Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1902-01-16

porations. The capital stock of a ran
way ompan is personal property, to be
sod, transferred from one man to an
9th sr, and any one may purchase and
hold all that he has means to buy and
pay for. The capital stock of the North
ern Pacific and the Great Northern will
be held by somebody. persons or corpora
tions. IL not by the present owners. by
other owners. Suppose by death of pres
ent owners the stock should be scattered
and a ma jority of IL find its way into the
hands of those interested In competing
lines seTving the country to the north or
70 the south OF the territory served by
the Great Northern and the Northern Pa
cifc. Would the people along the lines
of those railways be benefited? If the
present owners of a majority of the stock
of the two companies could be compelled
to sell il or dispose of IL OF the market,
would ii fall into hands more interested
in the development and prosperity of the
Northwest han its present owners How
Is it that the lines bave been extended
and improved? What brought about the
present condition Of the property OF the
two companies? What has enabled them
TO serve the people along the lines rs
they nave been served? Plainly the will
ingness and ability OF those controlling
large interests in the stock OF the compa-
MES, who found 1t TO their advantage TO
build up the lines and promote the set
tlment of the territory tributary to ii End
who will continue 1t.
Broad-Gause 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 enterprises
which find a market west OF the Missis-
sippi river 10 a large extent must pass
through the lakes to Duluth and to st,
Paul and Minneapolis and into the terri
tory between these cities and the Pacific,
or around Lake Michigan and at that
point going largely to Southwestern lines.
The question OF stock ownership, so far
as the public along the lines served by
the Great Northern and Northern Pacific
is concerned, is to be considered In the
light of q great competitive condition
between the territor.- served by the
Northern lines and those of the South
and West-between lines whose interest
Ii is to secure traffic as against the
Northern lines, TO populate and build ND
the country in which the people along the
Northern lines have no special immediate
interest.
A few years ago the TRANSFORMATION on
Lake Superior was mainly in the hands
of What was known as the Lake Superior
Transit company, a pool line made up
by steamers operated by Eastern runK
lines, who also operated boats unning
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 EDUC
ton on land and equalize the rate by
Lake Superior and by Chicago. We
built six steel steamers, which at that
time were the largest on the lakes.
fhe first cargo we landed at Buffalo
we were told that Ii would nave to pay
the local rate from Buffalo to New York.
which was practically the same as the
through rate from Duluth to New York.
We found a way to get around this, and
the result was TO preak up the Transit
company and break down the rates on
the lakes to a reasonable figure. Later
the elevator charges at the head of Lake
Superior were IA cents per bushel. and
at Buffalo III cents per bushei, with an
additional charge for shoveling of u cent.
We built large elevators at both places,
the effect OF which has been to reduce
the rates to "a cent each in Buffalo and
at the head OF Lake Superior; In other
words, where the grain paid 2& cents
per bushel IL Is now paying l cent. The
difference to the Northwest on the 200
100000 bushels of wheat is So, 900, 600 per
year. The proportion of this we handle
through our elevators is probably Is
per cent. We did not build the elevators
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 forward
without undue and unnecessary taxation.
/ say this TO show YOU that we are at oil
times mindful OF everything tina viii
add to your material prosperity.
o In 1880 the average rates on grain q
. from the Red river valley to Duluth O
q were from rs cents to 81 cents per 0
y hundred; to-day they are from IA q
cents TO 16 cents per hundred, or 0