The Bemidji pioneer., 1900-10-18


ploy larger number of men than the
Republicans did when they were In
power2 The same amount Is paid in
every case, but Gov. Lind has kept g
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
/ want to1touch upon--another of Gov.
Lind's promises-and that was this.
that If he was elected governor he
would see to 1t 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 sn All Depart
ments.
Now, in the other departments of the
state. how is 1t? 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 III every
single state institution under the pres
ent administration of John Lind than
1t did two years ago under the Repub-
lican administration. 1t is true, it Is
not much, but 1t is more all along the
whole line. There is not q 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; 1t Is result Of the
change Of administration, but there Is
no other cause that can see. Then,
is there any reason why we should
continue to vote against the interests
Of our own party, and support man
that has not been able to do better
than we did?
Some Facts About the Rniiroad Com
mission.
There Is one other feature that Z
wish to call especial attention to- for II
Is the one Gov. Lind Is making his
campaign on this fall, more particu~
larly. He promised me two years ago
that IL he was elected governor, he
would see to 1t that we should get rea-
sonable freight charges in this state.
Let us see whether or not he has full
filled these promises. want to be per-
fectly fair. want to give the rail-
road and warehouse commission credit
for everything they have done, and I
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 casa
in this state that was tried, where any
result was arrived at In the courts and
held constitutional by the supreme
court, was the Steenerson 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 1t in the courts for near
ly three years before we got any de-
cislon. and before we got the decision
the railroad companies. little by little,
had reduced the rates on 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 7 introduced bill making
the order of the railroad and ware-
house commission effective immedi-
ately upon the Judgment In the district
court; that II 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 II was in the district
court and its settlement In the su-
preme court, provided the supreme
court sustained the decision of the dis
trict court I 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 of
these suits against the railroad COM
panies. W.. III E... l%
Lind's Success Attributable to Re-
publican Legislation.
II that law had been on the statute
book In 1897, when this Steenerson rate
case was finally decided, the railroad
COmDan mes WDulu Hhfe W pay bdSh ~
the people Of the State 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 Dill,
which was passed by the Republican
legislature and which Is now a law.
prohibiting q railroad company from
raising the rates on wheat. flax ana
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 1t could raise the rates
on those commodities in this state,
And YOU will remember now how
much credit Gov. Lind end his COM
mission have taken to themselves for
their action upon these particular mat
ters that / 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
t1,air ta m I11rOhpr and coal