Omaha daily bee., 1893-03-09
THAT PUBLIC SKIRT DANCE
How the Corporation High Kickers Enter
tanned the senate Railroad Committee.
Ed DICKlNSoNS SALARY AND LOCAL RATES
why Both Arc High-Burt's Misstatement
OF Facts and Holdrcge's Misrepreseu-
tations-EustIn's Adviceito tho
State Legislature.

CINCINNATI, o., March 5.-Gentlemen OF
the Senate Committee on Railways: From
copy OF THE OMAHA BEE OF the Let inst
notice that a combination serpentine and
skirt dance has been rendered before your
honorable body by Messrs. Holdrcge Smith
and Dewese of the B. 81 M, Messrs. Burke,
Hawley, Buchanan and Morehousc of the
Elkhorn, Messrs. Sholes and Perrin OF the
Elkhorns twin system Messrs. Tiddemore
and jay of the Jay Pacific, General Low of
the Rock Island and Messrs. Kimball, Kel-
ley and Dickinson of the Union Pacific.
If you gentlemen have been living in a hole
In the ground and have never heard of over
charges on freight, can see how necessary
1t would be to get information from them,
but, judging from the newspaper reports this
grand aggregation simply regaled you with
song and dance as new as that late play,
"Uncle Toms Cabin" Since it is evident
your honorable body must be as anxious for
pointers and information on transit in Ne
Draska as were the late members of our
State Board of Transportation, beg to refer
to the sophistry as reported in THE BEE
hoping it may have at least as much nhu-
ence with you us would water poured over a
ducks back.
why Iowa's Industries Have Grown.
Mr.. Burt either willfully or Intentionally
misquotes comparative commodities for Ne
braska and Iowa, which he bulls on one side
and bears on the other in a way indicating
that he depends on your swallowing his of
ferings in solid chunks, leaving your mental
stomach to do both chewing and digestng
But were his statements true, then lowa's
prosperity is due to her local rates and our
poverty to our high local rates. This gentle
man spoke of local manufacturing in Iowa
being greater than Nebraska, but he forgot
to explain that Iowa local rates are what
built up Iowa's local manufactures. Ne
braska "home industry interests" asks our
citizens to patronize them. and rightfully so,
but these same gentlemanly "homc indus
tries" while asking patronage, make no
eXertion to get rates put on Iowa basis, so
that wind and water may not wash out of
our state to the railroad gamblers of Wall
street and Boston from five to eight millions
OF dollars year of our peoples money that
rightfnlly should be paid To home industry
and those purchases owned by our states
toilers lie spoke of the coal mines of Iowa,
but forgot to tell of the short haul they
bring that state, while the roads get the long
daul In our state. In former letter |
quoted from lowa's reports showing that
iowa local rates had grown over six millions
of dollars for last year over the year 1899,
the same year that this same aggregation of
polite liars told lowa's business representa-
bankrupt the roads if put in force. The song
they sung then was old and did not go in
Iowa; the song they sang to you no doubt
was new, but to the business man who knows
Iowa and Nebraska it is 'Sweet Violets"
and Johnny, Get Your Gun"
How Railroads Are Ruined.
Mr.. Holdrege spoke of the ninety-nine odd
millions they claim to have invested For
reliable information that question see
MIR. 9. G. Dawes argument before the com
mittee of last session, the facts in his state
ment having been compiled from the rail
roads report to its own stockholders: %
4 cent rate on corn from Hastings to Chicago
Is 40 per cent too high, and the IS. & Ms
claim of its costing 8 mills per ton per mile
to haul is an absolute falsehood coined from
garbled figures compiled for premeditated
/ purpose of deception, and their secret corn
rates made jointly with the Baltimore x
Ohio ut Beardstown, H., refutes Mr., Hol-
drege's statement as unworthy any sane
mans credence. He claims that the roads
credit is exhausted. This is deplorabe to
him, but II Godsend to us, when we remem-
bcr that those roads are already mortgaged
to banking rings and themselves (Which the
people must pay and assume in freight
charges) for more than the roads are worth
even If the stock had no value at all which
4 IL has not in fact, if based on the actual
a value Of the road above the mortgage, did
the peorte you represent have the business
sense God gave geese.
The Pacific Short Line is in business for
missi nary purposes, same as the branch
lines of the Union Pacific, and loses money
every day-on paper. IL arguments of pow
erty from profiigacy on their part will iniu-
4 ence you To make paupers of your states
producers, under their systems of railroad
" mistifying bookkeeping then for your states
sake go home and smoke cigarettes, like
n New York dude, until YOU are of age to
d grow brains that can stand alone.
Mr.. General -Schemer Low of the Rock
d Island knows how ruinous railroad building
4 is His company is not yet dry behind its
nd 10 tn1l ,n1y a.
like asking II bounty to him to reimburse for
passes that his road has given out for
missionary purposes.
Ed Dickinson's Poor Pay.
I. Mr.. Dickinson of the Union Pacific, who
only gets S83 per day for acting as wet nurse
70 one of the illegtmate babies of that pau
per company, when asked what he did TO
earn his salary, "closed his argument with n
general laugh" How amusing! If the rail,
roads take mans life his value is set mt not
To exceed So 900. This is law. Five months
of branch line railroad managers life is
worth the highest value of any mans life
time. The Uuion Pacific railroad absorbs its
earnings in branch lines which should 90 TO
pay its national debt, and then tells us the
nation holds no right over those lines for
what is due us. This explains why MIR
Dickinson's management is worth 1000
Mike Mcdonald the merchant gambler Of
Chicago, keeps faro dealers who draw big
salaries and u rake of. Attorney Kelley
!. deals the railroad cards so that his figures
show that $4,000 n year salaried managers
get lower average salary than trainmen
on shopmen, | am sorry the details of his
argument are not reported, for it must have
been ingenious.
This same shell game of linguistic skill is
used To show your honorable body that mil
lions of bushels of grain are raised i'm our
state, the value Of which goes to railroad
companies in transit, at a loss to the rail
roads CO, leaving butan!eXistence to our Ne
braska producers.
TO cap II all n delegation Of railroad en-
ployes protest ut rate reduction because
they are assured that reduction in rates
means reduction IN wages Every inteli-
gent railroad man-not u whipped cur
knows his wages are screwed down TO tho
lowest possible notch under any tariff and
this deputation is n branch of well mean
ing yellow cats in the hands of the
railroad monkeys, used to pull out
stolen chestnuts from our industrial
fires, The wise railroad operative will