Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1911-02-03

Certain commerce al 3 interests .of the
Twin cities are greatly opposed q
Senator Cashman's distance tariff bill.
They are trying 20 show. and the
railroads have joined them in the
attempt, that the first effort of such
q law would be to raise rates. Think
Of that! The railroads fighting bill
which would mean an increase in
freight charges, :. It hardly sounds
reasonable, and it isn't. they also
claim that much trouble and lncon.
venience will result. Posslbl that is
true, for q time. A system built on
inequality and Discrimination will
cause some dislocations when 1t IS put
on a fair. tasls. 1t is pointed out that
Iowa which has distance tariff law
hos no large cities and that is con-
sidered a great argument against the
bill instead of being what it Is, a
splendid argument for it. Great
aggregations of population in a re.
'stricted area mean a concentrated
market, and certain advantages to the
Inhabitants thereof which came from
large urban growth. 1t also means.
however, an increase in vice and crime,
for the children of the night and all the
malign Influences of evil flock to the
large cities. The larger the city the
greater the cesspol of 1niquity, the
more difficult the problems Of munich
pal government The large cities OF
Minnesota have scarcely been examples
of civic virtue and successful govern
ment for the rest of the state. When it
IS realized that the larger number of
the insane and defective, and of the
inmates IN the prison and raformatory,>
come from the large cities, and that 1T
costs the state tremendous sums to
care for these unfortunates, the claim
that the cities pay more in taxes than
the benefits received is not well
founded Railroad rate discrimination
had much to do with the building up
of the great cities. Some years ago,
when the railroad bill was pending in
congress, the railroads objected strenu'
ously and they sent representatives
around to stir up sentiment against it.
The Northern Pacific sent bright and
capable man out, man now in st.
Paul. He attempted to arouse senti-
ment in Little Falls and in other
places, but had poor success. He adj
mltCed that the smaller towns we're at
a disadvantage, that manufacturers in
the large cities were favored, and that
discrimination had built up the large
cities, but, said be. you cant change
that now, and the conditions must be
accepted as they are. We don't be-
lleve that injustice should be per-
petuated because it has been success
full. At least it should not be allowed
to continue. The census of 1910 tells
q doleful tale The large cities have
increased, indeed. but what Of the
smaller? What does it mean when a
lively enterprisirg town like Mankato
actually shows a decrease IN popula-
ton, when towns like Little falls, if
there is no decrease. show very
slight increase. and when it is evident
that some general condition affects
many towns. Not only towns, bat
have decreased or gtown but
little. The great terminal points are
within themselves the
wealth and population of the state.
1t IS easy to preach the doctrine OF
shack to the land but the great
cities are living examples of a system
which works away from the land. 1t
Is time to give the folks outside of the
cities q tair deal. The railroads have
had their representatives before the
senate committee telling what great
things they have done ana are going to
90 for northern Minnesota For years
and years the railroads have devoted
their energies to settling the west,
and trainload after tra1nload of sturdy
immigrants passed through as good
land as there is anywhere, to be taken
to the far West No wonder the
northern part OF the state was back
ward. SO the benehcent purposes OF
the railroads are likely to be matter
of suspicion. The proposition OF the
distance tariff means the square deal.
It should not be left to railroads, the
creatures of the state, to be the COM
mercial arblte1s of the state, to decide
if it suits some manager or director
who has business interests in certain
town, to favor that town at the ex-
pense of another. Let every tub stand
on It's bottom. It is business PROPOSE
ton. There is no politics in it. The
people of Morrison county, and par
ticularly tnoss in the city of Little
Falls and IN the villages, should never
support a man, no matter what his
politics, who fails them on this tremen
dously vital issue.
st. Peter Herald: Senator eastman
ut Owatonna has reintroduced mis-
"equal rate bill. a measure which is
is patterned after the Iowa distance
tariff law. At the last session of the
lapislatnre raj WAY inflnanca was strong