Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1905-12-07
RAILWAY RATE LEGISLATION.
Mississippsn the Part
i Wonderful Development.


advocates Of railway Tate legisiatien
seem 20 - based on Tie idea that thu
American people can " made 10 leliese
that railway Managers devote th~ir time
and energies to deS i-ing new uay- OF op-
pressing the communities dependent on
their lines for transpcFtatiou. sf strang-
ling existing insiustFies, and Of psevent-
ing the establishment u new oue- u
= difhcult to understand how any Amer
iesn can be ni-i-i by the lin Il arxu-
msnt adopted BY the~- eh@mP-sa. OF
making the eomnercr of thu c,suntry the
football Of partisan pslitics when. Il he
~iil simply cy~n bis ese~. ~ viii - its
refutstSou oa every hand i~ viii -
Chat exactly the opposite - trv~. anil
! thst the d-selopuen, st wlnolr -estIons
~ ts~ aitssi Stat~s has tesn broaght
seout by the realization on thu part q
the halfway managers ~ the eountry
that th-ir linz can prosper oniy a. a
consequence Of the prosperity ef the ter
ritery trav.r~.rl hy thcm-
In his recrnt hook on Government
Regulatica of Railway Rates Prot.
Meyer. ot the University OF Chicago.
say-s
In Continental Europe. the regulation
OF railway rates by puiiic authority has
re,luoed the railway manager hugely to
a man who -its IN his officr and orders
his suhoFdinates to rsIu trains hack AMI
forth. In America the ahs-ncr of re-
-trbction upon the railway manaxcr-be
yond that imposed by the common law
has allowed the American railway
manager TO h-cnule the nost powerful
insle factor in our national life for the
discovery and the development OF the
Fe>ourres Of our eonutry AMI the pro-
motion Of trade and industry. To pro
mote the settlement Of vast s;retche- Of
unocrupied lands. and TO finsi ever new
rr-oarc-s to develop within the territory
already oocups@,i. has for half a ern,ury
b.en the main business Of the American
railway mansg~T.
tine Of th- uioSt striking illustrations
OF the truth OF this ~tat~Tn~nt = con-
.,antiy h~furr the eye- of thu residents :
u the Southern State The student Of
the industrial ami commercial dcvelop
neut Il the South cannot but - i'm
pressed BY the important part that the
railways II that s~stion have played ani
are still PLAYING IN bringing u about.
1 The civil var lett the railway lines OF
L =
/ frst tax that oonfroat-t their 0uusrs
ami Managers Ess their restoration ami
.xten-ion ami the oosnhination ef many
srnsll. dis.Snunerted linz into great svs-
tens eapahle sf moving lsrg~ volumes Of
traffc over bsng diStance- economiealiy y
ami eNPciitiously How veil ihsy have
sslrr~esIed a. this ean ~ S~~n hy a glanc-
a; a railway map Of thu ! nited STATE
Consistent with this development AMI
extension of railway ~ystsui- whseh y
still IN progress. the ulanaerr~ Il the
Southern lins- were under the ne,rs-is >
of developing a dIversihed trsfic- Here
came into plsy What Prot Never has
STYLED III. imagination displayed hy the
American railway Hsnzg~r IN discover
ing poseniiali,is. Of industry and TRADE
| and IN converting tha-< poteuiial1ties
1 irfs sctnAlitf>~- Ts~ >-sutn has he~r
devoted almost exclusively To azrSesGl.
ture. and IN m4ny Of th> State fAe eurr
si@s of the people were concentrated On
the cultivation Of or eroP. eottnn- Nat
the t~asf Of the important -~rvte~- ren-
lered by the railways 10 that secfisn 1t
( the country hzs brea The enrcarase-
rsr@nt that ih~y have given To The d-sei.
opn-ut of diversif~i iarIning whseh =
making the South esnsfautly more AMI
more ini~p~nslert Of other ~~ctian- II
The eountrv for agricultural Pru-lJsrs
ami : cabling that -~rtsnn fa inereass
wear after yrar the yail< ef IT. surplus
tFosl1rt. Of the -oli ASIDE fram cotton.
In this line the d~vriopulent Of ths frEIt
ani Vegetable iusiastri~> of the South
sru State. have hexn u speciai impor-
tanre. The Northern >tafe-. and e-p~-
cizlly the large clties 0f the North. sf-
farded markets for snoFnoss supplies o;
fruits and vegetables that would ma
sure in the >sufh long before they eoaii
- oAssine,i from near By sources et sup
plv. To get the early Southern PFolars'
to market required a -peeiai >eTHioe u
Eefris~rstor ear. run az express train
sped. ani with freight charges ~ lnS
a not to make the cs-t Of the fruits
and Vegetables TO Northern CONSUMERS
excessive. This specisi >ervsce hss bees
pat in for every hocahty IN the >outh
from whirh shipments Of this eharaeteI
have been safsici.ntiy d-vesopsd 20 lu~'
tify il. ard the result ) that many tbsu
s4nis of fFuir and Vegetable growers
have b~sn made prosperous. whils PER
sous af very Moderate Hlsan- all over ths
United states have been ahie 20 have cu
| thrir tahlss and have euuse 20 re-sri a.
almost neeeSsarisS Of life articl<s ef food
that but a few years ago were eonsbierel
Injuries b~yond the reach q all hu; ths
very wealthy.
Although the Southern States hsv'
had almost an absolute monopoly in n.
production OF the cotton supply Of III.
work.. the manufacturing of eostor u
the >oush i q new industry. the r1Fit
developuaeut of which has h~~n fosters
ansl made possible Nv the railways n
recentlv a. f--0 there werr IN all th'
south bat Isl cott0n mfli--moSt q
them small sfairs-with an aggregate
OF bat se-.s- sPinfie-- They mann
} factursi some Of the coarser grades o.
cotton fabric. chiefly for tocal eon-ump
ton There are now -ss cotton mills II
the South. with n total Of s.sii.-34 spin
ilss. and the South i now naauufactaT
inx not only the o,aAT=sT grades, kss
many of the finer grades Of cotton good
: a. we'll and the products Of Southern
cotton mills are to-day TO be found II
. the markets OF the world and are bein.
sold in Boston ami other New Englsn.
: cities and towns right at the doors o
the New England cotton mills In tn
manufacturing year ending in issI tn
Northern mills consumed i-554.O0O bale
! of cotton and the Southern mills onil
22i 900 bsleS- The consumption in bot
localities has steadily increased. bu
that in the South at a more rapid rate
until in the twelve months ending Au
gust 81 this year the consumption a
the Southern mills actually exceede'
that Of the Northern mills. the figure
being e.If0.r5i bales for the South an
ABS see bales for the North.
Il This has only been made possible b,
the policy of the railways OF the Soutl
of encouraging the establishment of cot
ZOE mills along their lines Their
would probably be little more cotto
manufacturing in the South today thai
there was a generation ago. but for th
fact that the railways have seen to
{ that every cotton mill located ON thei
. lines has had such freight rates as 4
enable its products TO meet those o
rival heaiities in competing markets o.