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
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GRAND SALON IN THE
minister plenipotentiary of
was conspicuously in evl- - Dedzalay,
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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
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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
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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
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COMMERCIAL CLUB BAND OP YORK.
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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
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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
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