Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-09-17
THE FEOPLE DEaAND LOWER RATS.

II the railroad commission shall be
abolished, as many think II will, some
legislator will bid for public attention
with a most popular bugle note intro
ducing q bill to regulate fares and
freights. But the question arises: who
is competent to frame such bill that
1t will successfully run the gamut of
questions as to It's justice both to rail
roads and people7 He must needs be
large ia experience who could right
fully determine the charges q doctor or
lawyer shall make for bis services; the
price Of the merchants goods, and the
amount charged by common carries.
However, reduction of general rail-
way fares is platform that will never
find room enough for the mPny feet
longing TO press 1t. The difficulty
will not come with the people, but
with the railways. The monster rail
way corporations In this country are
not 10 be set aside with impunity. All
over this continent q battle is drawing
uear between the railways and the peo
pie. The farmers Of the west ard tn,
buyers of the east alike begin to feel
that altogether too much Of the prod
ucts Of their labor is eaten up by cost oi
transport. They believe, rightly OI
wrongly, that the railways cap play
their part as the arteries OF trade with
out levyiDg so severe tribute u on the
merchandise they carry: and where the
corporations deny this, the people tall
Of trying hand at removing the bur
den themselves. AS for the rate to bs
fixed at two and three cents mile fol
passenger travel, 1t has paid the New
York Central, 1t pays In England, in
Illinois, and ithere is no reasor why II
should not pay generally here. More
people will travel, just as the reductior 4
Of postage lends to letter writing. En-
,erpIise and industry will be encouraged
and the whole country benefited. The
reflex Influence of this csnnOt hell
reaching the railways. And there ID
no enmity to the railroads in the pro
posal. We do not want to kill the rail
ways, nor do we desire them to kill US
Senator Alley in Florence West.
The railroad commissioners with
their baggage car, Pullman sleeper and
dining car, passed swiftly through
Dsllas Tuesday last. Perhaps the
darky porter examined the road and
bridges while on the fly. The Repub-
lican party must be true to its pledges
and abolish this expensive farce
Dallas Observer.
After fifteen years Of costly expert
ence and paying the railroad vast sums
of money for high freight charges, the
people of this city as we'll as many
other cities and towns up and down the
valley, has decided that water trans
portation Is the cheaper, and now all
freight received here comes by the way
OF Dayton, and preparations are being
made to store the present grain croI
there. Think of it: Tf there
was stage and dray line from Port
land to Corvallis, stage coach that
would carry twelve passengers and
charge the same as the railroad does,
would make SAG in one day for drive
of eighty miles, and four-horse dray
would make from $l5 to $40 per day.
Oregon Blade.
Taking up this line of thought is an
opportunity for some man 10 immor-
talize himself in the next Oregon legis-
lature. That freight rates are exorb.-
fundamentally se--over the 8. p.
lines In this valley, is readily seen by
any person having business with the
company. And especialIysis this the
case at interior points, where the road
Is not parsSleled by navigable stream
and where merchants and others must
submit to the gouging or go back to
the primitive methods Of hauling their
goods by wagons. The railroad COM
pany Is under some obligations to the
people, and should respect their rights
TO some extent, at least. II we remem-
ber correctly, Dallas invested of her
means very literally to secure the pres
ent "bob-tailed tiasco," that, taking a
snaips gait, is = whole week making
three round trips distance OF rs miles
and charging fancy rates for the haul
Ing done by II. What IL needed in Ore
gon is law that will stand by the pee
pie In the matter OF freIghts and fares,
and the man who has the courage TO
introduce aud push through q bill look
ing 10 this end will receive the thanks
OF the people Of oregon.-Dallas Tran
script.
CITY AGRICULTURE.