The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1906-11-13
Granite Men Appear AT
Hearing
ON THE PROPOSED LAW
Providing Penalty for Railroads Which
Fail to Provide Shippers With
Cars Within Reasonable
Time.


A public hearing was given at Mont
pelier last evening on the proposed law
providing a penalty for railroads which
fail to provide shippers with cars after
a reasonable time, II was held before
the senate committee
n. y. NJ. Jones spoke for the granite
manufacturers III Barre and called at,
tention to the loss of business, cancel.
lation OF orders and great inconvenience
caused By the failure to get cars. Hc
was amply sustained BY w s. Alex
ander, James X. pirie and ri M Russell
and figures were shown, proving that
thousands Of dollars worth Of manufac-
tured granite, enough to load 200 cars,
was in Barre now and much Of it could
not now be delivered until spring owing
TO the delay in getting cars
Senator Rowland said the financial
side Of the question was very serious,
as the manufacturers had invested
money in this finished work and were
unable to get their work delivered OF
collect their bills. The financial prob
itiu Avt Aitf NiiAt'A Was Nett Sciluuo
one.
Judge II. III Powers spoke for the
Rutland road and said that the present
demand was temporary. II would be
Just as reasonable to compel the Payil-
ion to maintain 1000 beds the year
round as to make the RAILROADS keep
enough cars on hand to handle an un-
usual congestion OF business lie thought
the interstate commission was the proper
tribunal to settle the difficulty Of cars
going out of the state.
J. r. Lamson spoke for the Montpel-
ier and Wells River road. He said it was
a small corporation, between two large
and powerful ones, and thought the leg
islature ought not to make il possible
for the large to squeeze the small The
company had more cars per mile than
any other road in New England and was
doing all it possibly could to supply the
demand The trouble was they could
not get their cars homo.
lie and Judge Powers claimed that
equipment necessary TO supply all de-
imands would bankrupt any road in the
state Explanations were made Of the
system Of interchange Of cars between
roads and the penalty of holding, now
4 increased 10 over twice what il was be-
fore The Barre manufacturers claimed
! that local railroads would not permit
them to order direct from foreign roads
and that the representatives OF the rail
roads said that they had asked every
connecting line for cars repeatedly and
always with the same answer--not
enough cars to GO 'ronud
An adjourned hearing WIS given in
the evening on the railroad side OF the bill
and attorneys for the Rutland. Central
Vermont. Montpelier & Wells River and
I no'7avare and Hrdson roads were pre-
sent together with several car account
ants OF the roads who were questioned
OH their system of fulfilling car orders
and as to their opinion of the working
ot such bill. They all testified that it
would be physical impossibility TO conf
ply with the requirements of the bill.
The railroads could supply the de-
mands for cars most of the months of
the year but there were congested sen
sons when it WAS impossible.
The different ronds were asked as To
their mileage and how many cars they
had and ii more had been built within i
short time for the increase Of business
and what ii would cost To have a supply
OF cars Of their own for all of their bus
mess. f. w Stanyan for the NJ. & W.
said they owned on that road and the
Barre railroad 366 fiat cars used in the
shipment of granite largely. In twelve
months they shipped i0,s47 car loads. II
they owned all these cars II would cost
them eight millions and Il half and they
did not have the money to do it. All
Iof The roads said that they did their best
TO supply the shippers as II was for their
Interest to do il and they could do It
most of the year. II would be TO their
loss TO keep cars sufficient for congestei
seasons when would be idle the rest Of
the year.
r. NJ. Moloney appearing III the IN
Iterests of his road called attention 70 d
similar Texas law much more lenient 10
tho railroads than the bin al hand which
tho Supreme court Of the United States
lhad ruled unconstitutional on the ground
that 1t came under the Interstate COM
merce law and therefore under the au-
lthority Of the Congress Of the United
States and not the state legislature. On
1.-THE strength OF this decision Governor
Higgins Of New York had vetoed a bill
in the state similar to tgis one.