The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-08
IL you are troubled with
dizzy spells, headache, indi-
gestion, constipation, Hol-
listers Rocky Mountain Tea
will make you well and keep
you well. If it fails, get
your money back. That's
fair. king Drug Company.
WON'T make Shuttle-h lOckS."


make.
! AS a consequence, anyone who has
| the temerity to make shuttle blocks
| finds that to sell he must pay ten
| per cent commission to Mr.. Cox to do
| if for him. This is entirely irrespec-
tive of whether he figured on an agent
or not at the beginning of the bust
ness. 1t is the rule, and the man who
goes against it, must do business for
the fun of accommodating shuttle blocks
or shut up shop. This information
comes from distinct sources-sources
enough to make it certain that the
practice is general one.
Suppose a man fights the shuttle
block trust" or the commission of
Mr.. Cox. An illustration of what hap
pens Look at this from a far state,
under a name which is forthcoming
to any interested party entitled there
to.
A Personal Experience.
A gentleman writes The News and
Observer from Huntsville, Alabama,
as follows
Gentlemen: Your recent articles
i'm favor of Government control of
railroad rates and the attitude of Mr..
J. E. Cox towards National control of
railroads, giving each one thereby
fair and equitable rate, have been
read with great interest.
Il was in the shuttle business in
Greensboro about three years and
finally, rather than lose my entire in
vestment. l sold out to the trust. j.
f. Cox acted as agent for 1T.
"Mr Cox by allowances of claims
on shipments, and by favor of rail-
roads, has been enabled to get all the
shuttle block business in his hands,
and to force out every one else. Fiji
teen years ago there were number
of people located in Guilford. Chath-
am, Randolph, Davidson and other
counties, making a living and giving
the farmers good price for their
lockwood and persimmon timber;
while now, with only one buyer in the
field. the price is adjusted to just meet
the cost of cutting and hauling same
to market, while the price of the fin
ished article has advanced from 100
to 500 per cent to cotton aad wooden
mills.
I'm Massachusetts, Mrs. Wilson
was left shuttle block business by
her husband, and the trust determined
to close her up. Wherever she would
try to get timber Mr.. Cox would send
an agent and run up the price of the
raw material and close uD that ave-
nue. Of business to her if possible. By
tueSe IDetnOuS ana ny cutting prices
in her accustomed quarters of trade,
she was soon confined to an extreme
ly limited territory in which she could
dispose of her product.
81 know what it is to try to run a
shop against this combination. Some
wiser but not richer by my eX-
Derience.'
n One-M Man Monopoly.
If Of trlIc
be as is outlined above-and that is
the way the mystery is most intell-
gently diagnosed-there seems to be
small remedy. Mr.. Cox not being in
corporated. he cannot be trust bust
ed" and the shuttle block industry
seems in a fair way to stay where it
is. At the same time, it is well to
know some of the ways by which one
arrives at Commercial SainthOod-to
hold that job, one must sit tight, get
rich and say nothing.
Saints-of any sort-not yet trans
planted ought not to talk; it is
dangerous.
The Effect of No Regulation.
The practical effect of the situation
which Mr. Cox spoke before the Sen
ate committee to perpetuate, that is
to leave the railroads free from con-
troll except as regards the relatively
insignificant shipments which originate
and end in the same State. is we'll illus
trated outside of the High Point car
famine situation.
Last~ spring the berry growers of
Eastern North Carolina Suffered losses
aggregating hundreds of thousands of
dollars by reasons of a famine of re-
frigerating cars in which to ship their
products. The car corporation had to
nd of al
in the way of damages and it was
broadly commended for its reasonable
ness and magnanimity in settling the
claims out of court
What is the result
Almost before the season has ended,
there comes the announcement that
next season the freight rates on berry
shipments will be advanced.
The trust through it's own negli-
gence, having been forced to pay out
moneys far inadequate in amount to
fully compensate for the damage done
the truckers, now proposes to collect
1T back next season-with interest.
That is policy from which there
is at the present no appeal.
1t is the maintenance of that power
in the corporate freedom from uni
versal control for which Mr.. Cox and
other special interests have been so
strongly making plea.
The correspondent quoted above
seems to mistake, in common with
many others who have been designedly
into error that the bill opposed by
Mr. Cox and his friends was one to
put the freight-making power into the
hands of the government. That is
not thes case. The railroads would
still be permitted to make their tar
ifs. The Interstate Commerce Com
mission would act only on complaint.
1t can do that now but the remedy is
barren. Instead of being able to only
say, as at present, that certain rate
is unreasonable, leaving the railroad
to make another and practically the
same tariff and thus prolong litiga-
ton, the new act would give the COM
mission power to fix a reasonable rate,
from which-if it was dissatisfied
the railroads would always have the
right of appeal.
That is the reason of the question
as between the shippers on the one
hand and the railroads on the other.
AS it is now the law gives all the adj
vantage to the carrier and leaves the
shipper TO take his chances-and the
average shipper. in these days of COM
binations and spheres of influence"
/ n II ~ nn1 s%rr