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About Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1903-1919 | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1904)
.. DAILY CAPITAL JOURNAL, SALEM, OREGON, TUESDAY, MAnCH 22, 1904. THREE low the Action of. of Benton him rangers NCAR ANDLU SHORTAGE M BER RAXES rood Roads and the Transportation Problem Discussed Liberal Policies of the Past in Railroad Management any Shippzts Sulfated Fom Lack of Cats On Top of This Lumber Rates Advanced Oregon Has Treated the Cou pofations Fairly The McBuide Bill Provisions of the Hearst Bill Falrmount grange, Benton county, dd a most Interesting mooting Sat rday, March 19, and a flno dinner as Eorvcd by tho ladles. Afternoon as dovoted to opon meeting and dls- sloa of transportation questions. W. Dcnham, county superintendent f schools, and T. T. Vincent, county ecordor from Corvallls, wore presont, r. Loopcr, of Albany, was onoof tho aders In debato for tho Brownlow illl. Mr. and Mrs. Mf S. Durbln, for- orly of Howell prairie, wore chosen legates to tho stato grange, and ko a lvo Interest In grange organize- Bon. colonel li uoior, oi eaiom, wan Present by Invitation of tho grange id addressed tho audience on the Sbject of transportation problems In icncral. A Great Problem. i Tho speaker said tho transportation Iroblcm was tho greatest problem be- pro tho American people, and It was no that was Just as hard for the man- gors of tho groat corporations as for ho shippers, and ho asked tho utmost onslderaion for tho differences they lad to deal with. Tho rapid develop- tent of tho pountry was almost out- .ripping tho railroad equipment. Tho lonthorn Pacific lines In Oregon not Inly noodod more cars and engines, lut heavier tracks and bridges and It las doubtful If tho best railroad man- Igeraont would not at times fall bo und tho demands of tho shippers and reducers. But ho felt tho peopio nao right to demand better service, as tie rallroaUB woro in mo jmmru ui dines a monopoly. If ono farming passongers and freights at just and reasonable rates under which tho farmer and tho industries could live, tho Btnto had a light to enact jU3t and reasonable rates by law. No pow or could defeat tills, and tho recent decision of tho supremo court that mergers woro unlawful settled the power of tho government In that re spect. Oregon had gone a step far ther than most states In repealing Its commission law and had rolled on tho railroad managers for lair treatment, and tho peopio had no complaint to mako until last fall when tho car shortag grow too rostrlctlvo on all buslnoss, and tho lumber rates that wont into effect In January really had prostrated tho sawmills of tho Inter ior of tho state In a manner that was ruinous to tbolr business and prop erty. Llheral Policies Prevailed. For many years liberal policies had prevailed on tho part of tho Southern Pacific and other railroads operating In Western Oregon. Tho first stops wero taken by Traffic Manager C. H. Marnham, and his splendid work In dovoloplng our Industries was ably fol lowed up by Traffic Managers Miller and Coman, tho present managors of freight on Oregon lnos of tho S. P. Co. These, genUomon had. by estab lishing nn Industrial department, and by meeting tho demands of tho com munities and by ostabllshlng'now In dustries, dovoloped business and made tho operation of theeo railroad lines very popular and profitable. Tho Portland officials had dono tholr ut- aplemcnt trust had tho monopoly of most to secure favorablo rates for tho mushing all the plows and wagonB Ir Uio wiuameuo vauey, uuu " oplo could not feet half enough to Bandlo their farms with and opon now Binds they would have Just cause to iomplaln of tho service. Aftor 20 rears of service In Western Oregon Ihe railroads should havo onough roll ng stock hero to handle tho crops In he fall. Good Roads a Remedy. Mr Hofer made a plea for better nads so that tho farmer could tako Els productB to market at any tlmo In ho year Tho four cents a bushel qw paid each year for storing grain tho towns along tho railroads would ulld and. maintain1 good roads. Free iral mall, farm telephones, nettor pools and good roads would revolu- onizo fa-ra life so far as social au- Intorlor and wero In no way to blamo for tho car shortage nor for tho ad vnnco In lumber rates. In fact, tho speaker had posltlvo knowledgo Uiat thoy had dono all In thslr power to avert tho establishment of such rates, but that thoy had boon overruled' by. higher