The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-06-08

nouteenient ut the beef Trust that hetv.
after cattle should be purchased subject
to condemnation after slaughtering Ia u
matter Of great surprise here. When
the subject Of inspection was up before
Congress and the muckrakers were rails.
rs hullabaloo over conditions in the
packing houses, and the public became
afraid to even handle q can of potteL
meat for fear Of infection, then no one
believed the packers were sincere when
they said they we're perfectly willing
the public should have al the inspection
& wanted--but the public would have
to foot the bill, One thing tho beef trust
should be given credit for and that Il a
somewhat brutal frankness. Just why
anyone should have imagined the trust
would bear the cost or loss Is not clear.
II announced 1t would not, and II does
rot, II was relieved OF the unpleasant
ness of raising the price Of meat 10
cover the cost Of inspection, although II
frankly stated 1t would do 80 II neccs-
sary. because the cost Il horne BY the
treasury and thus falls only indirectly
on the consumer. Hut the trust can soc
70 good reason why II should lose on
cattle which are condemned altar death
end has passed the loss on 10 the pro-
Queer, feeder or commission man as the
rase may be. Thus, while making the
consumer pay the cost of inspection, In.
directly, the loss by inspection falls on
the produced II anything, the trust
seems to have gained by the operation.
Perhaps ii win share the gain with the
"Quien sabet' Or may be
it, members win devote the surplus toI
founding libraries or cndowing educa.
tional institutions.
The complexity OF the railroad bust.
ress and accompanying questions is|
Much fault II being found
with railroads who propose to enforce
the two-eent .a-mile rate in states where
IL has been adopted, against all travel
eIs, commuters as well as others. Yet
there Is something TO be said on the side
o. the railroads, strange as It may seem,
and II leads 70 the proposition which
eventually this government must settle
and which win cause more trouble than
since the Civil War.
The great cry has been, in all the
agitation, against unjust
narrowed down, unjust
Us applied 10 discrimination. means that
lhe discrimination Is unjust" from the
standpoint Of the party Disseminated
against. When the issue IL crystalli2ed
until any discrimination whatever 10
regarded as Unjust then we may ex-
pect parlous times, and advanced think.
srs have always contended that consti.
tutionally the courts will be unable to
sanction determinations just or unjust.
The communication problem 10 simple. To
increase traffic, both passenger and
freight, a railroad reduces the rate on
both between certain points and the
population of the suburbs increases.
This makes business for the railroads
and is regarded as good business But
are common carriers and
are not entitled to discrimi
nate between citizens Of ii state or OF
Bhe United States, What legal right,
therefore have they to say TO b, you
.ravel over our line from Baltimore TO
every day and we will
AIRY you for 80 cents round trip" and
1t the same time say to b "you 60
rom Baltimore to Washington once n
week, or once year, 50 You will have
ID pay 2 cents mile each way" A and
are both residents Of Baltimore and
,itizens Of the State Of Maryland and
he railroad being a common carrier
las no right TO charge b one price and
another and much lower price when
5he service performed Is exactly the
this instance conveying their
persons from one city to another. 1t
might be argued that because A makes
six trips week he h entitled To
lower rate than b who makes only one
trip a week or one a year. Yet this
argument is refutel by the very founda
tion Of rate regulation, for II a, be.
cause Of the frequency with which he
offers his person to be transported be-
tween two points Is entitled to 4 more
favorable rate for such transportation,
than x who ships hundred. tons Of
freight day should be entitled to q
more favorable rdte than Y who ships
! hundred tons year. From the stand.
point Of the railroads as purely bust