Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-01-05
TWO GIGANTIC EVILS.
Trusts and Favoritism In
Freight Rates.
THE GREATEST CRIME OF OUR DAY

W LII
Discrimination In Railway Charge.
Has Crushed and Berrarea tn
sands For the Benefit of a Few.
Fosters Growth of Monopones.
Justice William ]. Gaynor OF the su-
preme court of New York, speaking at
the annual dinner of the New England
society, held at Poughkeepsie, declared
that trusts and freight rates discrim-
nation were the nations greatest evils.
His toast was 1.-THE Effect of New
England on the Public Conscience"
Judge Gaynor said in part:
1.-The New England mind is becom-
Ing cognizant of the far reaching effect
of our statutes permitting corporations
to be formed to W the shares of 9th
er corporations. That is the way com
peting corporations are united, and that
Is what we commonly call a trust. We
have corporations all over the country
formed under such enabling statutes
only to own and hold the certificates
OF shares Of stock of other corpora
tions.
"Such a corporation by becoming the
holder of the certificates Of shares of
stock Of any number of corporations
controls them oil as a unit and de-
stroys competition. In our large cities
we find all Of the street railroads, all
Of the lighting companies, and so on,
united and controlled in that way. Our
street railroads are now quite general
~ controlled in that way by orpora-
lions which are not railroad corpora
tons at all, but only stockholding cor
porations. In that way the city is at
the mercy Of the controlling company.
Competition is destroyed by means Of
statutes which enable 1t to be done in
the way l have stated and which were
passed for that purpose. Government
thus becomes by it's OWL acts the VIC
tim Of It's own children or creations.
1.-THE greatest crime Of our day and
generation is favoritism in freight rates
on our public highways. 1t has wrong
ed, crushed and beggared thousands all
yer the land for the benefit of a few
Of their business rivals. Can you con-
ceive of a grosser crime than the pub
lie highways Of a country, which are
open by law to the free and equal use
Of all, being nevertheless used by a few
individuals to destroy their competitors
in business? Discrimination in railroad
freight rates is the mother Of trusts.
1.-THE first and greatest trust was
built up wholly by it, and all of the in
furious trusts are fostered if not Who'll
ly sustained by it. When the oil Of
one man OR set of men was carried to
market by the railroads at, speaking
approximately, a freight charge Of one
quarter or one-half what all others had
to pay the latter we're ruined and had
to quit. This is only an illustration Of
what has been done in other great
branches Of production.
"From the beginning of government
everywhere in the world the public
highways have always been built and
controlled by the government and ev-
cry one given an equal use Of them.
This continued to be SO until the COM
ing of the steam railroads. They were
allowed to be built only to be used, like
all other public highways, for every
one alike and without favor or discrlm-
nation to any. They are just as much
public highways as are our dirt roads
and in the very same way open to the
use Of all on the same terms. Railroad
corporations are allowed to make n
profit for their stockholders, but that
is only incidental. They perform a pub
Tic service, and their first n para
mount duty is to government and the
public. Their duty to their stockhold-
ers Is secondary.
"The public is not to be deluded with
the statement that rebates are no lon
ger paid back by the railroads to ship
pers of freight. OF curse such rebates
have not been directly paid as a rule
In recent years; penal statutes are not
openly defed. But the same result has
been accomplished by indirect methods.
We have common law proof OF it, fur
nished by the testimony before the re-
cent session Of the interstate commerce
commission in the city Of New York.
By means Of private freight carrying
companies controlled by those who con-
troll the railroad companies the same
result is accomplished. The cars Of
these private companies are hauled by
the railroad companies under arrange
ments which bring about the same re-
suit. You only need to look at a pass
ing freight train nowadays to see 1t
principally made up Of the cars of these
private companies. They are getting
freight money which should go into the
treasury Of the railroad companies and
ha declared n11t in Dividends to their