Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1906)
THE OMAHA DAILY ft EE: SUNDAY, MAY 13,' 1906. With Edward Rosewater at the Universal Postal Congress at Rome Rome, the Center of the Religious and Political World, Is Now Entertaining the First Truly International Gathering that Ever Assembled in that Wonderful City of Palaces and Ruins (Continued from Pat One.) moans for unifying, simplifying and Improving International, postal Inter course. This appeal was received with favor and In 18 63 the first Inter national conference, with fourteen countries participating, was held la Paris. In that body the United States was represented by Johd A. KaRson, then first assistant postmaster general. As the result of that conference postal treaties were concluded between sev eral of the nations and five years later, under the lead of Postmaster General Stcpban of the North German confed eration, a postal congress was con voked at Berne for the purpose of or ganizing an international postal union, In which the contracting countries should form but a single postal terri tory, with uniform letter postage and,' free transit for the malls. All Eu rope, the United States of America and Egypt responded affirmatively to the Invitation which the federal council of Switzerland extended for the pro poned congress of the nations. At this, the first postal congress, held at Berne In October, 1874, twenty-two countries, containing an aggregate population of 300,000,000, were represented. At the second pos tal congress, held in Paris in 1S78, thirty-eight countries participated. The third congress was held in Lisbon In 1885, fifty-three states partici pating; the fourth In Vienna, in 1891, with fifty-six countries within the postal union. At the fifth congress, held in Washington In 1897, fifty-eight countries, with an aggregate population of 1,132,000,000, participated, and the formal addition of China, which as yet had not been In a position to conform to the treaty stipulations exacted from all nations, enrolled within the postal union, the total popula tion will exceed 1. 500000, 000. As a matter of fact China has in formally taken part in the postal congresses. In the congress of 1897 China's minister to the United States, Wu Ting Fang, was registered as a delegate for China, and in the present congress Huang Kao, envoy extraordinary and China at the royal Italian court at Rome, dence at the opening of the congress and in every function since. Personnel of Roman Congress The personnel of the congress of Rome, like that In the con gress at Washington, Is chiefly composed of postal and telegraph functionaries of the highest rank, and Incidentally of high diplomatic Iowa's State Railroad Commission arid Its Service to OWA has ben pointed to for some years as posaesalnK a model rail road commission law. Governor Larrabe. on the occasion of his recent birthday, when be ad dressed tho legislature on Its Invitation, stated that tha "Iowa commissioners lw ' Is a model and pattern to other states." The law was put on the' statnte books dur ing his administration and he was one of its authors and has followed its workings year by year since that time. Magaslnes have sent their writers here to study the workings of the law and books have been written on it. Tho (lrnt attempt In Iowa at anything looking towards a control of railroad rates was In 18?, when an attempt was made to force all railroads to publish their rates. This waa by the Ninth general aaaembly. In 18:6 the Eleventh general assembly was about to enact a law for the regulation of railroad rates, but the attorney general advised that such a law would be uncon stitutional and the matter was dropped. Only the first of the oppressive charges of the railroads were being felt at' this time. The effort during all the early his tory of the state was to encourange the building of railroads in the state. The stats being agricultural, primarily, was depend ent upon the eastern states for a market for Its grain and this market could only be reached by the agency of railroads and hence the encouragement to the railroads to build. In 1S70 Iowa was the sixth In the Hat of states so far as the mileage of roads was concerned, having at that time 2,683 miles. The states that outranked it were Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Ohio. Crasser Movement la Iwsu It waa about the time of the Ninth and Eleventh general assemblies when the first Incipient efforts looking toward control of the railroads was made, that the Granger movement began to get started. In 1871, - according to authorities, there were i.OOO granges with a membership of about 1X). 