i T-mjn"- i7TnTiTni i',ii"lT""ftTffifwliWWffjftMH'Mtii I
FEBRUARY 24, 1905
! 1 I T 11 1 M
The Commoner.
11
WWll'Wwf,MWlWWWW
E "..a ' rnr- 0if u iTrrywrSo
V
Rebates and Secretary Morton
WWMMWMWWWMftWliWWti
1
Since the results of the interstate com
merce commission's inquiry concerning
rebates paid unlawfully to the Colo
rado Fuel and Iron company by the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad
company were made known, additional
facts pointing to other violations of
law by the Atchison company have
come to light. They have been received
by the public with much interest, not
only because they relate to the pro
jected railway legislation so earnestly
desired by Mr. Roosevelt but also for
the reason that they direct attention
to the conduct and utterances of Sec
retary Paul. Morton before he entered
the cabinet.
Reviewing, on the 12th ult, the
available evidence in this Colorado
Fuel case, we spoke of President Rip
ley's application for a further hearing,
at which, it was said, it would be
shown that Mr. Morton's side of the
case should be presented Xully and
without delay, in order that public
opinion might be formed justly. But
Mr. Ripley has withdrawn his applica
tion, Mr. Morton has made no explan
ation, and the commission holding, as
Mr. Prouty said, that the two com
panies had shown a "barefaced disre
gard of the law" is about to lay the
evidence before the department of jus
tice, with the expectation that prosecu
tion will follow.
Secretary Morton said to the public,
a few weeks ago, that the president
RHEUMATISM
Through the Feet
Thousands are Being Cured at Home
Every Month by This New Discovery
Which is Sent to Everybody to
TRY FREE-PAY WHEN SATISFIED.
The son of B. J. Tcarcc, health ofllcer of Now
Westminister, 33. C, had rheumatism so badly
that ho couldn't walk alone. Maglcj Foot Drafts
cured him In a week.
Mrs. Mary Patrick, Watcrtown, N. Y. for more
than a year couldn't get up from her chair.
Magic Foot Drafts cured her.
The Drafts cured Z. II. Palmer of Pittsburg,
Pa. who had. suffered twenty-eight years.
U. C. Van Valkenburg, Providence, R. J.
writes: "1 don't believe any person over had
muscular rheumatism as bad as I havo
had it and recovered so quickly for which I
thank your Magic Foot Drafts."
Letters from tho above and many thousands
of other cured patients are on flic in our ofliccs
wbcro anyone can see them.
TRWeUMK
JflB
We want the name and address of every suffer
er from rheumatism. Write us today. Return
mall will bring you free to try a pair of tho
famous Magic Foot Drafts, tho great Michigan
discovery which is curing all kinds of rhcuma
tlsm, chronic or acute. If you are satisfied with
the benefit received from tho Drafts, send us one
dollar. If not, keep your money. You drcide.
Tho Drafts aro worn on the feet becauso tho
largest pores are there; but they cure rheuma
tism in every part of the body to stay cured
because they absorb tho acid impurities from th
blood through these pores and reach the entire
nervous system through the extremely sensitive
nerve centers of the leet. Don't suffer need.
Icisly, but send your nauio today to tho Muglc,
Foot Dralt Co., XC25 3Iajcstic,Dldg., Jackson
Mich. The Dralts, together with our splendid
new free book ,on rheumatism, wllLcome by re
turn mail. .cnd no money only your name.
Wrlto today. ... -
had asked him to take up the problem
of railroad supervision and that he had
consented to remain in the cabinet in
order that he might do so, and might
assist the president in obtaining need
ed legislation. It is natural and rea
sonable, therefore that the public
should be interested in the record
made by the secretary while he was
vice president of the Atchison and su
pervising the freight traffic of that
great company.
We have heretofore given the sub
stance of the evidence in the Colorado
Fuel rebate case. It is alleged that
rebates amounting to about $1,000 a
day were allowed for four days (up to
November last) and that a competing
company was thus driven out of busi
ness and virtually into bankruptcy.
The traffic manager, Mr. Biddle, who
was subject to Mr. Morton's authority,
assumes the entire responsibility for
what was done. Mr. Morton has not
denied that recently to a newspaper
correspondent he expressed approval of
Biddle's action, saying that he would
have taken the same course.
There was published on the 2ist ul
timo what was said to be the full and
exact text of a pooling agreement
(some 3,000 words) between the At
chison and the Southern Pacific, cov
ering territory in southern California,
and the southwest, dated May 18, 189G,
and signed by J. C. Stubbs for the South
ern Pacific and by Paul Morton for the
Atchison. Provision was made for can
celing it after December 31, 1897, if
ninety days notice should first be
given. Mr. Morton declined last week
to discuss the matter. The question
whether the agreement is still in force
has not been answered. Making such
an agreement was well known to be a
direct violation of the interstate com
merce act. Under the decisions of the
courts it was also a violation of the
Sherman act. In the orange rate case,
three years later, an officer of the
Southern Pacific denied that there had
been an agreement. Mr. Morton tes
tified that the two companies (there
were no others doing business in south
ern California) co-operated in making
contracts with private car lines. "There
is necessarily," said he "a great deal
of co-operation between us." If his
signature was wrongfully published in
connection with what is alleged to be
a copy of an unlawful pooling agree
ment he should have said so last week.
