The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1907-01-25
LEGISLATIVE CORRESPONDENCE.
A Calm View Of the Present Situa.
ton.


ton.
| To the Editor: ! am devoting such por-
| ton of my time AS l can command TINS
| winter to correspondence from the legis-
| lature, and it seems to me that the situa-
| tion is one which makes it the duty OF
| thoughtful men who feel that they can
fairly and impartiaily consider the rela-
ton which the railroads occupy toWarus
| the people to speak for the public inter-
eSts. For nearly half a century nave
| watched with much interest and concern
the development OF the great NORTHWEST:
| have never in my life owned share OF
| railroad stock or been in the employ OF
| railroad or other corporation to advance
| their interests, either in accord or against
| the popular sentiment, and still modestly
claiming to some extent that occupy the
position of publicist. l feel as a sense
| of duty the Importance to the pubnc 70
| urge a thoughtful consideration OF inc
present situate i make no claim 10
| speak for the railroads, but do feel tnat
| as one who for nearly fifty years mas SIN
| cerely and honestly written and spoken
| to advance and care for the pubic We
| fare that | have some rlght 10 EXP pieno 80
my views without my motives DelnS III
| pugned. The railroads are very tar from
perfection. They are not conducted WIN win
| an eye single 10 the puohc welfare, ~. ~
| they have rights and there are two Sues
| 20 the question as between them ana the
| ollie and you cannot cripple or damage
lhem without Gripping or damaging SoU'
| selves. -, ~..
Mr. j. j. Hin president Of the Great
| Northern, addressed the Northwestern
iLumbermen's association at Mlnneaporis is
| u few days ago. and certainly gave soile n
| thoughts for serious consideration ~
demonstrate my statement that tleto 70
really are two sides, | ask perniisSSion Sae W
| pressed. IL
Among other things Mr.. Hill said
| But I want to ask your most irhes.
| attention, and / want to urge upHl you M
| simply a condition and not e' l!iVo " ~
And that condition is that there Wln ,ahor 90
no relief for the movement OF iuiilper @
| without delay from the pacihc epast, tii tbara
| the long distance described, until @ us
| can be more tracks on which 70 NOV a
| the cars. There are cars enough to,oaiyi;
If, instead of twenty-tCLr they ,Syo,,id I1I1e he
four hours out of the twenty -four. one
| sixth of the time-there are cars ehuus" I,',s'
| Today to move great ueai ino, vs,+hni,t
| ber than you want TO buy. But WlIh4u'
| the track and without the termnal IA,
| cilities it cannot be moved ana IL VIII VII
| not be moved and the ii., car laiii,nd nnd an
| pliances are furnished ana your JUS
ness, and the consumers business, ana
eyefrybodyd eisns 1s na~s pusfes5 te pav VIM nave
/ For that reason you can an 90 90 sooo, 'o,
you can all help, and the help tnat YOU YOU
can render is by taking. a careful ana
| intelligent view of the situation. To SO
understand the situation that you can
say to your neighbor, lhere s are he fair aTo
| sides to this question. Let AS pe Adh.
| Let us establish confidence.
| The people who build the railrodus
are the people who nave sditaI Northern
| railway Out OF $500 shareholders, my
holdings are comparatively snai'-1l9 ts9
| than Z per cent. Ana mere 7ais are AnT
| women on our list of shareholders. ana
when the peoples property is held up as
| something to be adopted by the std.e, tha,
taken away from themmsolaiennlmg a an,,Iare lar
| ty, at least-is that going to induce tnese
people to invest? Take it to yourself
| for many of them are as little able to
1 ant infn
as you are-is that the sort or invest
ment you prefer? Or will you look
| somewhere else?
| Money Must he Raised.
! I'VE undertook to make an expenditure
! of over $5O,OO0,0o0 next year in addl-
tional tracks, and this new line spoke
of-improvements equipment ana SO on
| 100000. and tried to raise S60OOo,ooo from
our shareholders We asked them to put
their own money in their own business,
and take the chances that they would
| receive dividend if the company earned
It. But we are defending a lawsuit TO,
| aot put their money into their own pusl-
ness, to furnish the facilities that they
are honestly bound from every stand
| point to furnish.
| Before these questions will be settled
| IN this country there must be clearer
and better understanding and better ap-
| probation on the part of everybody as
| to what is best to be done. The share
holders. what do they get? They get
Speaking for our own company, our
shareholders get the same dividend they
have reeeived ed. for years; that is the
business, and if we, cannot raise the
| money to create facilities to enable us
handie NOV, our BUSINESS; n; no, onsy uf the
ter with them.
Mr.. Hill pleaded for spirit of con-
ciliation and fair play. saying:
Il want to ask you. as rational and
reaSOna BILE men, to consider your own
interests. and see where they point, See
how the situation may be remedied Ask
drive a horse to drink. to make him
drink after he gets him to the well?
our minds have got to come together;
other; we have got to depend on you,
and you have to depend on us. Then we
can get along very. very much better.
What we have to do. and the difficult
thing we have to meet: is to find money
| to make these improvements. l want to
say to you that there has not been
time since 1898 when it has been SO
difficult to raise money for railway pur-
poses as it is at present.
The speaker said the money necessary
to. furnish relief must be Forthcoming
enormous task. The money markets OF
the old world had been fish I'd until there
were no more fish there. 1t had become
the fashion for politicians of a certain
class, men whose own characters would
not bear the flashlight of inquiry, to
abuse the The railroads
portation in a fair spirit.
| Freight Rates.
On the question Of freight rates Mr.
Hill said:
when we compare them with the rates
in Europe they are less than half as
much, as a rule. The average rate in
Great Britain is $2.34 for hauling a ton
of freight hundred miles; in Russia it
is about S1.75, and in the United States
it is Is cents. These figures are official.
Those are the average rates. II is true
that our average is q little more than
one-third less than 40 per cent Of the
average Of Europe, and we pay a higher
scale OF wages They pay locomotive en-
day. we pay $3.50 and probably will be
paying in the neighborhood Of IS within
a week. Uaughter.)
"And so all down the list. You know
the difficulty of getting good labor at any
price If the railroad systems of the
fInited States can furnish Transportation
at an average cost of less than half that
charged all over the continent of Europe,