000 In Iowa and the grange became the Champion of the oppressed farmer and the heJ of the movement to control the rail roads. August 13, 1873, there was held In Pes Moines an anti-monopoly convention, at which the railroads were the chief cor porations discussed. Addresses were made at that time by the leading men of the State at the head of the Granger movement and the legislation at the hands of the Fifteenth general assembly In 1R74 waa probably partly traceable to the Influence and public sentiment created by this anti monopoly convention. This waa the first legislation looking to a control of railroads or. railroad rates. It was the passage of the maximum rate law. The act aa a mat ter of fact actually raised the average of railroad freight rates and waa In effect an equalising law, eliminating to s large extent discriminations. The act took effect July 4, 1874, and was a Just and fnlr law to both the railroads and the public, and specially to the railroads, as It reined the average of the rates. Put the railroads took a hostile attitude and went Into th Courts with It. The result was a seria of declxlona which established the right of the reople to control railroad rates Four years later the law waa repealed throiiRh the hostility of the railroads and their In fluence on the legislature. Wasted a romni tsatoa. It was asserted that the law was too rUrld and coupled with thia waa the be lief that a commission could do more with the railroads than a law -ould. Influential men came to prefer a railroad commission without a rule law to a rate law without a commission, and this sentiment grew Into the railroad commlssioa tn 187S by the same general assembly that repealed the maximum rate law. The law creating the commission waa modeled largely after the Massachusetts law, the commission being appointed by the governor with' the advice and consent of the executive council. . Under this commie-don law I6a enjoyed a season or prosperity. --The eomaqlssln was composed of able and efficient men. Peter A. Dey served as one of .the com missioners -from the organisation of the oomniUdlou, March 2a, ur.t, to IK, lie Waa v!.;.Sii i I I ,:r -: K! GRAND SALON IN THE minister plenipotentiary of was conspicuously in evl- - Dedzalay, " ' ' ' A -. I, -.fi '- - '..' . , - . x. j. PAtaran or waphtnotow CllAlKMAN IOWA RAIL, WAY COM , MISSION. one of the commissioners that built the copltol and for years a foremost cltixen of the state. With him In the flrat com- mission was Cyrus C. Carpenttr and James W. McDlll. Carpenter and McDlll served short terma and were succeeded by Marcus C Woodruff and Albert R. Anderson, and Woodruff was soon after succeeded by James Wilson, now secretary of agriculture ln Rooaevclfs cabinet. Lorenso S. Coffin of Webster county and Frank T. Campbell of Jasper county were early commissioners who made a deep study of the railroad questlon. The reports of the Iowa Railroad commis sion from the time of Its organisation on for some years contains many self-congratulatory statements on the good work done. The work was good and showed valuable services to the state for many years. The commission was advisory only, and had little authority to enforce Its or ders and findings, except the force of pub lic opinion to be had from publicity, ' but Its rules were for the most part obeyed and little friction occurred. It seemed that the commission satisfied the railroads. After a short time there Is little doubt but that the commission drifted Into a way of considering only the small complaints that were brought to it and did not go out to consider the lamer matters of Import ance and to force the roads to deal Justly with the entire atate on these matters that affected the entire state. The matters considered by the board were mainly mat ters on the personal complaint of Indi vidual patrons of a road. fe That Started Troabl. December 4, IBM, the Institute for the Feeble Mlnled at Glenwcod filed a com- ' plaint that the Burlington railroad charged more for coal shipped from Cleveland to Glenwood than for coal shipped from Cleve land to Council Bluffs, a longer distance. The case waa brought Into considerable prominence and there was a publto bearing by the railroad commission, which found that there was a discrimination against Glenwood which ahould be stopped, and the rallread raised the rate to Council Bluffs Instead of lowering It to Qlen o 'd. which, created universal dissatisfaction. The public DKured thut If the railroad could haul coal to Council Bluffs at a profit for a certain sum It could haul It to Olvnwood for a h.sa sum and make a profit, but the railroad eliminated the discrimination tn another way and tfc public was ever con vinced that the railroad was making too much profit on Us freight. It was at this Urn that Governor Larra t v ' Ar. . fir j. a J -v ' if 4. I ill 1 J in-1 1 CALONNA PALACE. WHERE THE POSTAL CONGP.ES3 MET. representatives of the respective nations stationed at the capital of the country in which the congresses hold their sessions. Thus, at the congress at Washington, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Egypt, India, Roumania and a number of other countries were represented by their postmasters general, while Turkey, Korea, China, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal and several other nations-were represented by their respective ministers pleni potentiary at Washington.. About one-fourth of the 138 members of the congress of Rome represented their respective countries at Washington In 1897. Conspicuous among these are Chevalier Pierre postmaster general of Hungary; Jussu master general of Egypt; J. B. Ploda, former minister of Switzer land to the United States and now Swiss minister to Rome; Ahmed Fahri Bey, director general of Turkish posts and telegraphs; Cheva lier de.Stlbral of Austria; M. Sterpln, postmaster general of Bel glum; Ivan Stoyanovltch, postmaster general of Bulgaria; Don Carlos Florer., director general of posts of Spain; Mirza All Khan, post master general and director of revenues for Persia; M. Sevastlanoff, E. A. DAWSON. bee went before the commission. He didn't occupy a great deal of time -with what he said, but with the brevity that has ever marked bla utterances