The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1902-01-17

our best interests. our oDJecl III aCqut.
ing the Burlington, jointly with the
Northern Pacific railway, was to insure
an outlet to the best markets Tor me
grain. live stock and lumber OF uhe
northern lines and to increase the VOL
ume of our traffic to the end that we
might at all times be able to estap-
lish the lowest rates and most favoraple
conditions under which the traffic must
be carried. The Burlington. with Its own
rails. reaches Chicago, Peoria, ROCK Isl
::;!s, ,'axen.oIt. a. ION Ha EitIf
Des Moines. Omaha and Denver, and thus
connects with the main arteries of trafnc
of the whole country.
What Burlington Purchase Means.
Assuming that the line of the Burling.
ton had not been constructed ana tnaI
jointly had raised the money and were
engaged in the construction of ii, woulu
there be anything to meet the disap-
prevail of the states traversed by the
Pacific? On the contrary, would not sucn
a course have been hailed with APPROVAL
as a means of opening up market, ing
markets in the south and southwest,
and of securing business, increasing the
volume of traffic of the Great Northern
duction of rates and adding to the gen
eral prosperity of the northwest? IN
stead of building the Burlington sys-
tenn, or line of railway alongside of It,
the Great Northern and Northern Paclnc
purchased the capital stock of line al
ready constructed Instead of Issuing
stock or bonds for the purpose of rais-
ing money to build a line reaching the
same country, bonds were issued to pur-
chase the stock of a constructed line.
1.-The capital stock of railway compan-
les, as of other corporations, will be held
by somebody and somewhere. Railway
companies, as carriers, are subject to
supervision and control by the public for
the purpose of insuring the perform
ance of their obligations to the public.
The capital employed in railway con
struction is made public. Railroads make
public through published rates the price
charged for transportation, the only thing
they have to sell, and must report the
and what has been done with it. Courts
are open for the purpose of determining
whether railway companies, as carriers
observe their obligations to the publc.
1.-The question of the reasonableness or
rates and service does not depend upon
whether one man owns the capital stock
of a railway or another-whether the
capital stock is owned by ten men or
1000. by persons or by corporations. The
capital stock of a railway company Is
personal property, to be sold, transferred
from one man to another, and anyone
may purchase and hold all that he has
means to buy and pay for. The capltal
Great Northern will be held by some
body, persons or corporations, if not by
the present owners, by other owners.
Suppose by death of the present own
ers the stock should be scattered and a
majority of it find its way into the hands
Of those interested in competing lines
serving the tb TO seryed by V the
Great Northern and the Northern PACING,
would the people along the lines of those
railways be benefited? II the present
two companies could be compelled to sell
it or dispose of 1T on the market, would
it fall into hands more interested In the
development and prosperity Of the north.
west than it's present owners! HOW Is II
that the lines have been extended and
improved? What brought about the
present condition of the property or the
two companies? What has enabled them
to serve the people along the lines as
they have been served? Plainly the VIII
lingness and ability of those controlling
large interests in the stock of the COM
panies who found it to their advantage
to build up the lines and promote the
settlement of the territory tributary 10
it, and who will continue it.
The True Test of Competition.
THE great freight-producing area of
the country is along the Atlantic. sea-
board and in the territory south of Lake
Erie. The freight that is. the product
of all the manufacturing t enteMlRir rs;es
sippi river to a large extent must pass
through the lakes to Duluth and to ST
Paul and Minneapolis and into INTO the the 1 Der
cifc, or around Lake Michigan and at
that point going largely to Southwestern
as be p%b Sf aong the
served by, the Great Northern and North
ern Pacific is concerned, is to be con-
t tive conditio H between the territory
served by the Northern lines and those
of the South, and West; between lines
against the Northern lines, to populate
and build up the country in which the
people along the northern lines have no
special immediate interest. =
70 REPRESENTATION
Lake Superior was mainly the hands
of what was known as the Lake Superior
Transit Company, a pool line made up
lines, who also operated boats running
from Chicago, and whenever we reduced
the rates from the wheat fields to Lake
Superior a corresponding advance in the
water rate was made to offset our re-
duction on land and equalize the rate by
Lake Superior and by Chicago We built
were the largest on the lakes. The first
cargo we landed at Buffalo we were told
that it would have to pay the local rate
practically the same as the through rate
from Duluth to New York We found
a way to get around this, and the result
and break down the rates on the lakes to
reasonable figure.
Later the elevator charges at the head
S Sushe and st Buse cents
bushel with an additional charge for
shoveling of u cent. We built large ele-
vators at both places, the effect of which
has been to reduce the rates to y cent
both in Buffalo and at the head of Lake
Superior; in other words, where the grain
paid pa cents per bushel it is now paying
1 cent. The difference to the Northwest
on 200, 000, 600 bushels of wheat is So, 500, 900
per year. The proportion of this we
handle through our elevators is probably
Is per cent. We did not build the ele-
vators for the purpose Of grinding the
faces off the farmers of the Northwest,
but in order that they might have fair
play and that their grain might go for
ward without undue and unnecessary
taxation. 1 say this to show you that
we are at all times mindful of everything
that will add to your material prosperity.
Rates Cut in Two in Twenty Years.
''In 1880 the average rates on grain
from the Red River valley to Duluth
were from 25 to 80 cents per hundred;
today they are from IA to 16 cents per
hundred, or about one-half the rates of
twenty years ago. The rates on coal
and lumber have been reduced in about
the same proportion.
reductions of rates in transportation
must be made with the greatest care in
order to avoid unfair discrimination
against persons or localities. A reduc-
ton in the rates of the whole country of
10 cents for moving a ton of freight 100
miles would make reduction of over
$3.50, 100000 on the traffic handled during
the past year, and would wipe out
large part Of the income of the railroa.l.
THE conditions of the general railroad
cit