White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-03-18

event OF a retuSai WHAT Wouid nc do
anyway?
LONG AND SHORT HAUL CLAUSE.
To prevent further violation of sec
ton 4 of tht interstate commerce law,
which provides that no railway shall
charge more for a short haul than a
long one, If the short is a part of the
long one and in the same direction,
Senator Gooding of Idaho had three
bills in congress during the late ses-
sion and kept up his fight unaided by
any senator from the west, making
an able and vigorous speech in sup
port of his bills within four days of
adjournment. The bill particularly
in point denies to the interstate COM
merce commission the right 10 per
nit the railroads to charge more for
a short than a long haul moving in
the same direction TO meet water com.
petition.
The violation of the fourth see
ton. which permits railroads to
charge more for a shorter haul
than for q longer haul, has broken
down and destroyed the use of our
rivers for the transportation OF
freight, and at the same time it
has worked a great hardship on the
interior OF all western states. This
policy has done much to build mp
1900 afff1c OF tho nxnnnCn nf tho
interior, a policy that, in my judg-
ment. Is dangerous, unfair, unjust
and un-American. said the Idaho
senator.
The greater part of the speech was
directed to the subject of water com
petition. Though hailing from an
interior and i~ntermountain state. Mr..
Gocding spoke strongly in favor OF
river and harbor Improvement The
defeat of such improvement he charg.
ed to railway influence. He made an
especially strong point by showing
that the people of the intermountain
country through taxes helped pay for
the Panama canal, yet by these viola
lions of the law by the interstate
commerce commission itself they
were denied the benefits OF 1t.
That the railways are pursuing
ruinous policy of forcing western
farmers to ship their products east
by rail in order that the longer haul
and a higher charge may be exactedt
the senator charged. He cited the
freight rates from Lewiston, Idaho,
TO the coast, whore there used to be
water competition by use of the Snake
and Columbia rivers. Because OF
that water competition the railway
rate for wheat from Lewiston 10 the
coast Is "a cents a hundred, while
The rate from Weiser to the coast,
approximately the same distance, is
35 1-2 cents. There is no water
transportation now but because of
It's possibility the farmers of that re.
gion get a rate that is AZ IL per cent
lower than others the same distance
from the coast.
From Weiser to the coast the dis
lance is 412 miles; from Weiser to
Chicago it is 1861 miles. The rate
to Chicago is 65 1-2 cents. Mr.. Good
ing showed that II that Is a fair rate
the charge from Wciser to the coast
should be IA IL cents, which would
give the people of Idaho and the in
termountain states the benefit of the
Panama canal. He said further:
All OF the railroads in the United
States insist on forcing every ton
of freight they can over the long
haul on their railroads, whenever
II Is possible to do SO, by charging
exorbitant rates for the short haul.
In this car shortage hundreds of
millions of dollars have been lost
by the American people to sustain
a policy of criminal extravaganza
in handling the nj of the
country. This outrageous policy
has done much to retard the
growth and development of the
west. The purpose of this policy.
OF course. is to destroy as far as
/ possible water transportation In
this country, and up to the pres
ent time its work has beer almost
complete.
To say the least II Is TO be regret
ted that the efforts of Mr. Goodint
were not supported. They shoult
have received the unanimous supper
of every representative from ever.
state in tho vast region affected, in
stead of being ignored as they were
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