People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1895-06-06
Robbery by The Railroads.

es d supply of crude oil as good in
quality, as accessible and almost as
extensive as those of Ohio and 1ndi-
ana. The oil is found in very abund-
ant quantities in a number of COun-
ties in southeastern Kansas and the
land is dotted for miles with wells
capable of producing at once a great
supply of marketable oil and contrib
uting thereby much to the wealth of
the state. Yet the oil deposits of
this state areusubstantially neglected
AMI not car load is being shipped.
There would seem in fairness to be
but one side to this question. The
oil of Kansas has right to transport
alton rates as low as those accorded
to competitors. But entirely aside
from the strict merits of the case,
which are not always the sole or para
mount consideration, the railroads
are certain 10 have the problem
of the shipment of Kansas oil before
them until they settle it and settle it
fairly. The sooner the consent to
give Kansas equal consideration with
eastern competitors, the better for
the position of the roads themselves.
1t has never paid in the long run to
suppress enterprise or handicap indus
try. The railroads are largely public
agencies for the promotion of the
traffic Of the people and in this view
of it the producers of oil in Kansas
must eventually win their case. For
all parties concerned it would seem
that the less delay IN putting this
business on its feet the better.-Capi-
tai.
Quite right, thank you, Mr.. Capital.
Now there are some figures for you
and other parties to consider. What
do you think of them? A Ca load of
oil was shipped from Neodesha to
Hutchinson. 1t brought S275; of this
amount the railroads received $40,
and the owners of the oil $l35. Dis
lance hauled $50 miles and the oil
company furnished their own car.
The oil company furniShj and load
their own cars and pay S14O.6S per
car to the railroad company to haul
the same to Kansas City from Neode-
sha, The railroad furnishes a car and
helIS the stock shipper to load it,
gives him return trip ticket, and
charges $3.50 to haul the car of stock
to Kansas City from Neodesha.
FredOnia is about the same distance
from Kansas City as Neodesha. FIRE.
donia has linSeed oil mill. Its prod
uct is worth about 80 cents per gallon.
The rate on linseed oil from FredOnia
to Kansas City is Is cents per cwt.;
the railroad company furnishes the
car. NeOdeSha produces petroleum.
The crude product is worth about two
cents per gallon. The rate on the
same from NeOdesha to Kansas CITY
% is 26 cents per cwt; the oil company
furnishes the car. Comment is un-
neceSsary.-Neodesha Register.
There is no other name for this sort
of discrimination than robbery. II
the railroad commission of Kansa:
was created for any purpose it was
for preventing such injustice as il
here complained of, and it is aStonish
ing that the roads can not be brought
to time with a jerk. With the rail
roads to fight it is no wonder that TIT
people hesitate to venture into new
enterprises without enormous capita
to back them and that such industrie
as the new oil business of southeast
ern Kansas must wait for develop
ment until monopoly comes alOnl
with the necessary resources to tax,
hold of them. The situation describ
ed by the Register is outrageous ant
the people should know of it. The
are ready to grin and bear it so lon
as the railroads regulate their rate
according to what the traffic wi
stand" but when rates are made pre-
hibitive the railroad commisSio
should step IN and act promptly fC
the relief of property and the people
Topeka Capital.