te
4
I
VOLUME 10. NUMBER 248 &.<A
AUTHOR TELLS OF
DISTANCE TARIFF
Senator Cashman Tells of Bate Dis
criminations in: This State and
Effect of His Proposed Law.
SAPS THE ST. PAUL JOBBERS
Says There are Mills and Factories
in Other Places Than the Twin
Cities and Scores Beek.
CITES CASE OF PRINT PAPER
Freight From Mill to Fergus Falls is
.2* per 100, While Cost to Min
neapolis is $.10.
St. Paul, Jan. 17.Senator T. E.
Cashman.of Owatonna. author of the
Cashman 'distance tariff bill, gave out
a statement Saturday in answer to
the arguments of business men and
railroad men against the measure.
Mt. Cashman asserts that his bill,
with the distance tariff, rates of Iowa
added to it by the railroad commis
sion, will result in a general equal
izing and in most cases a reduction
of rates in Minnesota, and put an end
to'discrimination. Mr, Cashman be
gins by challenging the statement
that the present conditions force
short-line rates upon the longer lines
as a maximum at intermediate sta
tions, thus securing these points
lower rates than their mileage dis
tauce would give them.
"This statement is anything but
true," said Mr. Cashman. "The facts
axe that the short-line rates be
tween Owatonna and 'the twin cities
and Waseca and the twin cities are
made very high in order to' allow
tile Chicago & North-Western rail
way to compete with the Chicago &
Milwaukee and Minneapolis & St.
Louis railways, hauling 122 miles by
a circuitous route around by way of
Mankato.
At present the people of Owaton
na and Waseca pay a rate of ten
cents per 100 on wheat and flax that
they sihp into the twin cities. Un
der the Iowa law they would pay but
7:1 cents per 100. They now pay
nine cents per 100 on corn, oats and
barley, while under the Iowa law
they would pay out but 5.8- cents.
Then now pay nine cents per 100 on
lumber shipped from the twin cities,
while under the provisions of the
Iowa distance tariff they would pay
but 5 1-2 cents. If the people of
Meriden were compelled to ship their
wheat to Minneapolis their rates per
100 on wheat would now be 10 cents,
while under the Iowa law it would
be 8 1-2 cents.. Under the Iowa law
they would, pay 6.6 cents per 100 on
lumber instead of nine they now pay
10.4 on fat cattle instead of twelve
they now pay. The Janesville,
Smiths Mills" and Eagle Lake rates
would be some less because their mil
eage is somewhat shorter-.
i Hits at Sanborn Decision.
"Like all.public questions, the dis
tance tariff has two sides, and.can
be looked upon from two viewpoints,
the one fgom the railroad compan
ies who find it more profitable to
build up a. business that will cen
tralize business, draw the people to
one center and give them an excuse
to exact exorbitant rates which will
pay dividends on inflated values and
watered stocks-and their excuse is
often substantiated by some judge
who will decree that a dividend of
geven per cent is just-on these inflat
ed valuations,1
the other from the
Viewpoint of the man who desires
equitable freight* rates to enable him
to enter into fair competition with
his more wealthy competitor.
"The manufacturers and jobbers of
the twin cities enjoy a very low rate
on lumber and how about their little
competitors out in the country dis
tricts. The people in Fergus Falls,
Moorhead, Marshall, Mankato, Owa
tonna and other points also use lum
ber. They,- too, would like a lower
rate. _..
Cites Case of Print Paper.
"The man.who uses-paper at Fer
gus Falls cannot understand why he
should have to pay thirty-three cents,
a hundred on a carload of paper from
International Falls into his town, a
distsnoe of 296 miles, when the same
PRINCE CAROL.
Crown Prince ot Roumania,
Whose Engagement Is Rumored.
kind of paper is shipped from Inter
national Falls to St. Paul, a distance
of 334 miles, at ten cents a hundred.
The man residing at Fergus Falls can
not understand why he should pay a
rate of six cents on cut stone, curb
ing and street paving from St. Cloud,
a distance of 113 miles, when the
same material is shipped seventy-five
miles into St. Paul at a rate of 3.5
cents a hundred. He cannot under
stand why he should have to pay
thirteen cents a hundred on polished
stone and monuments when the twin
city man has a rate of seven cents.
