The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-08
RATE BILL PASSED
Goes Through House With Al
most Unanimous Vote.
Only Seven Members Voted
Against 1t; 346 For.
a RAILROAD TRUST
Is Alleged to Exist in West Yir-
ginia.
TiIlman Goes After the Pennsyl-
yania in the Senate.

Washington, Feb. S.=The house to-
/ day passed the Hepburn railroad rate
bill by vote of S46 to z. Those vot-
| ing against the bill were: Littleheld,
Mccall. Perkins, Sibley, Southwick,
Vreeland and Weeks.
! Anticipating the roll call on the rate
bill there was a large attendance of
crowded.
After the roll call the announcement
/ of the passage of the bill was received
with a ripple of applause.
Sped ker Cannon stated the vote to
be 346 yeas and nays. Those voting
] against the bill We're all Republicans.
They were: Littlefield, Maine; Nc
Call and Weeks, Massachusetts; Per-
kins, Southwick and -Vreeland. New
York, and Sibley, Pennsylvania
Mr. Sullivan (Mass.) voted Pres
ent' and was not paired. There were
/ % members paired but these pairs
were generally political ones. None OF
I them was made on the bill ana cote.e-
quently did not indicate opposition
The pension appropriation Dill was
taken uD in committee of the whole
4 with Mr. Madden (ul.) in the chair
+ General debate on the bill was limited
to three hours and MI. Gardner
( (M1ch.), in charge of the bill took the
I floor.
In presenting the bill Mr.. Gardner de-
tailed an interesting array of lntorIna-
ton concerning pensions. Forty years
after the civil war, he says the pension
appropriation is at its maximum. Tnefe
are one million pensioners, all but o5,4z4
( of them from that war, with an anhudl
roll of S139, $50, 900. In the 53,424 are rep
resented veterans of all other wars the
country ever had.
The civil war cost six billion dollars.
Up to the present time half as l!ueH L
again has been paid out FOR pensions,
and Mr. Gardner predicts that belOfe
the end of its pension roll cOmes the
first cost of the war viii nave heeh
! eoualled In 20 years from now ne pre-
diets the pension rolls Will conlah- ran
a million names, of which ala WIN bs
I chargeable to the Spanish-Arnerlest
war At the present time. ne says -the
pension roll costs the government Jpst
one-fourth Of all other expenses IN
1857 one year after the civil Naf. tLS
interest on the public dept Was va oas si5s, 20
: 791. .591. and the pension roll S2V,935'991
( Now these two items are practlcally re-
versed as to the amount.
Mr. Gardner compared TINS pension
roll of S139 000, 600 to that or FIaaSe'
/ with an annual expenditure Of Sz6O0o,-
o0o. Germany. S21 900 600; Austria
! Hungary. 100000 coo and Great Britain
+ So 600 000 .;7
AS to Spanish war veterans, he sald
I today there were more OF them Oh W
(
( tire army in Cuba
The necessity Of enacting the presl-
4 dents order No. Is into law as ~ - -
ed for in the bill, was explained py 3 ", -
/ Gardner. This order was intended 70
/ vvork automatically and to make ds9
/ the only proof of disability. CoIlllills1
/ si0ner Warner found the order IN coli- 3l--
/ fict with statute provision anu u u " D.
/ thereby robbed of its operation, Es
4 CIi.,.ir9tine surgeons fees, MI GaIu-
T,. atiT7afe7 that by enacting the order
/ into law money would pc SdeSu -
! government and beneht eXlSllued l & - ,5a9
! SS2eterans. The amendment ne regaIq?su
as a virtual service pension law, say 4ils
i, time If would place every sololeI u
+1e civil war on the pension I1H a
4 maximum pension OF Slz d lloAtiA
In the Senate.
rrr.-,.i,,g,+or F7eb. S-There was a
ror,er attendance in the senate galleIleS
+of49v than usual owing eV1de4tly 70 NJ lLlc
! e1-T7ectafion that there would pc SUI I
revival of yesterdays scene oNei ~
! PattersOn's 5 caucus resol1tAoli. Az, .rs
: Mr.. TiIlman opened the proceeeilli - - =
of fba dav bv referring to a peellioil
1,-.e4-5o11s1v presented by him from me
Pe5 rock Fuel company OF w est
Virginia, complaining that liie eal-7
more & Ohio company hau .el,4 -
~ hermit that company to connecl ies
rlrs with those of the Baltimore q
ohio thus as Mr.. Tillman expressed
If sbottIing up the company. Ilg
| said that at the time MI ElklIls ~ s y
I ssj7 there was a remedy undeE ire
stata laws of West Virginia. he tlei
1,4.asenfed a letter from Governor
lawson of West Virginia complaining
of the difficulty in administering the
laws. The governor added; II may
he that the Pennsylvania rallfoad
i cornDanv does not legally own a cor :
t,oIIipor mart of the Baltimore & ONO
railroad company or the Chesape Ae
z, Ohio railway company, or the NoI-
folk & Western railway company ou1
7 have no doubt that an nVeStlgatloh
III e19o7x that the Pennsylvania com
many pra ctically controls these three
great trunk lines which traverse west
Virginia and are the only means
Whereby the products Of this state, IN
cluding coal, can be shipped 70 Ieacll
fine lakes in the west or other mar
kets in the east
A Railroad Trust.
ssHence it is a fact that West Nir-
ainia today is in the grasp of a rail-
road trust which practically says what
part of the state shall be developed
and what shall not be developed; how
much coal shall be shipped out OF tn, tns
state, to what points or ports II shah
be shipped, and when 1t shaH oe
shipped of course it makes its own
rates. and we are helpless.
1.-THE Pennsylvania rallroad IS very
largely interested in the production OF
shipment Of bituminous coal; 1t VIII
naturally look after its own Interest
and the interests of the people along
its lines in Pennsylvania and eIseW mere
first of all and therefore the interests
If west virginia are subordinated to
the interests of these others ana ouI
railroads upon which we are depend
ent are controlled by an alien corpora
ton practically in ccmpetlUlon WIN
US"
Mr.. Forake expressed the hope that
/ there would be an investigation along