Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-02-22

can so readily change rates. No pro
vision is made for valuation OF rail
road property, which is essential to
fixing fair rates. 8"
The Elkins bill, section 4, was di-
rected as plainly as the English Ian
guage could direct it against the long
and short haul, yet the commission
could do nothing. In the new bill the
wording is identically the same and
the commission has more power than
formerly, vet it is not succeeding. In
| the interstate commerce commission
investigation just ended at Spokane,
while they found discrimination OF
the worst sort, yet they could do moth
: ing. The decision was deferred until
next; June. Then, if the commission
does take action, which is not at all
probable, the railroads can take their
decision into the higher courts and in
the end defeat the commission. 1t is a
fact, according to Parsons, that So per
cent of all the commissions decisions
are reversed by the higher courts.
This brings me to the second phase
of my discussion, VIZ: the need Of re-
form. Since our present system is
Inadequate it is evident that there is a
serious need of reform in many ways.
There is need of reform first in mon
opolies; second, in discrimination;
! third, in the car service; fourth, in
over capitalization; fifth, in the inju-
dicious granting of land; sixth, in the
corrupting of politics; seventh, in the
unjust, Indirect taxes imposed upon
the American people, and eighth, in
the passenger service.
fJust a few words with regard to each
of these. The causes of evils connect
ed with the monopolies of this coun-
try can be traced more to our present
system of railroads thand to any other
source. Commissio Prouty in his
book entitled, 'Rooseyelt's Railroad
Policy. page II, says that 100, 900
miles out of the 200, 900 miles Of rail-
roads in this country are controlled BY
six men. Lyman Abbott, editor of the
| Outlook, in one of his editorials, No
vember u, 1906, says that all the rail-
roads Of this country are controlled
practically by ten men. With such
power concentrated in the hands OF a
few men it is no wonder that there is
SO much alarm about the growth Of
tmonopolies in our country.
The railroad rate determinations
are also in need of reform Mr.. Par
sons in his book, The Railroads, the
Trusts and the People, z page 252, says,
There are more than sixty methods
iof Discriminate now in use upon our
railroads !. Now many Of these meth
DDS Of discrimina ton are7os such d
nature that they never can be detected
much less be regulated by our present
system Of railroad Legislation.
Two of the worst of these discrim.
| nations are: discrimination with re.
gard to places and discrimination witt,
regard to persons. With respect to
places, the long and short hauls are
frequently complained of.
| According to Mr.. Parsons, page 80 Of
! his book, The Railroads, the Trusts
and the People, Z published last June,
The rate from New York to Ogden,
Utah is $4.65 hundred, while 1926
per hundred carried the same freight
| all the way from New York to San
Francisco. The railroads charged
/ | more if the car stopped part way than
It it went on to the Pacific more than
twice ais much in fact for the part
haul as for the full distance. So that
the extra charge for not hauling the
car on from Ogden to San Francisco
was greater than for hauling it the
! entire distance from ocean to ocean.
But discrimination among persons is
worse than discrimination between
places. The small shipper is diserim-
mated against while the large shipper
receives immense rebates.
Charles Russell ii Everybody's mag
azine for last February, says that dur
ing the year 1905 the American beef
trust received from the railroads a re-
bate amounting to s25 ,0O0, 900. Every
car shipped for the American beef
trust from Chicago to New York, a dis
lance OF little over a thousand miles,
brought a rebate of $3.50.
Congressman Townsend, in the Bust.
ness Mans magazine for May, 1906,
page AZ, writing concerning rebates.
says: The Standard Oil company is
charged 10 cents per barrel freight
age, while ali other companies are
. charged 35 cents, and the difference Of
re cents goes into the hands Of the
Standard Oil company as rebates. 4
l President Roosevelt, In his message
/ 70 congress last May, said seThe
Standard Oil saved about three-quar-