The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1894-05-11
MAGNETIC NERvINE
Anti-Monopoly Drug Store,
Mr.. Bishops Reply.
To the Editor of the Banner.

A~S Ascpiy.
To the Editor Of the Banner.
l am sorry that you have suffered
pain from what you describe as nMr
Bishops anti.railroad commission la
ter" BY that description you M .slead
your readers. Unless you assume that
railroad commission is neaessarilv
hostile to railroads, you cannot find q
sentence from my pen Indicating that
II m opposed to such a commission
IL requires no great breadth of INTEL
lect to perceive that, with entire con-
sistency, man may be opposed to a
railroad commission animated bv a
disposition to Cypress the railroads. -
and at the same time in favor of q
commission animated by a dis.
position to arbitrate impartially be-
tween the railroads and their patrons
To make my position little palmer.
will say that 81 don't want to see .
commission which would act as the
senile instrument of Senator's ami
mosities.u
wrote my letter to the Pensacola
News because l had seen in that pa
per, and In no other, a communication
containing an infamous Islander of the
gentlemen who composed the late rail-
road commission. Most of the letter
was taken up with a statement of
facts In refutation of the charge that
"a majority of the commission were
thoroughly under the control of the
railroads.
In the paragraph which you quote.
say that, ia this locality, no adcan-
tage was taken of the deliverance of
the roads from all 'restraints by the re-
peal of the commission law. Is it a
crime in the eyes of ''reformersn to
mention notorious fact which hap
pens to be creditable to railroad com
panies?
Your allusion to the Orlando con-
vention il seen 10 be unfortunate
when it is remembered how summa-
rily that body squelched resolution
in favor Of a railroad commission.
You criticise my expression of the
opinion that "our principal causes of
complaint are beyond the reach of the
legislature of Florida" That opinion
is based on the well known truth that
state legislature, acting either by
itself or through commission, cannot
intermeddle with Interstate COM
merce, because the constitution vests
in Congress exclusively all authority
to regulate commerce between the
states. There is no power in Florida
which can prevent the collection of
the most exhorbitant charges on pro-
ducts shipped to points outside of the
state. got this truth impressed on
my mind at considerable cost. In CO.
operation with Mr.. James A. Harris
we adopted the expedient of shipping
10 agents at Florida basing points. BY
our first attempt in that direction we
saved the growers of fruits and vege-
tables 500, 900 at least, but the roads
paid no attention 20 second attempt
OF the same kind. Then we COM
menced proceedings in the federal
court to recover the excess of charges
to basing points above the rates pre-
scribed by the commission, and we
got beaten. Judge Pardee held that
our "expedient" was merely an at
tempt to evade the constitutional pro-
vision. / secured abstracts of all the
authorities Iquoted by Judge Pardee
and became convinced that his decis-
ion would be sustained by the higher
courts and that it would be foolish to
appeal the case.
In reply to the personal slur, which
you manage to work in your article,
will say that have no knowledge of
any orange grove that is owned by the
Standard Oil company. One stock
holder, and only one, of that compa-
NY, as well as several stockholders of
the American Steel Range company,
is also member of the Orange Lake
Fruit company, of which am mana
ger.
Your last sentence, in which you set
the 'little produces" over against the
''big growers does not impress me
favorably. take it for granted that
you believe i'm the existence of con-
fiict of Interests between these two
classes, but is absolutely certain that
such belief is utterly destitute of
foundation. The Companies which /
represent have not q single interest
which is adverse to the interests of the
smaller growers. What is best for
them is best for us, and, if thought |
had any influence with them, should
urge them to bring the strongest pos
sible pressure to bear on our Senators
and Representatives in Congress, with
the purpose of securing changes in the
interstate commerce law in order that
we may all be able to get our products
to northern markets at a reasonable
cost for transportation. For my own
part, shall continue to do what may
appear to me best adapted to promote
the common interests of the producers
Of Florida.
p. p. BISHOP.