said a great deal. He pointed out to the commission that a great per cent of the cases It con- sldered were of a trifling nature when oom- P1 'lll th 36.000.000 received annually b the railroads from the people. He de- clr hat the law wa od If "ved up . tn " commission had allowed "e" drft and would have to go unless It did better. The people, who, after the creation of the commission In 1878, had felt satisfied that now all would be well. One of Ho. m I r I a --Jf-rVM. x -""v ,111'" fl .N-ri'.. : ; h .... Vli : -"Turn k director general of posts and telegraphs of Russia; E. A. Dogan, postmaster general of India, and several others. Among the dele gates that hold positions In the diplomatic corps In addition to the ministers of China and Switzerland are to be noted Gonzalo Esteva, minister and envoy extraordinary of Mexico at Rome; Tommasso Segarlni, consul general of Guatemala at Rome; Dr. Allerto Blanco, charge d'affaires-of Argentina, near the Holy See, and a score of others. ' Notable among the high postal officials who Were not In the congress of Washington are: Edward de Krusenstjcrna, postmaster general of Sweden and former minister of the Interior; Alfredo Perelra, director general of posts and telegraphs of Portu gal; Norberto Domineguez, postmaster .general of Mexico; J. . C. , d'Pop, postmaster general of the Netherlands; Takejl Karvamura, postmaster general of Japan; Commander Elio Morpurga, postmas ter'general of Italy; " Austin Chapman, member of Parliament and postmaster general of the commonwealth of Australia; Sir Joseph G. Ward, postmaster general and member of the executive council of New Zealand. The English delegation, headed by H. Babblng-. Saba Pacha, post HON. N. 8. KETCHUM OF MARSHALL-TOWN. and had Blackened tn their efforta, were now aroused again and bent their efforts to secure control of the legislature. There was another meeting of manufacturers tn Des Moines, January 26, 1888. very similar to the anti-monopoly convention of Au gust 13, 1873, and resolutions were adopted calling on the legislature to give the rail road commission power to enforce Its rul ings and orders and to have control of all freight and passenger tariffs. The publlo was satisfied that the rates were op pressive and the shippers also took up the fight. They demanded that the carload rate from outside the state to the Jobber, Nebraska's Fine Musical Organizations : a s mm X-:.. :. COMMERCIAL CLUB BAND OP YORK. Iff Iff f ft T ' ' ' .5S&'A-'V L..r- ...n-,., ... ,. '..-. vV.-., .:'?-.Trr.- ,-r---r- . - .y: COURT IN plus the less than carload rate from the Jobber to the local consumer, should not exceed the less than Tarload rate from outside the state to the local consumer. . The Jobbers' rale had been abolished In 18S5by the railroads at the Instigation, It is alleged, of the Chicago Jobbers and soon there were no Jobbing houses In the state, wnere there had been many. Scheme that Won the Day. The public waa not in s, very friendly frame of mind toward the railroads when the general assembly met In 1888. The peo ple had control of the legislature by a fx. v . r ; l mm . ',,-; "1 V' VV"4 - V '" 1 J Ji ' 1 VX M -.- ; Su: 1 -. . i wyi 1 ii: j THE PALACE POSTOFFICE AND OP ton Smith, secretary of the general postoffice of Great Britain, who has taken the place of Sir William Walpole, deceased, Is exception ally strong, and has already mado himself a powerful factor in the discussion of the pending propositions for ameliorating and simpli fying the international postal service. While every nation In the Postal union has but one vote re gardless of territorial extent or population, England has adroitly managed to command half a dozen votes through its colonies and dependencies Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, each have one vote; other unnamed British colonies are accorded one vote and if the two delegates that propose to represent the Transvaal and Orange Free State are accorded a voice, Great Britain will carry a great deal more weight than any other country. While I shall venture no prediction concerning the interna tional postal reforms that will emanate from the present postal con gress, the postal treaty of Rome Is to be a unique historical docu ment in being the first treaty ever signed by the plenipotentiaries of more than sixty nations. EDWARD ROSEWATER. 1 ;:;;:; : jj D WIGHT N. LPTWI3 SECRETARY RAIIc -WAY COMMISSION. Bmall majority. The leaders of the people proposed In the legislature an Iniquitous bill, which was Introduced. It drew the fire of the railroads. The bill was intro- duced purposely in order that the railroads could be induced to compromise on a fair measure. This was carried through nicely and a bill passed April 8. 