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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1905)
J Vol. XVI. LINCOLN, NEB., MARCH 10, 1905. No. 43 A LI 4 i i! i 4 f ) RATES OIIJRIIITURE The "Reasonable" Extortion Pract iced on the Furniture Dealers and consumers r LOCAL HATE IS TREMENDOUS The Shrewdness of "Experts" in Rate - Making-They are Simply Well Trained Pickpockets. , Editor Independent: In this letter -we will speak only of car load rates on furniture from Chicago. A mixed car of furniture, fourth class, mini mum weight, 20,000 pounds, to Gales burg, 163 miles, by way of C, B. & Q., or to Burlington, la., 206 miles, the freight is $44. To Des Moines, 372 "miles; Oskatoosa, S35 miles; Ottumwa, 280 miles, it is $53. To Creston, 393 miles, fourth class, is 31 cents per 100 pounds, making the car $63. To Red Oak, 443 miles, the fourth class rate Is 32 cents, making the freight $64. To Omaha, 500 miles, the special rate is 30 cents per 100 pounds, making the freight on our car $60. To Lincoln, 550 miles, and a little less distance to Fremont, the rate to either point Is $68, although the through class rate would indicate $73. To Columbus, 590 miles from Chicago, or ninety-four miles from Omaha, the through class rate would indicate $106, but, by using the special 30 cent rate, Chicago , to Omaha, and the local fourth class rate of 31 cents, as we are entitled to do, the freight is $102. It would be interesting to know from tne lurm ture dealers at Columbu3 which rate i has been ; and is being collected of them. One hundred and two dollars on ' combinations of Omaha and local is the rate, to Norfolk,' fifty miles ; nortn . of,, Columbus, but the short line and nat- ural route. west to Norfolk is via the C. & N. W., and Norfolk , is entitled to much lower rates than she gets because the long haul of a competing (?) line makes the rate higher on the short haul than it should be in order that the spoils of competition (?) may be divided on a high rate basis. The furniture dealer at Norfolk has had some experience in trying to get 3hore line rates. ' The freight on our car of furniture to Central City, 135 miles from Omaha, and 630 miles from Chicago, is $116 on Omaha combination. The rate to Grand Island, 156 miles from Omaha, is $120 from Chicago. In other words, the 500 mile haul, Chicago to Omaha, is $60, and the 156 miles further haul, Omaha to Grand Island, i3 $60 more, making $120 total. If we figure the 'Grand Island rate on the through class ' rate basis from Chicago, the . freight 'would be $124. To St. Paul," Neb., twenty-two miles from Grand Island, the rate is $136, or $76 for 176, mile portion of a 676 mile through haul, while the 500 mile por '' tion is $60, And they tell us ton per " mile rates, as made by railway "ex perts," are reasonable. To Kearney, 200 miles from Omaha, the rate is 67 cent3, made on the 30 cent special rate, "Chicago to Omaha, 500 mile haul, and Z7 cents, fourth class local for the 200 mile further . haul to Kearney, total $134. " The through fourth class rate, Chicago to Kearney, is 69 cents, and At billed through on that rate the freight would be $138, or $4 overcharge, and more than likely that is the rate which Mr. Switz and every local dealer in the state has been mulched into paying. ; To Callaway, sixty-five miles . up the Kearney branch, the car rate is $158 from Chicago on the sum of local and through rate, but the fourth class rate through makes the car $162, so in all; probability Callaway dealers ," ' have been mulched into $4 overcharge on all their car load business. To . North Platte, 294 miles from- Omaha, the Chicago freight on our car of fur- niture is 55 cents per 100 pounds plus 30 cents, or 85 cents through, making : $170 for the car. The clas3 rate is 87 - cents through, which means $4 a car - more if the class rate is collected than the dealer should pay, even though based on their extortionate local rate - Rheet. The writer 1$ not advised whether there is a furniture -dealers' association in the state or not, but if there be one, their attorney snould get busy and collect the thousands of dollars stolen from the furniture dealers over the amount of the rate to Omaha and local west of the Mis souri river. The facts are: the rail road "expert" rate maker enables the roads to place their local agents in the position of a pickpocket and a thief for them, because of the agents not being able to figure the true rate to which the shipper is entitled. This is done in like manner as Is the igno rant child of a thief taught and made the agent to steal. Let us make this plain. An agent, say at Kearney, who is honest and upright in intention and working for his road as faithful em ployes should work for their employer, gets a shipment billed through from Chicaeo and the classification sheet shows the goods fourth class, and the through rate to be 69 cents per 100 pound3 and the shipment weighs 20, 000 pounds. . He will naturally render and collect an expense bill to the ship per for $138. But there is a special rate as at Omaha from Chicago on. that commodity of 30 cents, or a total through rate -of 67 cents per 100 which the agent does not know about, or, II he does know, he dare not mention to the