Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-07
MAINTAIN WAR ON new RATES
Commercial Club Sends Delegation TO
Chicago Tonight.
SIOUX CITY JOINS IN CAMPAIGN
Vigorous FiEht Being wRged Against
Plan OF Railroads TO wipe out
Packing Industry North of
Kansas City.
SIOUX CITY JOINS IN CAMPAIGN

Omaha is still making a fight to force
the railroads TO irecognize..Fhe fact that
this city is on the map and does not pro-
pose to be wiped off by unjust rate dis
ordinations. In this It has the co-opera-
| tion Of other upper Missouri river towns
which also will lose out II the railroads
are allowed to put in rates giving Kansas
City an advantage
A delegation Of Omaha business men will
leave for Chicago this evening to meet
with the traffic officials Of the railroads
interested and they propose to tell these
officials that Omaha has some rights
which must be respected.
The Commercial club Of Omaha declared
itself in favor OF prosecuting these cases
to the limit in an effort to secure Justice
for Omaha when the executive committee
adopted the following resolution at a spe-
cial meeting last week:
Be II Therefore Resolved, That the Com
mercial club OF Omaha does hereby ex-
rates is unfair and inadvisable and un-
Justly dlscrtminatiVe, and that our influ-
ence shall be used in every lawful way to
attempt to secure the withdrawal OF said
increase by the said railroads and. failing
In this, that we prosecute such complaints
before the Interstate Commerce commits
sion and take such proceedings in court
as may speedily secure justice to this COM
munity and to the farmer and stockraiser
be found to be excessive, as well as the
prosecution OF any parties responsible for
same, II their acts shall have been In any
way collusive and contrary to law.
sioux City Joins In Fight.
Sioux City has come to the aid OF Omaha
in an effort to keep rates In effect which
are not discriminatory and which II changed
in accordance with the proposed increase by
he Aa lrIu ha In
dustries of other river cities to the ad-
vantage Of Kansas City. Sioux City busi-
ness men have become active and the sentl-
ment Of that city is shown in an editorial
written by ]. c. Kelly, editor of the Sioux
City Tribune, in which he says
Injustice in the New Rate.
In the attempt of the Missouri river rail-
roads to raise the dressed meat rate they
have one point vulnerable to attack. They
must nowadays, have an excuse for in
always have is that a present rate Is not
compensatory. And this is exactly the
reason they give for AIDING 30 per cent to
the rate which they have charged for a
dozen years for hauling dressed meat from
the Missouri river to Chicago.
Those called upon to pay naturally deny
the soundness of this excuse by the roads
They marshal the facts OK trade against 1t |
in overwhelming array.
The inquiry is natural Have you not |
given the service at the rate for years? |
Do you mean to say you nave Just found |
out the rate is not compensatory? Have
curves, reduced grades, added heavier en-
gines and hauled greater tonnage with
fewer men, year by year? They have.
Now, after all these years and all these
improvements. you say you cannot haul as
cheaply as you did a dozen years ago.
This puts the burden of proof on the.
railroads so far as the general public is
concerned, and If the railroads are to give |
any heed to public opinion they need to
But there are two more powerful argu-
ments to refute the soundness OF the rail- !
roads contention
l. There has been, in addition to the i'm |
provement in facilities for handling |
freights, vast increase in volume.
g. And this one would seem in itself To
be conclusive one road, the Alton, has
just made a five-year contract with Kan
sas City packers to do their hauling at the
This contract takes care Of Kansas City.
but it also emphasizes the injustice to st.
these markets are struck all the people
who have done business with them are
injured.
There should be no uncertain sound in
the protest madel 1t should represent all
an6 reach to the very capitol at Wash
ington.
South Omaha Benefits Farmers.
At a cost of many million dollars a big
market has been created at South Omaha
where farmers from this section may ship
their stock and be assured of getting the
top market price and also be saved the de-
lay and expense OF shipping 10 markets
further distant. The big packing houses
operated in connection with the South
Omaha market give employment TO thous-
ands of men who form a large part of the
population of South Omaha and the dis
tribution of their income and the distribu-
ton of money for supplies aids materially
in making South Omaha the city It now
is. The Commercial club takes the posi-
tion that it is not right for the railroads
to wipe out in a few days an industry
which it has taken years and great ex-
penditIIre of money to build