The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1907-01-24
Lco,sLAr,ve CORRESPONDENCE.
\ Calm View Of the Present situa-
tim

airly and impartially consider the rela-
Ion which the railroads occupy towards
s 81 DsPs to sPsah a for the esnuy
Watched with much interest ana concern
ne development Of the great Northwest:
have. have never in my life owned share o.
. railroad or other corr GRAFTON to advance
heir interests. either In accord or against
he popular sentiment. and sttll modestly
postion Of q publicist. feel as q sense
II duty the importance to the public IL. to
'rge thoughtful consideration Of the
speak for the railroads, but do feel thae
g one who for nearly fifty years has SIN.
cerely and honestly written and spoken
fare that / have some right TO express
my views without my motives being Inn
pugned. The railroads are very far from
perfection. They are not conducted with
they have rights and there are two sides
10 the question as between them and the
public and you cannot cripple OF 9In aa wang.
MIR: ]. J. Hin. president Of the Great
Northern. Addressed the N9 %,nnsan eiia
q few days ago, and certainly gave some
thoughts for serious consideration. 10
demonstrate my statement tnat tnetS
crav are aso two .o sas' Of shs be
pressed. III. r. HAL.
Among other things MIR. Hill said:
"But / want to ask your most earnest
attention, and l want to .urse upon YOU
And that condition is tnat there wlll 3.
no relief for the movement Of lumber
without delay from the Pacific coast aor
the long distance described sa,cS Snt to move
i. instead 81 twenty-fAr' s ,i. s;y1, sSp Id
move fty miles g ,Ss
sixth Of the time-there are cars , eno 1,,iz,
to-day to move a great deal more i .i,.
Der than you want to o1y: t srs m IA.
cilities It cannot be moved. and It VIII VII,
continue until these facilities and aP-
everybody else's business will have to
suffer and will have to pay, =. .ooo,
you can all help. and the help that YOU
intelligent view Of the situation; ,.,, 70 $40 30
saS st yo the neshpor two
sides to this question. Let Us be TAR.
Let us establish confidence .,.o...
are the people who have small! invest,
railway. Out Of 500 shareholders. my, my
holdings are 1nd shsre are
women on our. list Of shareholders. And
when the peoples property is held up as
sssn to be RS hs tha
Is branded with the brand of unpopuiar-
ity, at least-is that going to induce these
people to invest? Take it to yourself
put money into investments Of that kind
as you are-is that the sort OF invest
ment you prefer? Or will you look
Money Must BE Raised.
Of over $5O.OOO.OOO next year in addi-
tional tracks. and this new line ] spoke
of-improvements. equipment and SO COR on
ooo.%S. and tried to raise 10000. 80 from
our. shareholders. We asked them to put
their own money in their own business:
receive dividend il the company earned
day. the contention being that they shall shall
ness. to furnish the facilities that they
are honestly bound from every stand
point to furnish.
8. Before tsit these questions will Be settled
and better understanding and better ap-
probation on the part Of everybody as
to !. , what Is best to be done: The snare.
their dividend II the company earns It.
Speaking. for our own company. our
shareholders get the same dividend they
rsfs But GF cannot that e sas
business, and il we cannot raise the
money to create facilities to enable us
must snsr nS m ony . tae
fer with them.
citation and f FAIR p .Sl sas ;R,sat OF con-
reasonable men. to. consider your own
interests. and see where they point. See
how the situation may be remedied. ASK
drive a horse to drink tn make him
drink after he gets him to the we'll?
Now. we have both got to come together:
other: we have got to depend on you.
and you have to depend on us. Then wa
fes d. y anS the desi
thing We have to meet. is to find money
to make these improvements. I want to
time since 1898 when it has been so
difficult to raise money for railway pur-
poses 9s, as It is at present"
to furnish relief must be forthcoming
within five years. colossal and an
enormous task: The money markets Of
were no more fish there. 1t had become
the fashion for politicians of certain
class; men whose own characters would
abuse the railroads The railroads were
always willing to discuss affairs Of trans
In 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.:4 for hauling s ton
If freight a hundred miles; in Russia it
IS about $1.15. and in the United States
It is 70 cents. These figures are Official.
Those are the average rates. It is true
hat our average Is little more than
onc-third less than 40 per cent OF the
average of Eurore. and we pay a higher
scale Of wages. They pay locomotive en-
,ineers from 20 cents to $l.25 and $3.50 n
lay. We pay $3.50 and probably will ba
paying in the neighborhood of & within
week. UIaughter)
"And 80 all down the list You know
he difficulty of getting good labor at any
price. II the railroad systems Of the
United States can furnish transportation
1T an average cost of less than half that
charged all over the continent Of Europe.
where, as you know, practically ali the
'aiiroads are owned by the state. with the
,cale Of wages infinitely lower than we
allure and accomplish that result.
ut is not q failure. 1t Is the wonder OF
he railroad people Of these other conn
ries. I have had people come from In
liza, from Germany, from France, from
Austria. from Russia and from japan To-
lnow how 1t Is done. They come to find
nut II they can, how we can furnish