Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1913-05-11

I'iN uH NNH h'IIt lN LOW liNANN''
iu this state l,W years ago, and 40
WAS ,hll provision iu nay Judgment
that defeated that amendment
The proposed amendment 90 hc
voted upon August 5th, differs from
all others that have hppn heretofore
presented and the substance Of " was
first introduced IN the Senate hy som
ator Roddie upon the request OF the
citizens OF the town Of Ada ana his
district Representative ReNroat Of
Ardmore introduced the present reso-
luton ana after conference between
Senator Rn4die, Mr. ReNroat and my
SELF, II woA agreed that RoNroats
proposition 6byiatcd all the objections
heretofore made 10 the repeal of the
section and absolutely LETT the power
within the state 10 regulate and III
rect the proper consolidation of lines.
The RcNroat amendment, which is the
one TO be voted upon August 9Th, Is as
follows.
section O. Upon the consent Of
the Corporation Commission In writ
ing, first had and obtained, any for
cign or domestic railroad transpor-
tation, or transmission company or
corporation, may lease, SELL or other
wise acquire and operate the property
and franchises Of any like company
or corporation, provided that the leg
stature may impose additional llml-
tations or restrictions upon the rights
Of any railroad or Transmission COM
pany TO consolidate
To fully understand the effect Of
this amendment II should be under
stood that we have in oklahoma now
six systems. viz: the Rock Island.
Frisco Santa Fe. Katy, Iron Noun
tain, Kansas city Southern. and in the
near future we believe the Orient
viii be considered a system road All
Of the system roads are foreign cor
poratlons and parallel each other.
and therefore can not consolidate and
are not affected by the amendment To
be voted on August 5th. In fact. they
are prevented from consolidation by
the federal antitrust act. Hence. we
may discuss any consideration of
these roads from the discussion Then
the roads that are directly affected
by this amendment are the small
roads in Oklahoma not exceeding 1T5
miles in length. II is true most of
these roads are now making ouorat-
ing expenses and interest ON the in
vestroents vet tbev haven't sudicicnt
business that would warrant tba in
stallipg of first class eouipmcnt and
the freouent operation of trains that
is a great convenience ia tbo citizens
living along the inc. ss compnred with
n rood that operatns from tbroo to
four pasenper trains each wav daily
and n sufficient number Of freight
trains II is very evident undor evisr-
ing conditions that none of these
small roads will dcvelon into a large
svstem ono very importont thing
that should he considered with refer
ence IN tho SINNERS that i've aIonp
the lines Of the smaller roads is that
thev are unable ia buv ou the com
modities they uso alonr the line of
this road and their shipments must
necessarily originate on the lines of
one of the larger systems The trans
ferring of this shipment to the small
er road makes a UWo-line haul and
usually carries an arbitrary charge of
from six to twelve dollars a car addi-
tional freight. This Is no small item
to be Ia ken into consideration when a
years business is considered. In
fact it amounts to more to small
shippers along the small lines than
their entire state and county tax If
the amendment is adopted, no trans
fers can be made without the consent
Of the corporation commission until
the meeting Of the next legislature,
at which time the legislature may i'm
pose additional limitations and re
strictions, but can never authorize the
consolidation on less favorable condi-
tions to the carriers than obtaining
the consent of the commission That
must be done in any event yet other
restrictions may be imposed in addi-
ton to securing the consent of the
commission.
TN to tho meeting of tbe rovt looie-
lature If win be the policv of the
commission TO refuse any nronosad
consolidation unless the people along
the line of the small road agree to the
consolidation. The people along the
line are the ones who pay for the
maintenance and operation of the
road, and If they feel they can better