The Saint Paul globe., 1898-07-13
NEWS OF THE RAILROADS
ARE MINNESOTA ORE RATES
TOO HIGH2
A Hearing Of Very Great Interest
Before the Raiiroad and Ware
house COmlmissiOn--The Claim Es
Made That Minnesota Reads Arc
CharginG as Much Again as Those
of the East Hauling Ore.

of the East Hauling Ore.
DULUTH, July IL. Especially = The
hearing before the railroad and ware
house commission in the case of ]. q.
Brown ct al. againststhe Duluth, Mis-
Gabe & Northern, and. the Duluth &
Iron Range railway. commenced herr:
today, promises to be the most i'm
portant rate case ever brought before
the commission in the history of the
state.
Attorney General Childs arrived in
Duluth in time to ATTEND the first ses-
sion of the commission, and from this
time will take an active part in pros
ecuting the case, because of the states
interest in the vast area of mineraI
lands in ST. Louis and adjoining coun-
ties. The railroad companies are rep
resented before the commission with a
formidable, array of legal talent The
case in many respects resembles the
famous Steenerson case, in which the
state took an active part.
Since the state has taken the matter
UP and the Duluth and Superior men,
who are parties to the prosecution, are
interested in breaking up the alleged
combine of the railroads and mine own
ers, which has kept the ore rates to
what is claimed to be an exorbitant
figure, the hearing before the railroad
and warehouse commission will be
merely a preliminary one.
Davis, kellogg & Severance, of ST.
Paul, are representing the Duluth &
Iron Range railroad. j. B. Cotton rs
looking after the interest of the Du-
luth, Missabe & Northern railroad, ana
M. D. Grover, of the Great Northern
Railway company, is also in Duluth
looking after the interest Of the East
ern Minnesota Some time ago the
Eastern Minnesota railway, which is a
part of the Great Northern system, be-
came the owner of the Duluth, Su-
perior & Western, formerly known as
the Duluth & Winnipeg. 50
BILLSON'S ARGUMENT.
ing, W. w. Billson, attorney for the
complainants, outlined the effect of the
policy against which the Clients pro-
test, as follows: ,roil -.
The effect of the policy Of the railway
companies in their system of, rates is like
that of great conspiracy against the rich
est and fairest heritage OF the istate of Min
nesota 1t is monopoly, Brought about
naturally ma. in the ordinary course of business,
but more deadly on that accoInt.
The question broadens out from personal
matter of the complainatitse at the bar to
one whose limits far transcend ANY one state,
and affects the whole country. Are these
iron deposits Of st. Louis county, the great
est in the known world. tosvbecome monop-
oly, where wherein only two men or set of men
can deal? '1ba-1s
Mr.. Billson argued that the tendency
was for mankind tozadevelop two
classes, one extremely rich, the other
salared or Wage earners, and extfn-
gulsh the middle-class of business men,
and that it was Minnesota's duty to
stop, so far ais possible, developments
tending to accelerate the pace of events.
Minnesota had made it a criminal act
for any railroad to CHARGE wilfully, eX-
cessive rates, and had made the penal
ty for violation Imprisonment of Off
GERS and heavy fines. But, he said, he
would prove that these roads had dar-
ed to charge such rates on every pound
of ore they had carried, and even iiti-
mated that prosecution would follow
an unsuccessful attempt. to regulate
rates by action Of the state commits
sion. 57E>s. s:i1 e. qe3fs ;o92 pgad
The entire morning was spent by Mr..
Billson in outlining the complainants'
position. He said they would confine
their testimony almost entirely to pub
lished reports. of the companies at the
bar and other similar prosperous and
solvent concerns in the United States;
that only one company west of Chi
cago, the Eastern Railway of Mime
sofa, could be found to rank with them
in density Of traffic, and that only half
a dozen great Eastern SYSTEMS could
compare, and that not one road in
America had such density of traffic
per mile of rails as the Duluth, Mis-
sabe & Northern. Mr.. Billson also said
that the Pioneer mine, the property Of
complalnants, one Of the richest and
largest in the world, was operated last
year at loss, and will be this year, be-
cause of excessive freight rates, and
that in the meantime millions of tons
Of ore are being marketed at a profit
by mining and railway combinations,
who more than made upS for loss in
mining by excessive rail profit.
EASTERN. RATES LESS.
The SPEAKER showed that the Iron
Range road got IL mills per ton per
mile for all freight and the Missabe
road trifie less, While similar roads in
the East are content with and pay
DIVIDENDS on 51a mills for the same cl2ss
OF traffic. No roads I'M the. country are
able to haul freight so cheaply because
OF the great train TONNAGE; averaging
100 tons per train more than the stan
dard roads in Massachusetts,
The traffic On the Missabe road was
about 100000 tons per mile putting
the road ahead Of every road in Amer
lea. while the Iron Range was only ex-
ceeded by the Erie, Lehigh. Valley and
l-acKaWanna. The average freight rate
on ell stuff in Pennsylvania does NOT
exceed 5R mills per ton per mile, Just
what is asked here for ore, while heavy
freight there is carried for 31s mills.
The Iron Range earns $3.50 per train
Per mile; the Missabe $780, while the
great Eastern and granger roads get
from $l.45 to $1.65. The Eastern Mime
sofas average rate is but 6.8 mills per
tor per mile, and it's earnings per mile
exceed those Of any road except these
two. For the calendar year 1887 these
two roads earned gross $4,000 per mile,
ard net $S,3OO for the Iron Range and
S3,60O for the Missabe, three times that
OF the average prosperous road He
claimed that the companies are taking
*I,6O0000 from the people in excess Of
the legitimate profits, after giving
Per cent inter5s st. He referred al length
to the roads possible claim that North
ern Minnesota was valueless for all but
iron.
Gen. Childs holds that the present
freight rates are too high, and that a
reduction of one-half should be made.
TOO HIGH AND, UNJUST.
The other parties in0the9taction are
w. j. Koanan and Eliza KSanan, both
OF West Superior, andC owners of min
eral lands on the Vermillion range. The
complaint, which was drawn up by
Brown & Koanan, sets7fortf that the
present rate Of SOC parg2240 lbs. from
mine points to Two 11arbSrs, is high
and unjust, and that the mine owners