The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-03-28
RAILROAD MEN
HAVE THEIR SAY
President WinCheII of the Rock
Island and Others Talk to
Legislative Committee.
TIME TO BE CONSERVATIVE
TOO MUCH LEGISLATION is
THREATENED.

Springfield, ILL.,, March 2I-President
j. L. WincheI of the Rock Island
railroad advised the railroad commit
tees Of the Illinois house and senate to
be conservative in the matter of rail
road legislation. If the judgment of
legislators is influenced too much by
the present cutlery against railroads,
asserted Mr. WinchelI, measures might
easily be passed which would endan-
ger the prosperity of the country.
Mr.. WnChell was one of a number Of
prominent railroad officials comforting
with the committee today on the sub
1ect Of important measures pending in
the assembly The primary purpose Of
his address was TO ask the committees
10 carefully study the situation before
acting on the administration bill pro-
Viding that the state railroad and ware
house commission control the issuing
of stocks and bonds by railroad cor
porations.
Subject a Large One.
Of an Illinois corporation" said Mr.
Wincheli, Serving in fourteen or fif-
teen different states is Obliged to secure
permission in the state of Illinois for
raising money to expand in Texas or
oklahoma. | am not sure that We can
always know that those in charge of
=
we should raise the money. 1t is
subject 50 big it ought not be ap-
preached in any spirit of hurry-up, but
be carefully investigated. There might
easily he tendency, willingly or I'M
willingly, to strange the whole bust
ness of the whole country.
There are 500 bills in fourteen states
that we are interested in calculated to
tell US what must be done, Some sew
eEty-Odd OF those have been introduced
in Illinois, and 1 want to ask you if all
the Legislators in all of the fourteen
states really know the consequence of
these 500 bills. / submit that 500 bills
put through i'm a hurry and without
clear idea of consequences might be a
pretty serious thing at a time when a
great many people wonder whether we
are on the upgrade commercially or on
the downgrade.
Too Much Agitation.
Il think a great many people in the
country, and I think | may include the
president of the United States, feel that
too much agitation Of certain questions
is almost as bad for the country's in
terests as too much legislation. Some
of our friends today viii! talk to YOU
about so-called demurrage laws. | can
only say in passing that 1 can imagine, !
II every state has its own demurrage
law, that we are going to have a
strange condition Of affairs after those
laws become operative. ANY discrin-
nation in shipments of railroads will
be Il serious thing against the business
of this country. 1 do not believe that
we all can escape the responsibility for
what happens in the next two or three
years. l believe in the common sense
of the people, that the Legislators and /
railroad officials viii rise to the emer-
gency and that we will get through /
without a crisis. l am not sure we
will get through, however, unless we /
are all very guarded in our actions for
the next three months. / urge that we |
will not do anything that we will be /
sorry for one or two years hence"
ID. r. Willard, second vice president !
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy /
railroad, spoke against the passage of /
the reciprocal demurrage bill.
j. Hiland, vice president of the Chi !
cago, Milwaukee &. st. Paul railroad. |
in opposing the 2-cent fare bill. pro-
duced figures TO show the average pas
senger rate received by the railroad ]
companies is slightly under cents a |
mile.
\ number Of questions were asked by I
members Of the committees on the va /
rious topics under discussion, but no /
action was taken.