Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-07-11

state Commission the state commis
sion was requested to forward the
complaint to said commission. The
state commission acted on the request
and on June 20 forwarded the COM
plant to the Interstate Commission,
with q suggestion that If q hearing is
called for it be called for the city of
St. Paul so as to bring it as near to
the complaining parties as possible.
Regarding the Importance of this &C.
ton the Beacon says:
The precedent thus established is of
the utmost importance, viz: that the
state authorities should protect the in
terests of the individual citizen in re-
gard to interstate freight rates by
taking his case and presenting it to
the national authorities on behalf of
the state.
Under our system of government
where the authority of the state can
not be exercised directly beyond its
own lines and where traffic passing
hey ond these lines becomes interstate
and only subject to regulation by the
national authorities, the difficulty for
the individual in protecting his inter-
ests ia immensely Increased and as q
consequence it is only the very heav-
lest shippers that can carry their COM
plant successfully to tho Interstate
Commerce Commission.
The smaller shipper not having, as
rule, enough at stake to warrant
him in mourning the expense necessary
for such action suffers injustice be-
cause he Is not able to supply the
remedy. !,
While the individual in our smaller
communities may not lose enough to
warrant him in making an appeal to
the national authorities alone, the
community of which he is member
loses more than enough to do so, but
as q rule we cannot get our cOmmuni'
ties to take up matters of this kisd,
therefore II government control Is to
be success it is absolutely necessary
that the state should, by intervening
on behalf of the Individual, protect it's
citizens against unjust and discrimi-
mating rates exacted by interstate
transportation companies.
cept, perhaps, to some extent at ter.
regulated by the state. The Cannon
Falls Elevator Co. through the me-
dunn of the Minnesota Municipal and
Commercial League applied to the
Railroad and Warehouse Commission
of Minnesota to forward it's complaint
to the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion and requested the State Com
mission to appear in it's behalf before
that body.
In accedipg to this request the MINI.
esota Commission has established q
new precedent in the progress of state
control of transportation facilities and
their action in this matter will prove
in the future Of the utmost Importance
to the peole of this state.
The interested parties of this place
feel highly gratifed over this action
on the part of the commission and be-
lieve that If this first step Oh thei~
part is followed up that the commits
sion Will be entitled to the gratitude
and endorsement OF the people.
Another matter brought up by the
League was the freight rates on coal
and lumber in this state. At q hear
ing before the state railroad commits.
sion in May it was shown that the
rates on these commodities were from
20 to so per cent higher in this state
than in Iowa. After several hearings
and consultations the railroads and
the commission haye agreed on q
compromise id the matter. The agree
ment calls for reduction on lumber,
beginning at about forty miles and
grading up to about seventy five miles
where the reduction shall be Is per
cent to all points beyond and
practically a reduction of 10 per cent
on hard coal for all distances up to
300 miles. Soft coal is not to take
any higher rate than hard coal. This
rate will not apply, however, to the
Twin Cities and Duluth, where the
commission finds there now exists as
low, or q lower rate than between any
two points in the country similarly
situated. At few points the reduc-
ton in the coal rates will not apply,
but in each of those cases there is
already a rate prevailing lower than
$40 OF cent per ton per mile.
The new rates will go into effect as
soon as the tariffs can be made out
and checked. This will probably
take about a month as great amount
Of work is entailed.
The PluteS Want Grover.