dealer, and the dealer only knows the tariffs local to his town. The road pockets $4 on that car and tells us none but an "expert" rate maker can make rates."' Before we made efforts to regulate , the rates, in explaining thir greater charge for a short haul than for a longer one, they told us the longer the haul, the less they could make the rate, and on the ton per mile theory that stands to reason as being true. But we find they now make a 638 mile haul on which the first 500 miles is 30 cents per 100 pounds and the 138 miles balance of the haul Is also 30 cents, making 60 cents per 100 pounds for what on the ton per mile haul with no reduction of rate would make a 66 cent race inrougu haul; The rate on 6ur car of furni ture on that basis would be $76 to Grand Island, but we find it Is $120, and to Kearney in like manner the rate would be 42 cents per 100 pounds or $84 for our car as against $134. The tax which the roads put upon us west of the .Missouri river . would turn a Turkish tax collector in Armenia green with envy." We send men to repre sent us in the legislature and they are either iznorant or base enough to per mit the corrupting element of rail roading to apply anarchy to our busi ness rights in this way. - The eerm of life in the corn produces corn, as does the germ of other things produce its . kind, and our , railroad f fiends are producing a crop of an archy; which, in their ignorance and greed, they know not of. The time is coming when they will cry out to sucn men as is the . writer to save them from result of their crime, as does the murderer cry out to the policeman to save him from the mob. A. J. GUSTIN. Kearney, Neb. ' Speaking of the 'appropriations, Mr. Hemmenway says: "I am advised by those most competent to judge that the deficiency in the revenues of the gov ernment for the current fiscal year will not exceed $18,000,000. This deficlency Is brought about by unforeseen expen ditures in two directions namely, $13, 000,000 on account ; of - new ships for the navy and also in the probable ex cess of $5,000,000 or $6,000,000 expen ditures for the postal service over the postal receipts for 1905." Mr. . Livingston, after giving various expenditures, says: "Contrasting Mr. Cleveland's second administration as to appropriations with that of Mr. Roosevelt, we find that a strenuous government, dominated by the policy of a 'big stick,' costs under Mr. Roose velt $220,412,329 more for the army, $258,184,157 more for the navy, $19,' 477,563 more for fortifications, and for the three combined military purposes $49S,074,050 more than did the same objects under Mr. Cleveland's last four years of office, a sum large enough to erect a. public building in every city and town in the country, with enough to spare to improve every harbor and waterway, necessary for "the promotion of our commerce; or it would have been sufficient to construct 200,000 miles of perfect roadways throughout the land." REGULARITY RAPPED The New York Journal Seems to Have turned Populist-Thinks Regularity not Essential PEOPLE 00 HOT ttAKftfilE LAWS What is Needed is the Iniatiative, the Referandum and the Impera tive Mandate. The New York Journal seems , to have at last come to the conclusion that there is no question of "honor" involved in the demand that a man who, attends a convention must be "regular", and submit to whatever that convention does. The Independent tookthat position from the first and is glad to see that the Journal has got around to it at last as will be seen upon reading the following editorial from that paper,' besides endorsing the rest of the populist platform: , "Under our present system of gov ernment the power of originating laws and controlling public offices is in the people that is, in theory; In practice it is not in the people. "The executive ' committee, the so cret conference, the political ring con trols legislation and governmental pol icies. " ' "In deciding what shall be done in municipal affairs, state affairs and na tional affairs there is really no public deliberation, no public- discussion, no public sentiment. - The policy which controls is decided upon in some pri vate conference, in a private - room, behind closed doors. "And after these bosses have agreed upon a program they go about creating public sentiment in favor of it and pur chasing the votes necessary to support it. Newspapers and subsidized, : lead ing politicians are approached, and the star chamber policy agreed on la se cret by the bosses is foisted upon the people by the use of what Bismarck called the reptile fund.; "Thus it is that the great body of the American people, in whom the constitution of the country recognizes sovereign power, are reduced to help lessness. "Roughly, they are divided into two great parties republican and demo cratic. The individual democrat must indorse the star chamber methods and policies of his party or be villifled by its newspapers and its leaders as a deserter and a traitor. The individual republican must swallow whatever dose his star chamber bosses prepare for him or be denounced by the edi tors and the leaders as a renegade or an apostate. , "Thus the party lash makes coward3 of us all, and has subdued us to a polit ical servitude that is shameful