Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-11-04
CONSERVATIVE MEN IN CON.
GREss ARE IN FAVOR OF PRE-.
VENTING HARD FIGHT
WOULD BE REASONABLE
There Is No Desire for Radical Action
Among the Prominent Senators and
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES in Law
VIII Be Necessary, But Present
Statute Can Simply Be Made More
Effective. Z

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Especial Correspondence
Washington Bureau of the Courier.
Washington, D. c., Nov.:3
There will be no railroad fight" in
congress this winter If the conserva-
tive members of the senate and house
are able to have their way. Many Of
this type of statesmen have from time
to time drifted into Washington dur
Ing the past few weeks and this Is the
burden Of their talk They deprecate
a fight, no matter what views they en-
tertain or how they are lined up on
the railroad rate question.
The chief talk is in favor of compro-
mise. This may appear difficult of ac-
complishment, yet it Is possible and
probable and may result in the giving
of the interstate commerce commits
sion the power to condemn a rate
which it finds unreasonable, leaving
the establishment of another rate to
the railroads and improving the legal
machinery by which the question
whether or not this can be done. can
be tested. OF course the question Of
whose rate shall obtain during the liti-
CATION is a delicate one No statute
can lessen the constitutional right OF
the railroads. Independent of any
legislation the carrier may file bill
asking for an injunction to restrain
the order of the commission on the
ground that it is confiscatory and il
the courts grant it, the application of
the order would necessarily have to
be deferred until the. injunction had
been removed. The courts would Ger.
tainly have power to grant tempor-
ary Injunction
The Railroads Standpoint.
Whether the railroads would accept
as a. compromise the mere power to
condemn an existing rate, given to q
federal tribunal, such as the interstate
commerce commission, and the crea-
tion of new court for the trial of
such cases as may be appealed, re-
mains to be seen. Some of the rail-
road managers take liberal view and
say that changes in the present
scheme are not Objectionable: others
would prefer not to be hampered in
the conduct Of their business by addi-
tional legislation, yet recognize that
some concessions are necessary for
the sake Of peace. 1t is everywhere
admitted that it would be highly un.
fortunate to have anything like
break between the republican adminis-
tration and the great transporta-
ton. interests of the country, espe-
cially at time when the public Is SO
easily aroused on socialistic lines.
The Conservative View.
1t Is the judgment. Of the most con.
servative men that the public desires
to be reasonable, too. If some conces-
sion,: are made. 1t is recognized that
the American railroads are marvels of
utility and convenience and that such
injustices as develop in their operation
are really incidental to an enormous
system and are, after all, not great
In comparison with the benefits which
the unprecedented expansion has
brought. Any change through federal
law for the control of. the railroads
must be regarded as experimental The
object should be to retain the adyan.
tages of private ownership and at the
same time to correct the little abuses
that are bound to creep into any busi-
ness and which it has been found do
creep into the government service to
d ldIScI Il CAIcuI, pIOudUly, iVLdu III Iu0
railroads. Railroad rates in this coun.
try are not excessive. Governor Cum
Minis, in his testimony before the SEN
ate committee last April, admitted
this. 1t is true they may seem high
to the farmer of Virginia who pays
20 cents a bushel in car load lots to
get his potatoes into Washington,
distance of fifty miles, according to
cases recently reported, but the Iowa
farmer whose potatoes are transport
ed 1,200 miles to Baltimore at a rate
practically the same as the Virginia
farmer pays for a fifty mile haul, does
not appear to have any grounds for
complaint. Undoubtedly readjust.
ments in railroad schedules are neces.
.sary. but it is suggested that when
the readiustment has been made that
the Iowa farmer and business mar
may not find the new arrangement u
his advantage.
Many Expenses on Lines.
Notwithstanding the immense out.
lays of the past decade in railroad
prop -ty, there never was a time In
| the history of transportation when the
need of additional expenditures on a
stupendous scale were more pressing
| than today. Public interest does not
require or desire that the railroads
should be discouraged from making
these improvements. Statistics prove
that the volume of traffic has doubled
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