The miller in Alexandria cannot un
derstand why his Minneapolis com
petitor can ship flour into his terri
tory at Ogema, a distance of 230 miles
and compete with him at the same
rate for a hundred-mile haul. The
man residing at Kennedy, Minn.,
cannot see why he should be com
pelled to pay a rate of 15.5 cents a
hundred on lumber shipped from
Park Rapids, 21.8 miles, when the
Minneapolis*, man has a rate of.J8.Sk
cents for the same distance,"
Mr Cashman cites, numerous other
rate comparisons in his statement,
which is too long to be reproduced
entire. He continues:
"In making their arguments the
railroad attorneys tell us that in such
places as St. Clair, Minn., located on
a stub running north from Albert
Lea, will be severely injured if plac
ed on a distance tariff. In comput
ing the distance they, of course, start
at St. Paul and Minneapolis and try
to make us forget that there are oth
er markets in these and other states
where wheat is ground, where barley
is bought, where pork is slaughtered
and icured. The Albert Lea* miller
can take care of the St. Clair man's
Wheat and pay as high a price as he
would obtain if it were shipped to
Minneapolis and would be much
more Successful if he could do this
without being compelled to compete
with his powerful competitors, the
mills from the twin cities. The pack
ing houses at Austin buy most of the
hogs-raised in that teritory, which is
a direct line from St. Clair at the
present time, and Chicago gets most
of the beef and livestock. Is there
anything that the good people of St.
Clair need in the mercantile and groc
ery line that they cannot procure at
the jobbing house in Albert Lea?
Rich Man is Favored.
"The trouble here in Minnesota is
that the rich man living in the fav
ored centers gets the very low rate.
He is the man that is subsidized, so
to speak. The man who is able to
take care of himself is given an ad
vantage over his less fortunate neigh
bor and if anything arises to disturb
this condition, one of the penalties
that seems to be imposed upon such
men is that they defend the railroad
companies' interests. I would be
ashamed to admit that I could not do
business unless subsidized by the
railroad companies. It is the same
old story, one man benefited and
nine hundred and ninety-nine injur-
SCOOP
ed. I stand for the nine sundred and I would dare do such a thing.'
THE CUB
REPORTER
ninety-nine. I inBist that all shall
have a square deal.
"It might.not be amiss at this time
to explain some of the features of
the bill. The distance tariff bill com
pels a railroad 'company to charge
the same rate per Jon per mile for
the same distance on all commodities
shipped within the state. In other
words, if they charge a low rate on
one parto their system on a certain
commodity for a certain number of
miles they will^Jhave to maintain
that rate on that" commodity' for a
like distance, except in special cases
where two roads run into the same
own, one having a much shorter
mileage than the other, in which
case the railroad and warehouse com
mission would be authorised to per
mit the company shipping In the
roundabout way to compete with the
shorter line if they saw fit.^r-
This
Iowa law does not name rates but
authorizes the oemmission to name
maximum and reasonable rates and
to classify all goods shipped within
the state. The companies may charge
any rate up to the maximum, but as
stated before, if they name a lower
rate on one part of their system that
same rate would have to be main
tained on all parts.
"A great many people are under
the impression that the Iowa dis
tance tariff law compels railroad
companies to charge the same rate
per ton per mile, regardless of .what
the distance may be, thereby work
ing a'hardship on the companies for
a short haul on account- of the time
consumed in loading, switching and
so on. Then again if the rates .were
a fixed price per ton per mile, re
gardless of what the distance might
be, a man shipping or receiving from
long distances would be discrimin
ated against. As I.said before, the
fixing of rates is left to the commis
sion and they can name any just
rate they see fit.
Minneapolis Jobbers Wise.
"Two years more have rolled
around and we find the demand for
a distance tariff still increasing
every day. The Minneapolis jobbers
and manufacturers have found that
they have lost considerable business
toy continuing to assist the rail
roads from pulling their chestnuts
Ojitjof Jb& fire,.a^ndfrOin^thq position
tney are"tatcmg*Wday'ilieywnave*kp-
parently concluded that "they have
made a serious mistake and that it
is not wise for them to fight the in
terests of the commonwealth any
longer. The St. Paul jobbers, ap
pear to be either slow in catching on
or they cannot control the head of
ficers of the Greater Commercial
club as it is called.- At any rate we
find Mr. Beek before us uttering
cries of despair and attempting to
make the best of a forlorn hope.