1888. which gave the commission a great deal of power. The law prohibited rebates and prohibited charging more for a short haul than for a long one. The commission was given authority to fix rates and It went to work at once on maximum rates and classifications. An attempt was ma to take Into considera tion the rates already In force, but a lack of any uniformity or governing principle was found. The new law waa to go Into effect May 10, 1888, but the railroads ap plied for an Injunction to Judge Brewer, who, while holding that the law was un constitutional, held that the rates put Into effect by the commission did not give the railroads proper compcnsalon and ao made the injunction against putting It into force permanent. Commission 'Wins the Flaht. The railroads withdrew all their special rates and put Into effect a straight distance tariff and the Davenport shippers at onca filed a complaint against the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, Chicago, Milwaukee A St. Paul, Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern and Minneapolis A 8t. Louis roads, charging conspiracy to defeat the law and discrimination. The railroad com mission Issued another maximum rate schedule and classlflratlon, but adopted the western classlnoatlon Instead of the Illinois, which took It out from under the first per manent Injunction. There was another hearing before Judge Brewer on the In junction, but he refused to make It per manent, aaylng that It waa Impossible to tell whether the commission or the rail roads were right as to the reasonableness of the rates except by trying them. Ex cept for the changes that have been made from time to time Iowa Is still working under the law of 188S and the ratea and clasHlfllcatlona fixed by the commission ur-der It. It was arKued that a Joint rate was needd and the Twenty-third general as sembly passed m law giving the commis sion to put Into force a Joint rate. The commission fixed Joint rates and a suit on an Injunction was heard In the courts and carried to the supreme court. There was one suit to restrain the commission from acting under the law. In which the com TELEGRAPH. Shippers mission won, and later another to restrain the commission from putting In effect the Joint rates. In which the railroads won. The decision of the state supreme court was not on the constitutionality of the Joint rate law, but on legal technicalities, it being held that Insufficient notice had been, given the railroads. That was In 18M, but the commission has never since taken up the question of a Joint rate, though It has often been threatened. Now there Is a dif ference of opinion In the minds of leading; men of the state aa to the need of a Joint rate. Present Day Problems. Iowa now has cheaper freight rates than most uny other state In the union. Mem bers of the commission say that a careful comparison will show that Iowa's rates are not only cheaper, but that on the classes of freight principally handled tho aveiage of the rales are a great deal cheaper. ' The Iowa classification Is the same aa Is known as the western classi fication. Must agricultural Implements, when set up, and furniture, when crated, goes at the llrst-cluss rute. The Imple ments knocked down or the material In the rough, and furniture knocked down and the material in the rough goes as third cIusb. In carload Jots or with a large mlfclmum weight the same things go as class A, The claims of the Iowa com mission seems to be true of everything ex cept cattle, on which the state rates are larger than those of Missouri or Illinois for distances of 100, 200, 300 or 400 miles. The charges for state rates are quite satisfactory to the Iowa shipper, though at times there arises some agitation for a Joint rate. There Is some question as to whether another Joint rate will ever be put In be-' cause of the peculiar conditions that pre vail In the state. Those well versed in the conditions of shipping assert that 80 per cent of the shipments Inside the state of Iowa are on a single line of railroad, and that tho per cent would remain about the same even If a Joint rate were put In. Furthermore, It Is asserted that the Iowa shippers are better pleased to have tha lower rates, lower than other states, than to have the joint rate and higher rate, for It Is argued that If a Joint rate, la put in the level of rates must be raised to about that of the adjoining states. The compari son with Missouri and Illinois Is espe cially advantageous, aa those states each have Joint rates In force. The shipment of cuttle In the slate Is very small,' the shipment of that class being largely across the borders of the state to Chicago or Omaha. This Is the reason assigned for the rates on that class being a little higher than those of Missouri or Illinois which have big packing plants Inside the state lines. A glance at the other rates for straight shipments will show that the Iowa rates are less than In Missouri or Illinois. How it Works Out. Suppose 100 pounds Is to be shipped In Iowa over three roads a total distance, of eighty miles. Five miles Is over one line., twenty-tive over another and fifty over anutnur. If the shipment went us nisi class for the five miles wllhoul any Joint rale tho charge would be 14 cents fur live miles; for twenty-live miles, 17 cents, and fur fitly miles, 'to cents. The tutal would 61 cents. In Illinois the Joint rate uu una shipment wouid be 34 cents and in Mis souri 3i cents. But keep In mind that ail per cent of the shipments of Iowa go over one line of railroad at the single clfap rale fur the eighty miles of 12. i cunts. It Is the universal experience that if the Joinl rate Is put In the single rate must bo raised to some extent. Now the question Iowa people are asking themselves U, "Will we consent to have the rate for the SO per cent of our shipments over single linos raised in order to get a Joint rale for I tie 20 per cent of the shipments?" The reason why tw per cent of the ship ments In Iowa are over a single Hue of railway Is quickly seen. Take the Illinois Central, which dues not enter the city of Lea Mulnea. The Illinois Central extend (Continued on Page Bevn4