The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-01-09
PROBABLY WICHITA MAY NOT GET HER JUST
DESERTS.


The Interstate Commerce Commission at the instance
Of the president of United is tour
Of investigation touching determinations along specified
lines of freight The commission been sitting in
Chicago for few days and will next move to City.
The testimony ELECTED far, clearly enough indicates
that the average railway management dominated by
the This viii be news TO the people, if it is
TO the commission The attitudes and confessions of
railway managers who appeared witnesses
fore the commission was little less than humiating
Several yars ago. discussing with great packer
possibility of building up live stock at Wichita
in which trying to interest him. when it
to the question freight rates the product
to the Atlantic coast frankly declared that for that
matter he made his own rates. OF course this
true true of the oil trust and packers and
grain years And something has got to be done
When the railroads originally into these rebate
schemes for beating their competitors the railways
masters Of the situation They longer. They
think they want a law permitting pooling at
points It's doubtful they know what they The
people demand an amendatory act empowering the In
terstae Commerce Commission what is the
matter Such law should further clothe the commission with
judicial authority to enforce This
being opposed by the rebaters by the packers by
trusts absolutely no sense for many
Of the freight rate schedules maintained by the rail
roads.
instance but for the railways Wichita would today
be one of the greatest storehouses and markets grain
the West Even there railroads. this would
be true Within radius Of a hundred miles of Wichita
the great bulk of Kansas wheat is produced. At one
time there were seven grain elevators in operation
this point They small concerns but in the
gate handled vast amount of grain Why are they
here today with additional storage capacity of millions
Of bushels? Simply because the grain and railway
bnes decreed otherwise So the elevators disappeared
one by one as improbable investments The editor Of
the Eagle much amused the other day the
of a traffic the trunk lines reach
ing this city grain shipper had been complaining
of the outrageous discrimination made against Wichita
in favor of Kansas City. This traffic answer
the effect that wheat not grown in Wichita and
therefore must be handled City. add
ing railway traffic managers were responsible
for aaround equitable adjustment the commercial
relations of their different Of operation respectively
Think Of such for eightcent discrimination
against Wichita in favor of Kansas City On Gufcon
signed grain seeing that letter we had been man.
of the railway line in question have asked
Tue resignation OF tfanc man before Sundown
the day.
But wheat is not the only commodity in which WITCH
tia has been Disseminated against There southern
lumber for Instance and by way we have the con
fesson Of railroad president writing that dis
elimination against interior points on southern
lumber in favor Of the Missouri point is an out
The railroads desire their Kansas territory deve
oped Lumber is necessary adjunct to such develop
ment And then there the of coal Cheap steam
ing coal is becoming very important and necessary fac
tor for Wichita Outside of combined and monopostc
interests is there any reason why wheat from wichita
should not to Galveston for low a rate as from
Kansas City? Is there any sense in charging Wichita
a higher schedule than Kansas City on southern
lumber? Can traffic manager to the satisfaction of
any disinerested person show any justice manp
ulaed schedules and furnishes the bread
eaters Of other states cheaper flour from Kansas
wheat than it can be bought for in Kansas?
But this is an unending and well nigh inexhaustibe
subject That which US in to say anything at
this time is the fact that testimony Of day before
yesterday to the Interstate Commission dscloses or
makes public that which has long been known to manv
viz: That railway managers as servors OF the public
are no longer superior 70 commercial combines bv which
these managers dominated hurt of not only
communities but TO the hurt the real owners or the
stockholders Of the roads
The new congressional bin lately republished and
editoraly endorsed by the Eagle should become law
oLD CHINA TRYING TO BE HERSELF