Last week Mr. Sheehan of the
Northwestern railway had the fol
lowing to say before our railroad
committee: 'That the railroads are
less interested in the measure than
the people are, that the inevitable
effect of the bill will be to increase
railroad rates in Minnesota.' 'We
are not asking for higher rates,' said
he, 'but any change,must mean an
advance.'
"Let us figure out if we can just
how Mr. Sheehan could base this
conclusion. In order to find his
basis we must study the bill. What
does it provide? It simply provides
that the railroad companies shall not
charge a higher rate.on a given com
modity for a certain distance to one
man than to another regardless of
how influential or important this
man' might be. This bill does not
name freight rates but Bimply au
thorizes the railroad commission to
classify freight and make a reason
able maximum rate.x
Now should
the Iowa law be placed upon our sta
tute books, we have a right to ex
pect that the Minnesota commission
will be as fair to the shippers and
receivers as well as the railroads, as
were the Iowa commission when they
named -the rates in the latter state.
The only way that Mr. Sheehan can
figure out that the rates will be
raised to the country shipper is that
he expects the railroad commission to
permit the railroads to dictate what
the rates will be and I am satisfied
that the companies will" be" given no
such opportunity. -No commission
BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 17t 19J3. t$K^r&*W&!&
FIRE AT THFWERSITY
School of Mines Building,Completely
Gutted Friday Night as feesnlt of
Crossed Electric Wires.
"&?&-
THE LOSS IS PLACED AT $87,700
Minneapolis, Feb. 17.Fire, which
started from crossed electric wires
under the floor of tb lecture room
2S,
^^i^Jooj^J^y^^cipol -of
"mines'building at the University, was
discovered at 9:30 p. m. Friday by
R. Stam, inside watchman who
smelled smoke- when he entered the
building and found flames shooting
from the openings around steam
pipes. O. Tverberg, outside watch
man, ran two blocks to a fire alarm
box and the alarm was received at
headquarters at 9:26 p. m. By 10
p. m. eighteen fire companies were on
the scene and flames were shooting
through the roof. An hour later the
building was a wreck. The loss is
placed at 297,700.
The pressed brick walls were left
standing, but the big slate roof fell
in. The smelting building, near by,
was saved after a hard battle. As
sistant Chief Sandy Hamilton and
thirteen firemen narrowly escaped
death when the gable of the roof fell
in. They were left in the center of
the wreckage, surrounded by blazing
debris, but by pouring a steady stream
of water on one point they cooled a
narrow section sufficiently to permit
them to climb to a point from which
they were- rescued by their comrades
with ladders.
It was feared for a time that valu
able maps of the Minnesota iron
fields, which could not have been
duplicated except by a survey, had
been destroyed, but the maps were
later' found intact in the big steel
vault on the main floor. The school
library, a small one, was destroyed.
The fire was spectacular and was
witnessed by many hundreds of stu
dents.
The board of regents met at 10
a. m. today to consider rebuilding
plans and it is expected an immed
iate request to the legislature for
necessary funds will be formulated
at that time.
President George E. Vincent said
today that a request for $25,000 for
re-wiring buildings and installing
sprinkler systems was included in
the university budget now in the leg
islature and declared that if this
work had been done previously the
engineering building could have
Great Brains, Scoop, Wonderful Intellect
LATEST WAR NEWS.
*********^****k***
By United VIMS.
New York, Feb.' 17.An appeal
against intervention by the United
States and expressions of confidence
in the ability of Mexico to weather
the political storm without foreign
aid were the key notes of a special
message addressed jto the people of
the United States today through the
United Press by Francisco de la
Barra.
El Paso, Texas, Feb. 17.All cat
tle owned by the Madero family in
Chihuahua, numbering nearly a mil
lion had, are being Uttsin'^to^- tffe
border today*. This' action is consid
ered significant as indicating that
the family expects the downfall of
the Francisco Madero government.
