The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-09-19
FREIGHT RATE REGULATION
Present System Finds an
Ardent Defender at
Washington.


Special to Daily Leader
Washington. o. c.. sept 10. ocoas-
sionaly "a man gets rid Of poor horse
BY trading IL or FOR one that S. a good
dead worse. Then no gets sore with
everybody There isn't anything very
striking n that statement but it sccfns
to apply just now to this matter OF rail-
road rate regulation that is coming up
for discussion again now that the silly
season OF summer Is over Rate rogu-
lation by railroad officers who at least
know what thcs are tryink to do seems
to be the poor horse that the public
thinks u has at the present time, Gov
ornmont regulation OF rates b "a bunch
Of politicians who know absolutely moth
ing about the matter, is the horse they
are trying TO swap for I think they are
going to mai,e "a mighty bad trade II
they ever succeed in bringing this about
It have come to this conclusion after
booking over the cards pretty carefully
and think on the whole we have got
hand that Il win pay TO stand pat with.
one reason for this conclusion is the re-
cent action Of James J. Hill. president Of
the Great Northern naiiway and un-
az NllUDtiDiX one OF AIt AitftNt0l ltAii~
u me-, Of the country, in voluntarily
= aaing grain rates so ;hot The growers
OF Grain along the line OF his road can
put their goods into the market quickly,
cheaply and with better advantage to
them than they ever before had. Jim"
Hnl is not "a phianthropist. But Jim"
Hin is long headed. far seeing. and
knows a good thing for his road when-
ever it shows up. Il was he who said.
with truth. that IL was more beneficial
to his railroad TO have half a dozen
/ famfiets settle on its line every week
than Il was To run crowded excursion
/ trains over the road every day. OF
course. that meant that the settler and
I his crops would pay the road better in
the end than the temporary business the
excursions would bring He is simply
applying the same principle in this grain
rate business. He knew there was a big
market on the other side OF the Paci-
fc Ior the grain growers OF Dakota and
Minnesota and Sxed rates 80 they could
get at that III fket in competition with
/ the growers ~ the Pacific states and
the Dominion Of Canada. It WIS busi-
ness Of course, nothing else. T. was Just
the same when he made "a rate couple
OF years ago on Pac'1r coast shingles 50
that Oregon ana wh9 ington mills could
market their product IN the middle west
in compeu on with nearby producers.
Now both these things were done vol
unfairly and il strikes me it would be q
good while before any Government rail
/ road rate making commission would evei
voluntarily make such concession tS
the public They simply would not b.
allowed to do e. other communities
which We're temporarily injured, would
step In and make such howl that tn,
whole commission would run to cover.
Not even the railroad men deny tha
transportation question that have grow
up by degrees and which have resulted IA
Illegal benefits to the trusts OF various
kinds. But on the other hand there hav'
been heap Of benefits TO the producer
Of which these instances Of what Mr.
Hin has done are good examples. TIT
South aas teen benefited by voluutar.
, reductions OF freight rates on cotton
5 made so that they could ship their pro
duct 10 the Orient The New Englandc
z got tho same benefit on his potato crol
, when there was a failure in the suppl,
, Of the West and he had an over-produc
ton 20 market The Boston & Main
, Railroad voluntarily lowered its rate 81
AS 10 get these potatoes TO points wher
J they could be marketed TO the best ad
vantage A hundred other instance