Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1906-08-24

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hibit any unjust discrimination
between localities and individ-
uals."
ssssss's' .'.....'.''''.''. -. .
Told the Railway Magnates.
In his speech before the Merchants
club of Chicago on Feb. Is, 1905, Gov
ernor Johnson made these significant
utterances:
''''..' ...'''...'.. .'.'............. .
! "Public service corporations,
f: railway corporations and other
{: corporations fix a charge alto :
gether out of proportion to the in ::
{: vestment. :
added to the gross misuse of ::
franchise privileges railways are {:
:: guilty of the still worse crime of !:
discrimination. Is it a wonder !:
that the president has taken up ::
the war of the people to regulate ::
transportation charges? Is it a {:
wonder that governors Of states {:
and legislatures are stirring them ::
selves TO correct the evil? ::
"The corporation based on an ::
inflated value complains of confis- ::
cation when the matter of gov. {:
ernmental control is suggested. ::
Governmental control is coming {:
and the people who oppose it want
to remember that the pendulum
has been too long on the one side {:
When it comes back it may swing
as far to the other side. Railway
interests want to bear in mind
that if governmental control Is too
earnestly resisted government ::
ownership is apt to follow, which
would be still more undesirable, at
least from their standpoint"
In his speech before the State Mu-
nlcipal league at st. Paul, Jan. 10,
1906, he pointedly called attention to
the urgency of action by the railroad
and warehouse commission. In this
address the governor paid special at
tention to the railroad situation and
his speech was printed in it's COM
pleteness by dozen of the leading
Republican newspapers of the state.
In this speech the governor declared
that the railroad question in Mime
sofa is the paramount issue. He re-
viewed at length and with signal abil-
ity the railroad situation in this state.
He showed conclusively that railroad
rates in this state are higher than in
Canada on the North and than in
Iowa on the South. He showed by
actual figures, none Of which have as
yet after the fight of ten months
time been challenged by any railroad
or any member of the state railroad
commission, that rates on cattle in
this state are 10 per cent higher than
rates on cattle in Iowa; that rates on
hogs in this state are % per cent
higher than in Iowa, that the Mime
sofa shirre" rays 80 cer cent more
for transporting his lumber than his
Iowa neighbor; that there are rank
determinations between various
points in the state, favoring the larger
commercial centers, and finally de-
clared his belief that the only real re-
lief is the enactment of law putting
the burden Of proof to show that it is
unreasonable on the carrier when a
rate has been declared reasonable by
the railroad commission.
Declared for a Two-cent Fare.
At Albert Lea, before the annual
meeting Of the Northwestern travelling
men, Governor johnson not only reit-
Grated his former views on freight
rates, but demanded 2-cent passen-
ger fare as we'll. Read these words
and then judge whether or not Gov
ernor Johnson has been afraid to take
advanced ground on the railroad ques-
ton:
"The representative Of the rail- {:
roads here today has said that the {:
prosperity of the railroads means ::
the prosperity Of the West but ::
say that the prosperity Of. the !:
West means the prosperity of the {:
; railways and within another year ::
want to say that when he comes ::
back here two years from now we ::
will all be riding on a fat 2-cent !:
j.: rate, whether the railroads want ::
! It or not. The railroads will not ::
: be able to help it, because this ::
condition is the inherent right of ::
the American people and the es- ::
tablished principle of this country ::
Is that no concern can long get ::
more than legitimate profit from ::
its business. When the railroad ::
corporations of the Northwest ::
compel you to pay three times the ::
amount you ought to pay in order ::
to, as they say, sustain their bust ::
ness things have gone beyond ::
the limit of endurance and some. ::
thing must be done to obviate the ::
grievance :.
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