The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1897-02-25
THE STATE CAPITAL
Joint Railroad Committees
Listen to Arguments.
ATTORNEYS GIVEN ATTENTION

Condition Of the Various Railroads Set
Forth by the Ablest Men Con-
nected Herewith.
The railways had an inning before
the joint railroad committees OF the
legislature. Some of the ablest men
connected with the railways were pres
ent, and all were given respectful at
tention.
w. W. Cotton, attorney for the Ore
gon Railway & Navigation, gave the
early history of his road, and the many
reductions made in rates, compulsory
and otherwise. Since 1889, wheat
shipments had not increased to any ex-
tent from Portland and Sound points.
he said, but new roads had divided up
the freight haul The reductions in
rates from 1887 to 1898 would have
paid the fixed charges of the old in
debtedness, which amounted to ST.
800, 900. Stock, once worth 81 share,
he said, is now selling for Ii cents.
The present bonds bear only 4 per cent,
and the present bondholders' debt is
only SIT, 500 a mile, and on this the
road only asks to be allowed to earn 4
per cent. He said wheat today was 20
ceuts bushel higher in the Palouse
than it was when the Wsssol bill
passed. He showed by figuers that the
Walla Walla farmer was getting more
profit out Of wheat than the farmer of
Iowa. He said the railroads had been
treated unfairly, while the farmers
were fairly prosperous. He called at
tention to the fact that his road could
only operate one passenger train day,
and for this it had to keep agents all
along the line, and a majority of it's
cars were half empty, while the Penn
sylvania line out of New York runs
thirty-one trains daily, all crowded.
The fare in the East, he said, is cents
fat and higher, and he asked if it
would be fair to put the same rate on
roads in this country.
He then further explained that the
Miller bill would put blanket rate of
So all over the Palouse. eve would
be entitled" he said, "to So. rs per ton
from Eastern Washington under the
Miller bill, but would be compelled,
out of self-protection, to haul for s..
A few years ago that rate was S."
President e. Mcneil, of the Oregon
Railway & Navigation Company, pre-
sented volume of figures, showing
the deficit Of the Washington business
of the Oregon Railway & Navigation
Company, amounting to more than
$50, The average freight rate in
the state per ton per mile is IL cents,
and the average passenger rate of the
years business is S.3 cents, and the
local rate of conductors collections is
4. 10 cents mile.
Attorney Albert Allen, of Spokane,
offered copy of the interstate COM
merce report of the Spokane & North
ern road, showing the business during
the fiscal year, including the net earn
ings, which showed net profit of $751;
OPT. There is debt of 1896, 600, he
said, money advanced to keep the road
out of the hands of receivers during the
last five years, and if the road be left
alone, it would take over fifteen years
to pay off that debt. Competition
with the Canadian Pacific lines, aside
from legislation, he said, made his one
of the hardest-fought roads in the
state, as all cuts had to be met. If the
Miller or the Canutt bill passed, it
would prevent the extension of the Spo-
kane & Northern into the Okanogan
country. He proposed an amendment,
making the law imperative as to rail-
ways organized in this state not over
100 miles in legnth, or on extensions
to be built, or on roads now in the
hands of receivers.
Attorney Thompson, of Seattle,
representing the Great Northern, said
every railroad in Washington had lost
money for five years, and this is due
solely to the fact that they had operat-
ed in this state. "Some of you may
say" said Thompson, "that they need
not have come here; but they did, just
as some of you people came, and per-
haps with the same motive" His
road, he said, had never earned cent
on its investment in this state. He
made an argumentative talk without fig
ures or facts, and said such legislation
would prevent building of a road into
the Kootenai country. He denounced
the fellow-servant act, which passed
the senate Thursday. He said the pro-
posed farm-crossing bill would cost his
road $500, 900, and named numerous
other bills which he said showed de-
sire to cripple corporations or a lack Of
knowledge of what the railroads were
already suffering from in this state.
A little over rs per cent of the gross
earnings of the Great Northern, on
business originating in this state, was
paid out to labor in this state, he said.
President Tyler, of the Washington s.
Columbia River road, said if these rate
bills were passed there would not be
enough of his road left to wad a gun
with. It had passed through the hands
of two receivers, and with the Miller
bill would soon be in the hands of an
other. The road is 1853 miles long, and
the present bonded Indebtedness
through reorganization is less than
$4,000, the bonds bringing per cent.
S. g. Grosscup, of the Northern Pa
cifc, said he was not alone represent
ing his road, but 40, 900 persons in the
state who are dependent upon the rail-
roads for living.
Representative Gilkey, of Chehalis,
has introduced bill authorizing the
fish commission, which was created in
1895, to establish fish hatchery on
the Chehalis river, or one of its tribu.