The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1907-01-25
The Busy RaiIroader
10 Gets the Hot End Handed to
Him from All Sides These Days.
from the Oregonian.l

From the Oregonian.1
The uneasiness of the head
uh;ch wears a crown III most cases
uould be mild in comparison with
.ho, which adorns railroad official
IN these days of Investigations on
all sides and for all canses. What
ever degr<e of guilt or Innocence
NAV attach to Mr.. Hartman or
Mr. Hill, it is certainty that their
bred men are having the time o.
their lives dotging the brickbats
which long suffering people are
throwing in their directi"n-not
that the public has any personal
grievance against these able and
mild hammered employees, but be
cause they are representatives of
ystem that, fguratively peaking
has some brickba,s coming to it.
last week the Interstate Commerce
Commission sat in judgment while
the Spokane jobbers prodded the
railroad men. Thi, week the Pu-
oct Sound lumbermen are after
them. because of the car shortage,
and also in connection with alleged
illegal acts of Mr.. Hartman.
Tre Interstate Commerce -om-
mission, like some good theatrical
road companies, finds more terri
' tory than can be played to advant-
age by one company, aud has split
up, and this week while Mr.. Lane
is refereeing the SEATTLE game Mr..
Prouty is holding the watch on the
railroads down in Colorado, where
the Denver jobbers are alleged to
have been suffering from the same
complaint as affl cts Spokane.
Thursday the western aggregation
Of legal and traffic talent will come
to Portland aud afford the jobbers
of this city an opportunity TO ex-
po their wickedness. The Spo-
kane complaint and the grilling
that was given the railroads in pre-
sentins it was due to alleged favor
itsm shown Portland. Portlahd's S
complaint is d to an alleged fa-
voritism Shown Spokane. Viewed
from distance, it would seem that
in the circumstances the railroad
men are in posi'icn to appreciate
the predicament of the tabled indi-
vldual who was between the devil
and the deep blue sea.
Even with these legal diversions
the railroad men have other trou
bles. Their trains run so slow
that universal car shortage results,
and they run SO fast that the popu-
lat;on of the United States is in
jeopardy by reason of an unpar-
aheled number of fatal accide nts.
They are being censured and fined
tor not delivering coal to the pat
rons along the line and at the same
tlme their engines are unable to
make steam with the shale and dirt
'hat they are trying to burn in lieu
OF coal that is unobtainable. This
remarkable era of investigation is
n>t due to sudden spasmodic
movement on the part of the peo-
PIE. The conditions VIII ch have
brought it about we mostly of
SLOW growth. They were i'll par,
legacy OF the old school of rail
road men whose public be-
aamned' polices resulted in the
cultivation of sentiment not un-
IKE that displayed by the young
S'ef who impalss OH a spear a
snake which has bitten him and
proceeds to enjoy its writhing. Ad-
uea 10 this is the growing sentiment
VI another class which sees in such
e0'ossal aggregations of railroad
capital a menace to our future.
altogether the railroads are hardly
III position to enjoy this glad new
Year.