The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1905-01-06

vigor and l." given the same support
that would 10 furnished by any great
private chterprise which had like inter
ests at|stake.
Enjoy Large Privileges.
/ Sleeping car companies have large
investments i'm this state and enjoy
large privileges, but they have not
been required to bear their just pur-
portion OF taxes. There is no reason
why these companies should not come
under the same general system of tax.
alton that is applied to other corpora
lions of like nature; and recommend
the passage Of law which shall place
the properties of sleeping car com
! panies upon the general tax rolls.
Under existing statutes the rate per
mile charged by railroad companies for
! passenger transportation is limited by
their respective passenger earnings. In
the application of these laws. il has
been found that after the earnings Of
some of the railroads have passed the
limit fixed for q decrease i'm passenger
rates, and after a demand for such
decrease in rates has been mtde upon
such companies by the proper state au-
thority, the companies. by reason of
protracted litigation, have been enabled
TO continue the higher rates for long
periods.
In the case of the Grand Rapids and
! Indiana railroad. the company con.
! tinued to collect cents per mile for
more than that length of time. Dur
ing these years the company collected
! for passenger service at the rate of )
cents per mile more than $4,000 per
! year in excess of what it would have
collected at 21a cents per mile, the new
rate as fixed by law. 1t will thus he
seen that the company made net
profit of practically $4,000 by hold
ing the matter in the courts as long
as possible.
Question Still Pending.
In the case of the Detroit, Grand
Haven and Milwaukee railroad, the
! question OF reduction is still pending
! in the courts. 1t is now more than
two years since that railroad company
was ordered by the proper state au-
thority TO reduce its railroad fare from
to 21a cents per mile The profit to
the railroad in excess passenger fares
is more than $4,000 per year.
While the right of appeal to the
courts cannot and should not be denied
the railroad companies in these mat
ters. yet l believe that such litigation
could be practically averted. at least
that il would cease TO be encouraged.
il law We're enacted providing that
whenever the courts did not sustain
the appeal Of the railroad companies
in such cases. said companies should
return to The state treasury an amount
equal to twice the excess Of passenger
fares collected during the pending of
the cases in court
Manufacturers and iobbers, and
shippers generally. complain Of un-
necessary delay in the handling of
freightS by the railroads. both in car
lots and less than car lots. These
complaints are sufficiently numerous,
and the losses involved are sufficiently
great, to deserve your careful consid-
Grafton. If, on Investigation. the
charges are found to be wel-founded,
legislation should follow.
Dairy and Food Department.
IT is my belief that the dairy and
food department should he so broad
ened i'm its scope that an opportunity
may he given to foster and encourage
the dairy interests of the state. Mich
igan agriculture is i'm transitory con
dition Our farmers are turning their
attention from grain growing. as the
chief source of income, to live stock
huSbandry. prominent i'm which is
dairying To my mind our state should
become a great dairy state. There is
no branch Of agriculture that will add
more to our resources or bring greater
material prosperity to our people.
Michigan has not kept pace with her
neighboring states In this industry
Wisconsin. no more favorably situated
rs TO soil. climate or market conditions.
has today 800 public creameries COM
pared with MichiCan'S 23S. Wiscon-
sin has 1217 cheese factories. while
Michigan has only 1871. Wisconsin
produces annually nearly 100000
pounds creamery butter; Michigan less
than 2T.000.OOO pounds. Wisconsin
produces annually over 100000
pounds Of cheese. Michigan n little
over 100000 pounds Estimating
these products at fair price. the an
nual income to the farmers Of Wiscon-
sin is about S25.000000. while from the
same cOurceS the farmers of Michigan
receive only So. 10000 1t is admitted
by all competent TO Judge. that the
factory system of making butter
denotes progress i'm this industry. on
the average, butter products Of much
better quality come from the factory,
and they bring correspondingly higher
prices. The respective amounts of
creamery and dairy butter produced
by a few Of our neighboring states in
1903. as compared with Michigan, is as
follows:
Creamery butter, Dairy butter,
lbs. lbs.
Michigan .2G,GS7.272 60000,00O
Wisconsin ..73.975.000 59G66,66e
Iowa .7SO0O.O00 61,000,000
Minnesota 10, 100000 22,0OO,OOC
Michigan Is Behind.
These figures prove conclusively that