The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-30
THEY SAY THE RAILROADS ARE
GIVING THEM THE WORST OF
RATES.
QUOTE SOME OF THE FIGURES.
TARIFFS, 1T is CLAIMED, ARE
EXORBITANT.
COMPARATIVE EARNINGS SHOWN.
The Net Per Mile of the Iron Range
and the Missahe Exceed Those
of Any other Road.

Under scare heads and in long col
umns Of type the newspapers at the
head of the lakes are telling their
readers of the bondage in which the
two range railroads are holding the res
1dents Of st. Louis county and Indirect
ly the citizens of Duluth. The cause of
the trouble, it appears, is what the
Zenith City press calls a nefarious
combination between the Duluth &
Iron Range road and the Duluth, Mis-
sabe & Northern road to keep the pas
senger and freight tariffs to an excess
siYe degree, to the great detriment of
persons doing business either on or
near their lines, and Duluth concerns
as well, seeking to do business on the
range. For the past week or two the
merchants Of Duluth have been inter-
viewed, and all the sentiment seems to
be in favor of reduction Of some sort
in the freight and passenger rates. The
radical ones insist that the legislature
take some action slashing the figures in
two, while the more conservative mer-
chants will be content with a moderate
scaling in the tariffs, but all want at
least that, % 40 .sv-jfg t~ Il
To take up the passenger rate phase
of the matter. The contention is made
that the roads will certainly not reduce
the rate per mile from 31a cents while
they have a special charter allowing
them to charge this amount. 1t will be
remembered that upon the complaint
of a citizen of New independence, a
town on one Of the iron ranges, the
state railroad and warehouse commits
sion visited the place and after hear
ing allowed the road complained of to
make a charge Of at least 31a cents
per mile, owing to the natural disad-
vantages and the sparsely settled terri
tory. The Duluthians now claim that
the two roads should not charge more
than cents, which is the highest rate
| asked by any other road in the state
The freight tariffs, however, are the
thorn in the flesh. 1t is estimated that
the population of the two ranges is
20,0 900 souls, and the bitter complaint is
that the people are at the mercy Of
the roads, which charge outrageously
high rates On all stuff carried from
Duluth. The Duluth, Missabe & North
ern is credited with being less rapa-
cious than the Duluth & Iron Range.
The deadly comparison is made be-
tween rates on stuff from Duluth to
Ely, on the Iron Range road, distance
Of ia miles, and the same stuff carried
on the st. Paul & Duluth, or the East
ern Minnesota between Duluth and ST.
Paul, even greater distance. The rate
| on hay shipped north from Duluth is
S. per ton, if less than carload lots; or
So, if shipped by the carload.
To send the same to ST. Paul costs,
the Duluth people say, 81. II per ton in
! stead Of So, and they point out that
| hay to the amount of $4,000 was
! shipped over the road mentioned dur
| ing 1895. Merchandise, they explain. is
| divided into three classes, in the freight
tariffs. The statement is made that the
| Duluth & Iron Range road charges 20
cents per 100 pounds, from Duluth to
| Ely, while the rate from Duluth to st.
! Paul is just half that amount In some
cases, they maintain, the northern rate
| is three times that to St. Patti. A 200
| pound barrel of flour will go to st. Paul
| from Duluth for 81 cents, while to Ely
! would cost IS cents. And so on down
! the line agitators have taken the COM
parison, applying about the same to
! both roads. Communications have been
received from the Duluth officials of
| one or both Of the lines in which the
| explanation is made that the rates
| have to be higher than in the case Of
| other roads in the state, for the reason
| that owing to the many spurs, etc.
extra trains with extra crews have to
| be kept on duty at a great additional
expense. But the Duluthians cannot
exactly hear this. There are four COM
petitive points, namely Virginia, Hib-
| bling, Eveleth and Biwabik, and this
| fact gives the conlplainants ground for
| the belief that there is an understand
| ing between the lines to keep UP the
rates. Marked copies Of the papers con-
| tanning the matter above referred to
| have been sent, accompanied by tele-
| grams, to many of the senators and
representatives, and the statement is
| made that when the Duluth chamber
| of commerce or board of trade formu-
| lates a bill for the curing of the evil.
| the measure will be forwarded to st.
Paul for introduction in the legislature.
| The members from Duluth were seen
yesterday, but have made no plans for
the Introduction Of measures touching
on the matter until more definite steps
have been taken at home.
Reference to the report of the state
railroad and warehouse commission for
the year ending Nov. 30, 1895, shows
that the two roads named had by far
the greatest gross earnings per mile
of road, the figures being Duluth, Mis-
sabe & Northern, $12, 400 and the Iron
Range. $13,35051, while the only other
roads In the state coming anywhere
near those figures are the Omaha &
Eastern Minnesota, with something
over $4,000 each - tss
| Another strong contrast Is shown In
the table giving the net eai1ifngs pc.
mile OF the road. Without taking into