One year ago (Jan. 19, 1904) the com
mission made a decision in a case
brought before it by certain manufac
turers .of salt at Hutchinson, Kan.,
who complained that they had virtu
ally been driven out of business by re
bates which tho Atchison road had
given to a salt company controlled
by two brothers of Secretary Morton.
In a recent volume of the commission's
reports the record may be found. Joy
Morton was president of the salt com
pany and Mark Morton its treasurer.
A siding, or spur track, in all less than
5,000 feet, connected the Atchison line
with the mills. Owning this side track,
the salt makers incorporated it under
the name of the Hutchinson and Ar
kansas River Railroad company, of
which Joy Morton was president and
Mark Morton treasurer. They had
neither a locomotive nor a car. But
with the Atchison (of which Paul Mor
ton was vice president) they were able
to make a traffic agreement which al
lotted to these 5,000 feet of side track
about 25 per cent of the freight charges
on salt. Thi3 disguised rebate amount
ed to 50 cents a ton on salt to Kansas
City, 235 miles, the full rate being
$2. Therefore the Morton brothers were
easily able to undersell their Hutch'in-
There are Many Imitations of
Baker's Cocoa
and
Baker's Chocolate
Dotit be misled by them !
Our trade-mark is on every
package of genuine goods.
Under the decisions of several
United States Courts, no
other chocolate or cocoa than
Walter Baker & Co.'s is en
titled to be sold as "Baker's
r ' t 1 i ai1 1
Look for ihuTrdc-Maik ocoa or waiter s nocoiate
Our handsomely illustrated recipe book
sent free.
Walter Baker & Co. Ltd.
Established 1 7 80 Dorchester, Massachusetts
45 Highest Awards in Europe and America
ismara
iwuywv
son competitors at Kansas City and
other markets, and they did so under
sell them with the great beef com
panies at Kansas City and Omaha and
St. Joseph.
"A mere suberfuge to give a conces
sion in rates, and therefore unlawful,"
was the decision of the commission,
which brought the evidence to tne at
tention of the district attorney, ex
plaining that he was "required to prose
cuite such violations under the direc
tion of the attorney general." Secre
tary Morton has declined to discuss
this case. Commissioner Prouty re
marks that for five years past the At
chison has been guilty of "deliberate,
extensive, persistent and flagrant vio
lations of the statutes."
Mr. Morton has testified frankly be
fore the commission and in court. In
1901 he admitted that his company's re
bate agreement with the beef com
panies was illegal. "We knew that it
was." In the grain rate inquiry (fol
lowed by injunctions) he explained that
the published rates were disregarded
by his company and all its competitors.
Testifying in the orange rate case in
California, he said:
"We tried the costly experiment of
being honest in this thing living up
to the law as we understood it, and de
clining to pay rebates; and we lost so
much business that we found we had
to do as the Romans did."
In public statements he has recently
urged that carriers or shippers guilty
of giving rebates or preferences "by
any device" should be severely pun
ished. We do not question the sincerity of
the expressed disapproval of such in
justice and such violations of the law.
But, being a member of the cabinet,
and, as he says, having consented to
assist the president in procuring leg
islation in accord with the latter's rail
way policy, he owes to the administra
tion and the public a full and frank
explanation of all the transactions, al
leged to have been unlawful or unjust,
with which he has been connected liv
official reports, other publications, and
ins own testimony. S'uch an explana
tion should be made at once.
It is also Mr. Morton's duty to con
sider carefully whether, in view of tho
record as it stands, or even as it will
stand after any explanation he may
decide to make, the reform projects
and other policies of the president can
be commended to the public or other
wise promoted by anything he, re
maining in the cabinet shall do or say.
The Independent.
How Congress Can Acquit Itself
Representative Mann and a few oth
er unusually sensitive members re
sent a reputed statement that two
thirds of the congressmen owe their
election to the railroada. It is a good
sign to find the national legislators
displaying a sensitiveness to such crit
icism. Probably the statement, if It
was made, is not true. While it la
possible that two-thirds the members
of congress have received railroad aid
in their campaigns, either for nomin
ation or election, we doubt very much
if nearly 30 large a proportion of mem
bers as that was elected through tho
railroad influence.
The best way for congress to dis
prove the slander is to" pass the rail
road legislation requested by Presi
dent Roosevelt. Noboay, when that
is done, will believe two-thirds of con
gress Is owned by the syndicated rail
roads. New York Press.
Stops
Chills
"Painktttat
(PEHRY DAVIS')
Cures
Colds
, n
a'
.. .
3