for
frpicrDf and n9GSpn01rS Is
question, and if the Legislature, egoed on
by few designing men in control of
newspapers, destroy the constitutional
body created by the people for determining
judicially the questions arising between
the producer and the carrier. the same
people Will destroy politically the parties
responsible for it. Before the adoption of
the present Constitution the sessions OF
the Legislature were limited 60 I20 davs.
Much of this time was taken up with the
consideration OF bills introduced 10 regu-
late railroad companies. In many cases
much needed legislation was DELAYED and
made TO depend upon the passage or de-
feat of the crude and ill-considered bills
originating with men outside the Legis-
lature for no purpose except to profit at
the expense Of the railroad companies bv
securing their defeat. The trainers of
the new Constitution, which was ratified
in 1879, provided for commission and
invested it with tar-reaching powers over
transportation in order that all questions
regarding rates of railroad and other
transportation companies might be deter
mined by judicial body with ample
time to consider all the ditlicult and diff
fering conditions which time and inves-
tigation alone could determine on an
equitable basis. 1t revoked the power of
the Legislature over the subject and
lodged it in Board of Commissioners.
AT the same time the convention limited
the session of the Legislature 10 sixty
days, believing that as one of the chief
incentives of prolonged session of 10
days, the railroad question, had been re-
moved, sixty days were ample for the
discharge of all Legitimate legislative du-
ties.
At the recent election an amendment
prOlonging the legislative session to 100
days was proposed. If the overwhelming
defeat of the proposition is any indication
of the popular viii its significance should
admonish those members of the Legisla-
ture-elect who have pledged themselves
to destroy tise constitutional body which
the people established for the control of
the transportation question in California
to recall their pledges and leave the mat
ter where it is placed by the Constitution.
There are over seventy miles of tun-
nels cut in the solid rock of Gibraltar