The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-09
IRI.N GRE CASE Up AGAIN
NEW COMMISSION HEARS ARGU-
MENT FOR SETTING ASIDE
RECENT ORDER
TAKEN UNDER AMUSEMENT
1t Is Claimed That the Late Com
mission Attempted to Interfere
with Interstate Business
No New Light.

The second day of the existence of the
new railroad and warehouse commission
was a very busy one for its mem
bers. Promptly at o'clock the at
torneys for the Duluth & Iron Range,
the Duluth Missabe & Northern. and the
Eastern Railway of Minnesota appeared
and submitted arguments asking that the
order of the old commission be set aside
and that the case he reopencd. In addi-
ton 10 the verbal argument lengthy Pc
tition was presented and in the end the
commissioners took he matter under ad-
visemcnt.
The formal petition, on behalf of the
Eastern Railway of Minnesota, con.
tanned numerous contentious. most of
which reflected on the Judgment of the
late commission in making an order fix
ing the rates on iron ore from the mines
iIi the northern part of the state to Du-
1uth and Two Harbors. In the main the
arguments used by the counsel for the
roads interested in the recent hearing
were repeated and emphasized, and no
new light was thrown on the situation
Among the contentious of the petition
ers are the following:
First that the ore is carried under spe-
cial contract, from points not on the
main lines of the roads, and that no dis
satisfaction with the existing rates has
been expressed by the owners of the ore
transported.
Secondly, it is claimed that sufficient
time was not allowed to collect Informal
ton bearing on the subject of the rates.
which the commission demanded All
the companies asserted that they had
additional evidence to offer which would
materially affect the case. 1t was
claimed that inasmuch as trains hauling
Gre TO the docks were obliged to return
to the mines light, the total cost to the
I4yaC arlxr tI1,iPa
the cost of hauling the ore one way.
Computing the rates on this basis it was
submitted that the rate Fer ton per mile
was only a fraction over three mi Is, or
much less than the rate fixed by the
late commission for the hauling of coal.
Finally the petitioners argued that the
late commission was not legally compe-
tent TO make the order complained of.
They assert that the order virtually az
tempted to fix rates on interstate bust
ness. This contention provoked a smile
from the new commissioners, but the
learned counsel proceeded to eXpatiate
on the point at great length. His main
argument was that the loading of the
ere on ships was sufficient to bring the
traffic under the category of interS tate
business.
Counsel asserted that the business
Of the companies involved was subject
10 risks and hazardous chances to whieh
other roads were not. He claimed that
the mine owners might build their own
roads, in which case two of the three
roads would be Immediately bankruptCd
Emphasis was laid upon the contention
that the Gre traffic was all special con-
tract business and that for the most
part spur tracks were laid en- the land
of the mining companies and from there
taken to the lines of the petitioning corn
pGnies.
arguments were also made by G. Well
wood Murray, of New York. on behalf
Of the Missate line and Frank B. KEEL
logg for The Duluth & Iron Range Argu-
ment WAS finished at 4 o'clock, and the
chairman announced that The case would
be taken under advisement.