The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-14
SENATE SLAUGHTERS THE FERGUS
FALLS RAILROAD RATE AND
CLASSIFICATION BILL.
MILLER BILLS SPLIT APART.
ONE is PASSED, But THE OTHER
FALLS BY THE WAY
SIDE.
-RY PRINTING MEASURE
Is Passed by the Senate and VIII
probably Supersede the Dare
House Bill.

The railroads scored two victories
IN the senate yesterday when they Sc
cured the indefinite postponement Of
senator Coles bill to classify railroads
IN Minnesota and fix distance tariffs
for each class, which was a bill aimed
to relieve the farmers Of the Red river
valley from irksome conditions now
existing, and the practical slaughter of
Senator Miller's bill to make the rail-
road and warehouse commission a
court in fact if not in name, by hav-
ing 1t referred to the judiciary COM
mittee, where, even If it should be re-
ported favorably, it will, no doubt, be
delayed long enough to prevent it's pas
sage.
Among the bills passed on the calen-
dar were the Potter savings bank bill
and the Pottgieser bill to limit exempt
homesteads in cities to an area of two
acres, being the bill inspired by the
BanhOlzer homestead litigation.
When the Sperry printing bill, the
special order, was taken up, 1t was
read section by section. and no dis
satisfaction was manifested until there
was reached to pay the compiler of the
blue book $500 year, Senator Master
man wanted the appropriation made
$1,000. Senator Young thought this was
too much for a book which was much
OF it copied right from the old books
Senator Roverud wanted some ad-
ditional information included in the
book in relation to state and federal
officers, elective and appointive.
Senator Reishus opposed the increase,
but it was adopted.
Senator Miller had an amendment ad-
ded to require the publication Of the
state treasurers report in only one
daily paper at the state capital This
was adopted, also. Senator Greer
wanted the commission to give more
explicit authority to edit reports when
their publication was not mandatory
and to determine whether or not they
should be published. This was done,
too.
Senator Sperry said that the bill was
aimed to put the state department Of
printing on paying basis and to pre-
vent a recurrence Of the deficit of $78,-
600 now existing in the printing fund,
and he had an amendment as follows:
Provided, that on all contracts entered into
prior to the passage Of this act for work
10 be completed prior to Aug. /. 1897, the
secretary of state may when said work Is
completed, issue an order therefor for the
amount thereof on the state auditor, and, If
there is no money available for the immediate
payment thereof, the state auditor shall in
dorse thereon the time when presented. and
shall draw interest from that date until the
money is appropriated to pay the same
The special order for the afternoon
was tri-partite. Senator Miller's bills,
Senate Files SO and 484, having been
Joined to Senator Coles railroad clas-
Gifnatinr1 o~b+ to u
532, which was the special order in the
first place.
Senator Cole said the bill known by
his name was not really his product.
but was drawn by a committee Of the
business men of Fergus Falls, and had
been given the enthusiastic indorse-
ment of a mass convention in that city
at which every county in the Seventh
congressional district was represented.
He explained some of the provisions OF
the bill as well as some of the objec-
tons which had been raised against it.
One was that where parallel roads
were classified by their earnings In
different classes, the bill would be q
discrimination against one of them.
He said the plan had been tried in
Iowa and had been a success. The
railroads thrived under it and the peo-
pie enjoyed it's benefits. The courts
had held it constitutional and there
was no doubt as to it's legal standing.
Senator Ringdal said that the only
limit imposed on the power of the leg
tslature to fix railroad rates was that
they must be reasonable. This bill was
one of the most important that had
come before the legislature at this ses-
sion. The only problem, that of rea-
Sonableness, deserved careful consid-
Grafton, which was handicapped by the
reluctance of the railroads to reveal
the cost Of their roads and their OPP
Grafton, especially the former. He
quoted. however, from the testimony
in the famous Farley-Hill litigation to
indicate that the investment repre-
scented in Minnesota railroads was gen
orally much less than the capital stock
issued thereon.
He cited the freight tariffs for equal
distances on the Great Northern and
the Milwaukee to show that the citi-
zens Of the Red river valley were be-
ing grossly Disseminated against in
the rates. not only as against places on
the other road, but as against places on
the Sioux Falls branch Of the Great
Northern. He then took up the distance
tariffs in Minnesota and declared that
the latter were generally practically
twice the rates in force in Iowa.
The disparity between the earnings
per mile of Minnesota roads and roads
in adjoining states, he argued, was a
sufficient warrant for the taking OF
ueIlnlle acllOn Dy the legislature tOr the
remedy Of these evils. The railroads
could afford to lessen their rate. He
charged the falling off Of the Republi-
can vote in the northwestern part OF
the state to the fact that no attention
had been paid to the demands for rail-
road legislation.
Senator w. z. Johnson said rates
were naturally lower in Iowa than in
Minnesota because the state is equally
settled and the hauls are short IT
would not be fair to saddle Minnesota
with such rates. The speaker favored
some legislation if it were undertaken
with due elaboration. II would be alb
Eurd to ask the railroad and ware