The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-10-19


they have found it necessary to eniS
ploy larger number Of men than the
Republicans did when they were In
power? The same amount is paid in
every case, but Gov. Lind has kept-a
larger force than was kept there be-
fore to do the same class and the same
amount of work. That was another Of
the reforms, and that was the kind OF
reform you get in that department.
This was not exactly what you expect
ed, but it was exactly what you got.
Now, there is another question which
I want to touch upon-another of Gov.
Lind's promises-and that was this,
that if he was elected governor he
would see to it that honest men were
appointed for the different positions in
this state. I believe he had the best
of intentions to do so, but when you
come to look over the ground and see
the results, they are somewhat disap-
pointing, even to his friends.
Increased Expense in All Depart.
ments.
Now, in the other departments of the
state; how is it? You have not heard.
You are not interested. You have not
looked the matter up. But the fact is,
that it costs more per capita in every
single state institution under the pres
ent administration of John Lind than
it did two years ago under the Repub-
ican administration. 1t is true, it is
not much, but it is more all along the
whole line. There is not single de-
partment that can show one dollar OF
saving. Perhaps you will say that that
is the result of the changed condition
of affairs. Yes; it is result of the
change of administration, but there is
no other cause that I can see. Then,
is there any reason why we should
continue to vote against the interests
of our own party, and support a man
that has not been able to do better
than we did?
Some Facts About the Railroad Com
mission.
There is one other feature that
wish to call especial attention to, for It
is the one Gov. Lind is making his
campaign on this fall, more particu-
larly. He promised me two years ago
that, if he was elected governor, he
would see to it that we should get rea-
sonable freight charges in this state.
Let us see whether or not he has full
filled these promises. I want to be per-
fectly fair. I want to give the rail-
road and warehouse commission credit
for everything they have done, and
want, also, in addition, to call your at
tention to the added facilities under
which his commission has been able to
work, that were not in existence four
and two years ago. The first rate case
in this state that was tried, where any
result was arrived at in the courts and
held constitutional by the supreme
court, was the Stevenson rate case
There it was decided that the legis-
lature and the commission had the
power to establish just rates through
out the state. But the railroad COM
panies of the state appealed the case
from the district court to the supreme
court, holding it in the courts for near
ly three years before we got any de-
cision, and before we got the decision
the railroad companies, little by little.
had reduced the ratesson those freightS
until they were about on a par with
the decision of the commission. In
the meantime, however, the people OF
the state had been paying the same
old rates that they were compelled to
pay before the decision was rendered.
In 1897 I introduced a bill making
the order of the railroad and ware
house commission effective immedi-
ately upon the judgment in the district
court; that if the railroad company
wanted to appeal from the district
court to the supreme court, or to the
United States supreme court, before
they could take an appeal they must
give a bond to the State of Minnesota
that they would repay every dollar OF
freight that had been paid in excess OF
the order of the commission, between
the time that it was in the district
court and it's settlement in the SUI
preme court, provided the supreme
court sustained the decision of the dis
trict court. 1 want you to pay partic-
ular attention, that you may under
stand fully the significance of this
kind of legislation, and see why Gov
Lind has been successful in some OK
these suits against the railroad COM
panies.
Lind's Success Attributable to Re
publican Legislation.
If that law had been on the statute
book in 1897, when this Stevenson rate
case was finally decided, the railroad
companies would have to pay back to
the people of the State a good many
hundred thousand dollars that they
collected between the time the decision
was rendered in the district court and
the final decision in the supreme court.
In 1899 ] introduced another bill.
which was passed by the Republican
legislature and which is now law,
prohibiting a railroad company from
raising the rates on wheat, flax and
other grain products, on stock, coal
or lumber, without first obtaining the
consent of the railroad and warehouse
commission. Mr.. Lind's commission,
last spring, had an opportunity to act
upon one of these requests by the
railroad companies. The railroad COM
pany, for the first time in the history
of this state, was compelled to. ask
leave and get an order from the COM
mission before it could raise the rates
on those commodities in this state.
And you will remember now how
much credit Gov. Lind and his COM
mission have taken to themselves for
their action upon these particular mat
tiers that I have mentioned. The rail-
road companies, last winter, when ev-
erything began to go UP, when labor
went up and everything got higher.
made an application to be allowed to
increase their rate on lumber and coal
in the southwestern part of Minneso-
ia; some of the roads as high as 30
per cent They went before the COM
mission and, under my law, the rail-