Mohave County miner., 1897-06-05
Shs Slippers goipt of 0ie0.

The shipper who seeks no special rate or rebate for his own particular benefit is in favor of the Dlssage of the bill now before both houses of Congress, which if passed will allow freedom of contract between "a 'lwavs. The passage of this bill will stop discrimination and enab ble railways to secure the regular schedule rates There is no desire to increase rates, the obi 4ct being 10 stop railway rate wars, and thereby put our railways on a solvent basis. Realizing this, the National Board of Trade, representing the shippers of the country, issued an I'm, portant report at their recent meeting January 1897) in Washington Among other things, this report says:
 'The great maj jprity of railroad man agers and of shippers on railroads are sincerely desirous of remedying these un just discriminations, there can he . doubt; and. with the cooperation of this majority, with the Interstate Commerce Commission, it would seem that they might be gradually eliminated, but, as condition necessary thereto, railroads must be given the power to enforce their agreements upon each other, which they are not prohibited from doing by the prohibition of pooling in the Interstate Commerce law. This law should be so amended that pooling under the authori ty and supervision of the Interstate Com. merse Commission should be allowed"
 On the general question of the future welfare of the country the report says:
 Railroad transportation touches the commerce of the country at innumerable points. Uniform, stable, and fair rates for the carriage of freight and passengers are necessary alike to the prosperity of shippers and carriers. Their interests are so entertwined that one can hardly be prosperous when the other is de- pressed. The competition of our water ways, supplemented by that of our nn- merous railroad lines. has gwen the United States much lower rates for 'rans. portation than any other country. While formerly there was danger that the pnh- lie might be charged 70 high rates for transportation, that danger no longer exists. There is more danger that cap- ital invested in transportation facilities will not receive its adequate reward This is illustrated by the numerous bank ruptcies of mportant systems of roads during the last few years, with enormous accompanying losses to investors, but, with the establishment of the finances of the country upon stable basis, and the revival of trade, which will surely result, the prospects are good for bright CT times, both for carriers and shippers. Each should cooperate, for the common good, to eliminate unjust discrimination and establish the commerce of the coun. try upon a just and stable basis. The commerce of the country can afford to pay rate for transportation which will yield fair return on capital invested in transportation facilities, but it cannot stand unjust discrimination which build up few and keep the many from rising"
 The Interstate Commerce Commission has accomplished a good work, and it would seem to be wise to continue in the same diret ton. The idea is em. phasized, by reason of the fact that the railways, the representatives of the ship. pers, the off cials of States having charge of railway matters, and the Commission itself are substantially in accord on this point. There may be differences of de- | tall, but the bill to amend the Interstate Commerce law now before Congress meets with the approval of nearly all conf cting interests.