East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-01-15

gon in its policy with respect to cor
porations generally and railroad COM
panies In particular. II sections of
the state rich in lumber in mineral,
in agriculture, and in everything that
tends to Industrial and commercial de-
velopment, have been neglected by
the one great railway system which
practically controls its whole traffic,
1t certainly can not be justly claimed
that the neglect is invited or induced
by the illiberal policy of our law
makers.
Through the generous policy Of the
federal government lands sufficient in
amount and value have been granted
in aid of railways within the jurisdic-
ton Of the state to build not only the
lines now in operation, but to extend
them across and through the central,
eastern and southern portions of this
magnificent commonwealth. Not only
that.
Vast forest resolves have been cre-
ated along the Cascade mountains in
this state, and in other states, in
which have been included worthless
lava beds and deforested lands of
railway companies now operating
here, and In exchange for these worth
less lands these companies have been
permitted to select hundreds of thous-
ands Of the most yaluapre timber
lands in the state under congressional
legislation, thus increasing by millions
the value of their original grants, and
these lands are withheld from sale
and settlement, greatly hindering the
| development of the state.
Unheeded Demands of the People.
The demands of the people for rail-
way extension have been unheeded by
the powers that be, and they have
been publicly informed that when any
particular section of the state has been
developed sufficiently to make rail-
way profitable investment, their de-
mands would be investigated and con-
sidered thus reversing the usual pol
icy of extending lines into. rich sec
tions to aid and assist in general de-
velopment.
The result has been that with all
Its possibilities for commercial and in
dustrial growth, Oregon is far behind
all the other states in obtaining what
1t needs and what 1t is of right enti-
tied to have in the way of better IA
cilities for transportation and travel.
Nor does the evil stop here. There
is lack of uniformity in rates where
roads have already been built. Many
rates are grievously unjust and un-
reasonable, retarding the development
of the state. Persons and places are
Disseminated against, a woetul lack
of proper equipment to handle freight
and even passengers exists every
where, depot accommodations, SWITCH !
ing and other facilities are Inadequate
and no effort seems to be making to
rectify these crying evils anywhere.
For the rectification of these con-
ditions the shipper is without remedy. |
The cost and expense to an individual |
would be too great to warrant him in |
undertaking through any court their |
correction, nor could he with safety |
incur the Ill will of the railway COM |
pany which has been derelict in its |
duty to him and to the public.
Public Must Assert Itself.
Neither the farmer nor the producer |
can get his product to the market, |
nor can the merchant supply the con-
sumer with his wares. The result has |
been and will be still more disastrous |
to the state, and the time has come |
when the other members of the great |
partnership in railway operation, the |
public should assert itself in the cor |
rection of existing evils.
With interstate traffic the state has |
nothing to do, but with intra- state, or |
that which is purely local, the evils
which are acknowledged to exist can |
be greatly relieved in short order, and |
eventually corrected by railway |
commission, vested with ample powers |
and composed OF men who have been !
taught to believe that a public office |
is public trust and that the people |
have rights which great Transportation |
companies are bound to respect.
The courts of this state, of other |
states, and of the United States have |
sustained the action of commission |
ers in their attempts to correct the !
evils which now exist in Oregon, and |
the question of power is no longer in
the experimental stage. Where a COM
mission exists and conditions have not
been bettered, the fault lies either with
the statute under which ii acts, or in
the personnel of the commission; and |
the evils complained of in this state
can be largely corrected by railway
commission acting under authority of
an ample statute and appointed by the
governor with power of removal. In
the proper enforcement of such law |