Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-12-02
ESPECIAL coRREsPoNDHNcrl. !,
Washington Bureau Of the Courier,
Washington, D. C.. Dco. 4. 1ans


An increasing number If neon1a 4,
Washington. among them senator's and,
representatives, are inclined To haI,evs
Senator Delivers proposition for ths
establishment OF several prievancs
boards, whose duties shall consist IN
holding sessions in the leading railway
commercial centers Of the country
from time to time is a good one.
The fact that SO few cases relative.
~ speaking, ever come before the in.
terstate commerce commission. II IL
pointed out, is pretty conclusive evi.
dence that the differences between
railroads and shippers over rates. dis
crlmlnatlons, etc., could largely be adj.
lusted after thorough understanding
OF the case on both sides. Publicity
Is the most potent weapon or instru.
ment to force agreement and settIe-
ments OF disagreements. Bring the
Wnole case into the open; air and make
pubic all the facts and details and in
nine cases out of ten there will be no,
use 1or further judicial machinery ia
OBTAIN working basis for future oper-
ations that will be mutually satisfac-
tory. =,
Delivers Contention.
Senator Dolliver has for manytve
been interested In ,thYs phase az tI,a
question. He is an optimist On general
principles and is inclined to the view
that the average man and the. average
railroad wants to do the righfs thiffe.
The first requisite is vo make it clear
what the right thing is and what the
wrong thing is. He contends that when
all the facts and surrounding confli.
tions OF a controversy between railroad
and shipper nave been made clear that
the average case or complaint can M
settled out Of court. Obviously when
a question of principle Is involved or
q question which pertains to the opera
ton OF the railroad as affecting its
revenue, then the grievance board
would perhaps not be able to bring
about settlement of the matter, but
such cases as the one last mentioned
are less frequent than others.
What Hill Said.
Senator Dolliver mentioned as an ex.
ample ). conversation he had with
James j. Hill, president Of the Great
Northern railroad, less than a year
ago. At that interview. Senator Dol1i-
yer mentioned half dozen specific
cases of palpable error on the part OF
one or moro railroads. In connection
with shippers at as many points. He
brought up the first; explained ~
briefly to Mr.. Hill, who, without hesita.
tion declared it to be bad manage.
ment. To another case he said:,
Irafhc manager ought to have been
nred, to another case: "d---------
Ioollshness," and SO on. AS Senator
Dolllver detailed the facts in the vari-
GUS cases the great railroad president.
with sweep of his big hand and
without moments hesitation, depre-
Gated the position taken by the rail-
roads. He declared in every instance
that there could be no justification for
such procedure and that the bringing
OF the facts to the attention Of respon.
sible heads Of any railroad ought to
result in immediate correction.
Mention was made of the case Of a
Des Moines man who moved to the far
west and later returned. He shipped
his household effects, chartering a car
for that purpose. The freight was
Sl2O. When the man came to pay the
freight on the return a few years lat
er the charge on the same car load az
stuff was 1920. This seems to be SO
proposition on it's face
as TO make 1t improbable, yet 1t ia
vouched for as accurate.
1t Is said railroad running SOUTH
from Washington hauls kerosene At
the rate Of II cents per 100 pounds.
but when the same oil or other oil IL
shipped back from the south to the
north over the same railroad the rate
is 70 cents; just double.
Iowa Mans Hard Luck,
The case of manufacturer on an
scale in small CITY ~
northern Iowa is mentioned. He re.
quired certain supplies from the south.
west, but the freight rate was prac.
ucally prohibitive. Finally he was
able to get better rate by shippinr
the stuff around BY st. Paul and oma.
ha and then to his own town than he
could to ship it direct. Finally he was
able to get the same rate as another
city which was considerably farther
Off. Such a proposition as the foreeo.
ing appears to be ridiculous on it,
race, but Senator Dolliyer vouches for
the accuracy of the facts given. Ha
declared that all that is required to
correct such caSpS hoyo