The Ladysmith news and Ingram news. [volume] (Ladysmith, Wis.) 1905-1906, 1905-11-04
A SQUARE DEAL
President Stickney of the c. q. w. Ry. Addresses
the Roosevelt Club at ST. Paul on the
Railroad Rate Question.

luuSISIduQ the dlIIluu0 OL Tie
regard to legislation relating to rail-
way rates, the present system OF COM
petttlve rates and the effects of the sys-
tenn must be understood.
1T Is well known that ever since COn1-
petitive railways have existed, the actual
competitive rates have been made by the
rebate system.
THE rebate system consists in collect
ing from all shippers exactly the same
full tariff rates. The shipments are Dllleo
and entered on the books of both the
forwarding station and on the books OF
the receiving station at full tariff rates;
And these full rates are collected au0
the money is RENTED to the treasury or
the company. And SO far as the accounts
and records at both the forwarding ana
receiving stations-which are the only
records which are by any means aces
sible to the shippers-and so far as the
knowledge of the station agents goes:
everybody is treated to the full tariff
rates on terms of exact equality. In
no other way can the necessary secrecy
De maintained. Later, portion or the
money thus collected, sometimes per
,ent, sometimes 10 per cent, and some
ines as much as 80 per cent, Is secretly
eturned to some of the shippers, but not
all. And those who receive REBATES
o not necessarily get the same percent
ge."
Mr. Stickney proceeded to show. that
rior to the establishment of the inter-
tate commerce commission all the slna1
hippers had been driven out or business
" the enormous rebates given TO the
arge shippers in some cases eXceeoliis
% per cent of the total charges.
The Intention Was Good.
The Interstate commerce law, enacted
1887, was designed to correct the evlls
growing out of the system or making
'ates by rebates. The chairman OF the
senate committee, in explaining the Dill
when it was introduced in the senate
said:
''The provisions of the bill are based
upon the theory that the paramount II e 4Ea
,,I,n inS
transportation system of the united
States, as now conducted, Is UNJUST dls-
elimination. The underlying purpose
and aim of the measure is the prevention
of these determinations
The law has been amended, and as 1t
now stands, stripped OF all It's Verblage,
1t provides:
That the railway companies alone snall
make the rates. .
That schedules of such rates shall be
printed and published
That as long as such schedules are in
force neither more nor less than Such
rates shall be collected.
That such rates shall remain in force
and cannot lawfully be advanced until
ten DAYS after, nor lowered until three
days after, new schedules are printed ana
published; and
That the failure of the railway COM
pany to strictly observe such rates shall
be a misde1neanor, punishable by hne
of not less than $1,000 or more than
$50, 900 for each offense.
any citizen-using the language or the
law-"to solicit, accept or receive any re-
bate, concession or discrimination in re-
spect to the transportation OF any prop
erty whereby any such property shall by
any device be transported at q less rate
than that made in the tariffs pubIShed
and filed by the railway company pun
ishable by like fine of not less than
$1,000 or more than S2OOOO.
Railways Big Advantage.
It is true that the law provides that the
rates thus made by the railway com
panies shall be reasonable and just, =
but, whether reasonable or unreasonable,
until the court decides that rate is I'M
reasonable it is a misdemeanor for
citizen ito solicit, accept or receive any
rebate, concession or dlscrlmlnatlon
whereby his property shall by any de-
vice oe transported at less than the pub
hshed rate.
proposition, that all rates shall be rea-
sonable and just" enforceable only by
the courts, is of little practical value.
During the thirty years in which the
subject of reasonable rates has been in
controversy in this state l can recall but
one case in which a citizen has had the
the law. The case was carried from
court to court on appeals by the railway
company and was finally decided In the
citizens favor by the supreme court of
the United States just five years after the
first trial. The amount involved was ex-
actly 43 cents.
COQS1uef
revenues of railways are collected in
petty amounts varying from % cents to ]
practically fifty or sixty dollars, rarely 1
more than $780, it will be readily seen
that no one individual would ever be
likely to have enough at stake to justify
a contest with a railway company.
Everybody Is MuIcted.
Railway transportation enters into and
for, not by the shippers or receivers, but
bv the consumers, without knowing when
and how much is paid. When one buys
food or clothing ms he paws railway + trans
ticket, employs a doctor, a lawyer, or
pays rent, he pays railway transporta-
ton. In short, it permeates everything,
and like the air we breathe, no one can
refuse railway transportation and live.
Stating the sist of the law in a nut
shell, the railway companies have an alb
solute monopoly in it's production, and
under the law fix the price upon that
which they alone can produce and which
every living man must consume, and the
law makes it misdemeanor for the con-
sumner to kick. Is this square deal?'
Theodore Roosevelt says it is not a
square deal. Gov. Cumm1ns, who is here
tonight, says it is not a square DEAL
and every fair-minded man will say it is
not square deal.
1t is wrong in principle, but as long as
there are many competitive railways 1t IS
unreasonable rates cannot be enforced
But in twenty years possibly In ten
years, there VIII be rev, IL any, cOHlpeII-
tive railways, and it therefore becomes
important, while we can, to establish the
correct principle in the law because
when all the railways of the country
are brought under one control, having
hundreds of thousands of voters, who are
employees, having absolute power to re-
ward and punish subserviency on the
part of all occupations, and having an
unlimited ''yallar dog fund, the ability
of the then congress to establish the cor
rect principle may well be doubted.
Law Not Enforced.
The interstate commerce law had been
in existence, but not to any considerable
extent enforced about seventeen years,
and the evils of discrimination We're still
rampant when Mr.. Roosevelt developed
his present attitude towards railway
rates by that famous message to con-
gress in which he said:
above all else, we must strive to keep
the highways of commerce open to all on
equal terms; and to do this it is neces-
sary to put a complete stop to all rebates
Whether the shipper or the railroad is to
blame makes no difference: the rebate
must be stopped the abuse Of the private
car AID private terminal-track and SIDE
track system must be stopped, and the
LEGISLATION of congress which declares II
~~~~e~o~~.~-~~~~~ ~~~~~.~-~~.~4~~~s~~~r
Remey Pleads Not Guilty.