The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-29


The Luverne Herald, of which State
Senator H. J. Miller is the editor and pro-
prietUr, has led the Retubican criticism
against Gov. Lind for his veto OF the NIL
Ter bill, being Senate File No. "a, to make
findings Of fact in proceedings before the
railroad and warehouse commission OIL
cl&I court records in such cases. In a
recent issue Senator Miller charged un-
worthy motives on the part OF the gov
pTnor and that he had been governed in
his action by certain railway influence.
Thereupon Gov. Lind addressed to Sena-
tor Miller an explicit denial and demand
FOR retractior Of ;1is charges, coupled with
full statement regard ding the bill and
reasons for the veto. Senator Miller in
The Herald of June %, retracted the
charges, with the statement that he
would publish Gov Lind's letter in full
in the following issue. The full text of
the governors communication is as fol-
lows:
st. Paul, Mimi. June 20, 1S99.-Hon. H.
J. Miller, Luverne, Minn.-Dear Sir: l
confess l was not little surprised when
copy of your paper of June was plac-
ed before me, and 1 saw the article head
ed "Lind's Betrayal of Trust" the first
poIdSIdpll OI WHICH T6dUS dS 1OllOWS.
The Herald has made the charge in
previous issues that Senate File No. "a,
relating to proceedings for the enforce
ment of the orders of the railroad and
warehouse commission, was killed by
Gov. Lind at the instance or by the de-
mand of the Great Northern Railway
company 1 had been informed previous
to this that you had made charges of
some such character in earlier issues of
your paper, but paid no attention to
them, as hoped that you would be down
10 oft hot 0Itrl,r how
opportunity to place the facts before you
In their proper light, my time hardly per-
mitting communication by correspond
ence in matter so involved as the con-
sider6tion of our statutes relating to the
railroad and warehouse commission, but
this last charge is such brazen false
hood and of such character that, coming
from the source it does, feel that it de-
mands not only an explicit denial but
an explanation of the law as it now
stands ard the effect of the proposed
amendment. so that you and any citizen
who desires to understand the matter
may see and appreciate the dangerous
character of Senate File No. "a, which l
refused to sign.
In Minneapolis & st. Louis Railway
Company VS.. Railroad and Warehouse
Commission, "A Mimi 1885, which was one
of the earlier cases under the present
railroad law before our supreme court
Judge Mitchell uses this language: THE
act Claws 1887, chapter 10) regulating
common carriers and creating the rail-
road and warehouse commission is
piece of legislative patchwork composed
OF provisions borrowed from different and
dissimilar sources without uniformity of
plan and not always consistent with each
other. A construction of the act is there
fore difficult task" Although the act
has been amended several times since
that language was used with reference
to it, it is still applicable to many of the
provisions of the law as it now stands,
as any one who has read it with care
must concede; but nevertheless, il has
now been before the court so often and
many of the sections so thoroughly con-
strued, that the most striking inconsist-
encleS have been reconciled and the leg
lslation as a whole made harmonious
by judicial Interpretation. In my mes
sage 70 the legislature [ recommended
only one change, and in the following
language: The report of the state rail-
road and warehouse commission will be
laid before you. No new legislation is
needed on that subject, except that the
record made before the commission on
nearing should be made to constitute the
record on appeal. The present practice
OF trying case de novo in the district
court is useless and expensive and by
its delays tends to defeat the ends Of
the, law" An amendment in harmony
with this suggestion would have been a
decided Improvement on the law as II
new stands, and would have had nv
prompt approval. as it had my cordial
Endorsement in advance. I cannot helm
teehng that you are under the impress
sion that Senate File "a would have ar
comphshed the purpose indicated by nv
H.
ce1Ve that man of your standing would
purposely traduce and malign a public
servant from partisan motives alone. I
snail therefore take more time and ex-
ercise more patience in explaining the
law to you than l would to one for whose
character and motives I have less regard
than l have had for yours in tha past.
believing that when the matter is placed
before you In it's proper light YOU will
nave the manhood to undo, so far as
you are able, the injustice which you
have done me.
BY our legislation constituting the
BOARD of railroad and warehouse com
missioners and defining their powers, the
duties of the board are divided into two
classes. The first, and most important
is TO pass upon the reasonableness of
transportation rates and to prevent dis
GTlmlnation between persons and places
Inc second, is the power to regulate the
manner OF maintaining and operating the
railroads. with a view to insuring the Sc
curlty convenience and accommodation
OF the general public, without regard to
the question of rates; in other words
the rate-maklng power and the admin
istrative power, respectively This dis
junction must be borne in mind in order
TO understand the different provisions of
the statute and the decisions of our su-
preme court pursuant to them
In proceedings under the first class of.
questions, viz: Those that involve the
rate-making power and the prevention
Of determinations, the railroad company
has the right of appeal to the diS+ric+