authority and the rate was es tablished against tho protest of tho largest shippers. The Car 8hortage. Tho speaker road extracts from shippors and mill men to tho Salem I Commorclal Club, of which ho was president, showing that tho car short- j ago was a standing complaint In thol fall shipping season for tho past flyo or bIx years, and that many produoa shippers and flouring mills had boon compolled to withdraw from tho best markets ow account of failure to get intagoe went, and break up tho lo-.cnra. Was this good railroading? Did lUoa of tho rural population, 'mo pot the produoer Anally nave to siana lue of the grange was a tremendous ' tie low? Was not the shipper andj ictor in tho education of tile, people, the produoer ontltltd to havo tho pen ned In somo Instances havo been held' for damages for non-fulfillment of contracts. Tho blow struck tho largo as well as tho Bmall concerns. Lum ber piled up In tho ytuda and deliv eries wero Impossible. Orders were cancelled and tho stato lost the salo of thousands of carloads df lumber per month which will naturally bo supplied from elsewhere. Tho saw mill inon gavo up trying to get cars and settle down Into despair. Then somo long-dlstanco traffic manager in a sky-scraper somowLdro conceived tho brilliant Idea of raising rates so that tho demand for cars would fall off, 'and actually stated that as a rem edy In a newspaper Interview. Ltko burning down) a house to got rid of a tenant - The Bates Advanced. The plea of tho traffic managers was that lumber was bolng hauled at a loss. Tho advanco in rates in Janu ary was a moro torrlblo blow to tho lumborlng Industry in tho Interior than the car shortage had been. It has boon a doathblow to many sec tions of our stato, whose matorlal prosperity Is largely based on tho payrolls of tho sawmills and logging camps. Somo of tho sawmill men wroto to tho Commorlal Club that the advance; In rates was equivalent to 60 per cent an advancq both unjust and unreasonable and lndofonslblo. Tho speaker took tho ground that "where a common caTrlor had mndo a ralo and for a long period had dono business under that rate, and tho In dustry had becomo dependent upon that rato, they had no right to arbi trarily ndvanco that rato, especlolly when tho earning of tho corporation ttad shown an lncreaso In splto of Its alleged low rato. Ho quoted from tho provision of tho Hearst bill Introduced In congress to require railroad com panies and all common carriers to provo to a competent tribunal their right to mako such on ndvanco over forme? rates. Tho Hearst bill also aimed to euro car shortago and was to bo commonded In theso respocts. No Relief Offered. All offorts to got relief had failed' so far. Meetings of traffic managors had boon promised, but no action had been taken. In tho mean tlmo tho in dustries languished. Ho read letters from ono group of 15 sawmills in ono part of the stato that woro offered sawing of bridgo Umbers from San Francisco, but tho' largo firm at tho bay was Just as powerless to got ears as tho llttlo mills wore. Those little sawmills wore closed dwon. Tholr proprietors woro thrown out of busi ness and naturally became onomlos of all corporations. Thoy would, If drlvon to desperation, with business ruined and valuo of tholr plants de stroyed, becomo enemies of all law and ordor. Such a policy was danger out to. nil interests as woll ns thoso of tho corporations themselves. If it was a fact that Bhlpmonts of lumber by thousands of carloads havo ceased to go from Oregon, and scores of in terior sawmills and logging camps woro shut down, tho peopio had a right to know It If thoro was no relief com ing from tho managors of tho corpo rations, tho people would ask for tho Intervention of tho courts and tho strong arm of tho Jawraakng powor Our industries havo a right to live. Oregon had treated tho corporations fairly. Taxes woro light Thoro was uio Ioglelatlvo Interference. Thoy woro unwlsoly defying favorablo con ditions for tholr existence, Thero Is No Protection. Tho Bpoakor said thoro was now no logal protection against any injustice suffered by tho Bhlppor. Ho comment ed on tho uttoranco of cxQovornor Geer to tho offoet that tho Oregon railroad commission law was "ono of Uio greatest of useless and expensive luxuries." Yet tho supremo court had uphold It in all Its powers. Tho ox goprnor aK sajtl: s , a 'w "For six, years wa not only have had no railroad commission but wo havo no legislation wgttlaUng In any man ner