The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-09-04
OF RAILROADS DEMANDED.
Canal Boat Owners Made Desper-
ate By the Seasons Canal
Business.
CONDITIONS ATTRIBUTED TO
THE MONOPOLISTIC INFLU-
ENCE OF RAILROADS.
1t Is Claimed the Roads Are Vic.
lating Their Charters.
(The N. Y. EXponent.)

(The N. Y. Exponent)
Canal men are arOuse sed to the point
of desperation by the state of the sea-
sons canal business. They attribute
it to monopolis1ic pressure of the
railroads and are determined to make
a powerful attempt to break it. A
meeting of canal boat owners, for
warders tug men and others interest
ed in the canal business was held at
Al West Seneca street, Aug. 9. 1t was
not lengthy meeting, but of white
heat intensity while it lasted.
Capt. NJ. Depuy, chairman of the
board of directors of the Canal Boat
Owners Associa tion of New York
State, was chairman of the meeting.
William II. Newcomb acted as secre-
tary.
Capt. Depuy in opening the meeting
said no lengthy statement was re-
quired as to the reason of the meet
ing. 1T is understood" said he,
"that the canals are at the mercy of a
giant monopoly of railroads which
every succeeding day is forcing out
$915 more for 100000 bushels of grain
shipped by the canal than the legal
lied te. This is one of the most
stupen dous and audacious daylight
robberies ever perpetrated upon civil
lied people. AndI am told that like
notorious William Tweed they say,
What are you going to do about it,?
1t is a herculean task we have before
us, but we will show them what we
are going to do about it, [ read in
the papers only this morning that
$4,000 bushels of grain were shipped
by rail to $4,000 shipped by canal.
Twenty times more at almost a cent
more a bushel. Moreover, receipts by
lake are reported to be 100000 bushels,
and l will guarantee that the canal
will not carry so, 600 bushels of it.'
Capt. w. c. Clark, of Constantia, N.
Y, introduced a strong set of resolu-
tions, prefacing them with the state
ment that it is an old doctrine that
desperate diseases need despera te
remedies: They were unanimously
adopted, to wit:
"Whereas, Railroad corporations re-
ceiving their existence from the peo-
pie Of this state to transact public
business only, are now engaged in a
giant conspiracy to destroy New
York's beneticient canal system,
through illegal and extortionate grain
elevator trust charges, levied upon
canal commerce at the ports Of Buff
falo and New York, as we'll as discrim-
mating against farmers, merchants
and shippers of the state, and are al
SO owning or operating mammoth
propeller lines upon the great West
ern Lakes in connection with the
roads, which is a brazen violation Of
their land franchise, and,
Whereas, AS an Illustration, the
railroad managers of this state, in or
der to divert, iilegitimately, the grain
traffic from the peoples canals to the
railroads, are extortng, for the SIM
pie transfer of grain from lake vessels
to canal boats at Buffalo and from
canal boat to ocean-ship at New York,
upward of q cents bushel over that
paid to the men for trimming or
shoveling to the leg Of the elevator,
when unloading and trimming cargo
when loading, while the Erie canal
boat-owners, from the opening of navi-