to our selves and destructive of the best In terests of our country. "The great body of the people know nothing of the laws that .are being passed until they are called on to obey them. They have no hand in building political platforms. They have no con trol over political nominations. And when they put men in office by their submissive votes they have no control over the officer during his term of service. "In the case of the federal Judge we have an officer not appointed by the people, not in touch with the people, not controllable by the people, and yet exercising vast powers which he alone defines; which his selfish Interests and ambition cause him constantly to en large; and neither the executive nor the legislative branch of the govern ment seems disposed to assert itself, and, by checking the usurpations of the judicial department, preserve that bal ance between the three great branches of the government which was contem plated by our fathers and is necessary for the wellbeing of the republic. "Neither tf the two old political partiea proposes any remedy for this alarming state of affairs. A new party should propose a remedy, one which has been tried in a civilized state, among Christian people, and found ef fective. It should give to the peo ple the right to initiate such laws aa they think they need and to do this, by petition. It should give them the ngut io veio sucn laws as wey ao not need, and this may be done by bavins all laws referred back to the voters for their discussion and ratification. "If they do not approve the law, they vote against it and thus condemn It That would be the end of It. "A new party should give the people the right to instruct their officers and to compel those officers to represent the people. "When such an officer refuses to do. his duty and becomes a traitor to the people who elected him, then they snould have the right at once to recall him, to cancel his commission and to choose another representative," Right You Are The Yonkers Statesman fcets off the following: "I was reading in the. newspaper of the great American desert?" asked the lady at the head of the table. "Why, I believe the great American dessert is prunes," replied the thin boarder, feelingly. . And they were four Inches deeD un. der the trees all over the desert wher ever there was irrigation, left there to. rot, because the railroads had made a "reasonable" rate that took more than the traffic would bear. Let Us Get Together Editor Independent: The complain! is often made that reformers abuse old parties too freely. The right to expose corruption and injustice Is, per haps, the greatest bulwark of liberty, and the patriot is confronted with no sterner duty, perhaps, than to show the wrongs imposed, upon the people. If the Deople, being deceived, seem loth to receive a knowledge of actual griev ances, then the more urgent bcomes the duty to impress them with that knowledge. Constructive statesman ship is good in its place; but we first had to be made to detest the rule of. George III; to detest the institution of slavery before setting up new orders of things. The destructive policy ex hibited by the French Revolution and perhaps every revolution was first In, order of time. After thi3 comes the time for constructive statesmanship. Statesmen may theorize and build air castles in advance of a crisis, Just as Russia conceived plans by which tc suddenly conquer Japan, but policies must be shaped, to a great extent, by the demands of the hour. To Impress the people with the dark, loathsome crimes committed against them even In their name, is to unite them in an ir resistible demand for justice and lib erty; but too much philosophy and state policy Just now will divide us into populists, single taxers, prohibi tionists, etc. Let us ior me ume, uaou aside all minor questions and unite to HofhrnnA inlauitv in high places, and trust to common sense, common Justice and common patriotism for a ongnter future. No matter now long we may wait or how much we may theorize, we can at last do no better than to rely upon the whole people in the true spirit of democracy, which spirit is the soul of the Declaration of Independence, which the plutocrats so much hate. No plan, no policy ior gooa, can avau . much till the people's friends get into power. God himself might give us a perfect law on tables of gold, and yet it would be wonnress in uie uauua of its enemies. The all-important thing is to dethrone wrong ana to piace upon the throne the common justice, the common sense of the people; ana wnen the people'3 will is enthroned a prop er way will be iouna u ucuumyiinu our ends; but unless the will is in the throne no plan nor policy will be of much value to us. I have a theory which under certain conditions might be fruitful of much good, but it is idlp to think of that theory being testev while our present bosses are in power. My theory: Give each voter the rightl to vote each ticket on the Australian V ballot. The republican, or course, win not vote the democratic ticket, and the democrat will not vote the republican ticket; but each will vote to kill the be at liberty to vote some reform party partlzan has voted to kill the vote of some one on the opposite side ire will -