The Saint Paul globe., 1898-07-27
Government on Wheels.

many, will be fully set forth if the
American railroads which have been cit
ed to appear before the interstate COM
merce commission in Chicago on Aug.
l Will consult their experiences in COM
peting with this foreign corporation.
Not only are the American railroads in
this Northwestern country concerned in
bringing to a close the career of van
dalism which has been run by our
shrewd Canadian neighbor, but, unless
we are much mistaken, the manufac-
turers of the middle Western states
have an interest in the matter. Have
not Cleveland and Pittsburg been af-
fected by the policy of the Canadian
Pacific? Ohio has a member of the
new commission selected to consider
the questions in dispute between the
United States and Canada, and he IS
in position to learn the facts. There
is hope at last that between the efforts
of the interstate commerce commission
and the Canadian commission the end
of this illogical condition of affairs is
in sight, and American properties will
finally receive the recognition they de-
serve at the hands of their own gov
eminent.
The Canadian Pacific has more than
once been characterized as "the Ca
madam government on wheels" How
apt is the Characterization is illus
trated by an incident which occurred
in the Northwest a year ago. In May,
1897, the Northern Pacific was request
ed by the Canadian Pacific to advance
the rates from Duluth to Winnipeg on
ho,. ira, iIc nj,
and horse shoes made by American
manufacturers-Ame mark you
from AZ cents to "a cents per 100 pounds
The reason given by the Canadian cor
poration was that the existing rate
gave the manufacturers of Cleveland
and Pittsburg an advantage over Ca
madam manufacturers of the same ma
terials.
A month earlier a new tariff had
been put into effect by the Canadian
government, reducing somewhat GER
tain import duties. Prior to that Tina,
and indeed subsequent to the compile
ton of the Northern Pacific to Winni-
peg, the Canadian duties on American
commodities, with the exception of
plain wire, were practically prohibitory,
and there was little sale Of the prod
ucts Of American manufacturers in
Manitoba or British Columbia. The
new tariff permitted the shipment of
bar iron, wire nails, cut nails, iron
| pipe and horse shoes, in limited guam
| titles, from points in the United States
| to Manitoba. Manitoba was develop
ing rapidly, and orders for these Amer
| lean commodities began to swell the
| mails of American manufacturers. The
| Northern Pacific, as the only American
railroad entering the Dominion, began
! to transport these American products
to Manitoba, and there was every pros
! pect of a considerable business devel-
| oping between the Pennsylvania and
| the Ohio manufacturers and the Mani
| tobans. This became so marked that
! it attracted the attention of the Ca
madam Pacific, and then followed it's
! demand upon the Northern Pacific to
| increase the rates. Under the old tar
iff the Manitobans had largely pur-
chased these iron products in Eastern
Canada. The Canadian Pacific had en-
joyed the monopoly of transporting
! them to Manitoba and exercised the
privilege of assessing the Manitobans
handsome sum for this long haul.
| The Northern Pacific declined to en-
| tertain the proposition of the Canadian
Pacific, and thereupon appeared upon
the scene the Canadian government
on wheels The minister of finance Of
fered an amendment to the tariff n
creasing the duty one-half a cent per
pound on American cut nails, and
three-fifths of a cent on American wire
nails. The amendment was adopted
ard is in full effect today. The bulk
of the shipments of bar iron and iron
| pipe to Manitoba are now made from
Eastern Canada. The loss to the rail-
| road of this American business was
something. To the Pittsburg and
only the temporary profit involved,
but also the loss of new market with
| it's many permanent advantages.
We call the attention Of our esteemed
contemporary, the Pittsburg Dispatch,
to the incident, inasmuch as 1t sees
nothing but cut-rate war in the DIFF
ferences that have grown UP between
the American railroads and their Can
adian neighbor. 1t may possibly con-
cede that a government ON wheels,
however remote 1t may be from Pitts
burg, may injuriously affect the inter-
ests of that prosperous American city.
There are other points involved in
this controversy than mere differences
| between the railroads themselves
which might properly be brought out
in the pending investigation, points
that would clearly Indicate to the lay
mind why American institutions should
be protected against the incursions OF
| Canadian invaders.