olthor the freight or passenger rates of our railroad lines." Tho. McBritto bill was now boforo Uie peopio of Washington. That bill was radically different fronv Uio old Oregon railroad law. Tho Oregon law eompoUed ovory Bhlppor to-go Into tho courts and provo his claim or estab lsh that tho rates wero unjust and un reasonable. This gava the railroads nil the advantage as tiioy woro bettor prepared to llUgato. But tho 'McBrida law made Uio railroad company go Into court and establish the justice and reasonableness of Its rates.' That was oxacUy tho rovorso of tho old Orogon commission law. It was at club In tho hands of Uio shippers that hadglvon grdat advnntngoa to tho ship pers and lndusrlos of Uio stato of Washington and Uiey woro organised and demanding a 0 cent rato to all Missouri rlvor points. Tho shippers of Oregon should organdro. The Remedy Suggested. Tho speaker did not advocate legis lation of any kind lni particular. Ho doplored that Uioro should bo any causo for complaint among Uio busi ness men of Uio slate, and urged th'at tho greatest considoraUon and tho ut most conciliation bo employed. Tho Commorclal .fllub bad only acted as an Intermediary to glvoand opportu nity for tho cornpllatfbn of uYtrtfacSl and thero had been no attempt (o mako lmprppor use of theso communi cations oi injuro or alarm Uio corpora tons. But theso facU should coma (Continued on Pago'Six.) o ' I 'u. il ' ,i v X M v i Selz Royal Blue . i d if all tho women In the state Wo educated up to tho standard of e women who are active members th9 grange tho speaker sajd ho uld not bo afraid to trust tnem Uio ballot on equal terms with -.. . ..linn f tt "e men ino cuuawuuuyu v- -v nama canal was going to bo a great Ject lesson for the people, and he lloved there wore persons in Uio idionco who would livo to seo ublo-track ralroad built, owned and rated from the AtlanUc to tho Pa- flc by tho federal government, as U as Just as legitimate aa a govoro- ent canal, and would bo far moro ful. Cheaper transportation would rich and clvlllie the masses more any c'rir Influence. With good pads all would keep better teams d tako mor pleasure out of living the couiUj and property 10 miles Horn a town vro Id not bo one-quarter far away as I was wIUi bad roods. ch as prevail too much bqv?. Rates Mutt Be Reasonable, If one corporaUoa owned all the ilroad and Bteambot lines la West- a Oregon, rates must still bo fair d reasonable. That was the ver "t of the supreme court In the anger caww in the T0, and those Incisions treat farthsr and said that a railroad company did not haul. eflt of access to tho best market? Was there no way to protect Uie Bhlppor against such lossw, which according to their own statements, by tho scare,, rangod from $G0 up to J10.000, In sin gle Instances in absolute loss of es tablished trade In many Instance?. He reviewed the offorts of members of the legislature to get considoraUon for a bill to romedy the car shortage and their failure. A Portland news paper bad shpwn for months the ter rible lossos of the shippers from oar shortage, and on the day tho bill come up for passage it called the car short age a mere bugaboo. Another Portr land newspaper absolutely champion ed Uio advance in lumber rates as right Tho Sawmills Paralyzed, Thero bad been a depression In ' lumber business tho past yrar and v top of this came the car shortage In the fall, cutUng down the supply of oars from, whore 10 were needed to one or two cars per day. From Au gust to November the sltnaUoa got worse. Ta$ oar shortago haa practi cally ruined some of the best sawmills la the state. Tbaj- were ooapeWed to close down tfeelr mills and logging caaH Their trade it. gone. Their eoBtraote could set he fulfilled. TUy lost the good will of their customers. V - "& . 3 "The Sole of HonW Tiie next time yots hpy a p&it of shoes, he good to yottf self; consider the Interest? of yott feet and yout pocketlbook; get a pait of Sel Royal Blte shoes. One pafe of these famous shoes will teach ' you mote afcoat shoe-comfort and shoe money economy than yot Ve learned from all the shoes yot ever wos?e. You can find a shoe dealer who sells them; ot asfc the best one yot know to get thfem for yot. As a lat resort? write to ns The shoas are yrVh the trothle of getting; t" m them. , VS Regular stiyes and leathers $3.50. Special styles $4.00. Any s&oe with the name SeU on t is a good snoe. . HIL CHfCA6p.f largest maters of good siioes to tfiye wqrl. J. X. Stockton & Co. Agent s? Salemt