The Madero family was raised in
Mexico. The number of cattle it
owns is enormous. The same dis
patch stated that the Madero family
at Chihuahua City was headed by
Alberto Madero. The president's
brother has completed arrangements
to rush his family ,and stock to the
American borders .should such a
movement prove necessary.
Washington, Feb. 17.President
Taft this afternoon made public a
formal note sent to Madero affirming
the good will of the United States in
reply to the Mexican president's pro
testations against intervention.
The Taft note, in a brief document
of about 300 words, does not men
tion the word intervention nor does
it state, on the contrary, that the
United States is not considering
such a step.
been done previously the engineering
building could have been saved* eas
ily.
Dean W. R. AppleWy said that the
fire would not seriously discommode
the school, as classes would assemble
temporarily at the general experi
mental building. There are 140 min
ing students.
The valuable mining furnaces and
rare collection of ores in the destroy
ed building were only slightly dam
aged. i
Carlton Dane, a brother of Harold
Dane and nephew of F. S. Lycan, of
Bemidji, was passing the building at
the time tue fire was discovered and
went into the basement with several
others to cover chemicals with tar
paulins and save such apparatus as
could be taken from the building.
The boys stayed in the building too
long and were taken out through
the basement windows a m'oment be
fore the slate roof,fell through.
WATCH FOR THE EXTRA
Pioneer Special Edition Will Be on
Street Wednesday Morning if
Votes are Counted.
FREE TO THE SUBSCRIBERS
In order that Bemidji readers of
the Pioneer may have the correct
results ot the cfty "ejection as soon
as they a^re,^^Wednesday morning,
the Pioneer will Issue'a special'edi
tion Tuesday night and it' will be
delivered by the carrier bkys early
Wednesday morning. This extra will
be given to regular subscribers free
of charge.
Readers* wishing to get this paper
should be sure to take it in from
the porch as soon as it is delivered.
If the ballots are counted before 5
a. m., the Pioneer will be able to
have a paper to every subscriber by
7a.m.t
Extra copies of the extra rn^sy be
Obtained from the carrier boys, the
Pioneer office,-the Abercrombie and
J.- Peterson news stands, -or the
Ma'rkham hotel at five cents a copy.
The edition will be limited to 600
copies.
Advertising carried in the Tuesday
edition will be repeated in the extra.
N. M. D. A. Callers Last Week.
Oliver Halvorson, Nevis.
J. J. Opsahl, Bemidji.
Mr. Sjoberg, Roseau.
Wm. F. Blakely, Farley.
J. L. Wold, Twin Valley.
P.B. Gaass, Red Lake Falls.
"R. P. Morton, Princeton.
V. N. Higinbotham, Red Lake Falls.
Geo. J. Silk, Pine River.
P. A. Christlanson, Hinckley.
H. E. Anderson, Bemidji.,
C. H. Knopke, Bemidji.
George Kinney, Bemidji.
G. L. West, St. Cloud,' Minn..
J. E. Black, Bemidji.
A. E. Witting, Blackduck.
M. N. Koll, Cass Lake.
J. H. Halvorson, Nevis.
H. H. Hulbert, Stephen.
Washington, Feb. 17.State de
partment officials today said that
dispatches indicated that within the
next forty-eight hours either Diaz or
Madero would control the govern
ment. -t Weeks of incessant fighting
has decimated the supply of ammuni-
tion.'
j&xVKi*. AAp/L
TEN CENTS PER WEEK.
THRE E GROW S IN
FlflBtMliyOR
'^tfr-'j/S
McCuaig, Johnson and Malsahn Are
^Each Backed By Men of Entire
ly Different Interest*.
BISIAR FINDS SCRAP WAEJl
Third Ward Alderman Has Strong
Socialist Opponent and May Be .1
Defeated for Re-Eleotion,
BUSINESS MEN WANT IX0TD
Is Considered as Having Edge on
Maloy and Frank SchroederPells
Open From 6 a.m. to. 9 p. m.
WHERE TO VOTE.
First Ward!
Miller's storeJudges, F. 8. Arn
old and George Kirk.
Second Ward.
City fire hall-Judges, D. C.
Smythe, J. F. Easier and J, E. Harris.
i Third Ward.
Rear Dicaires' storeJudges, P.
M. Dicaire, Chas. Wintersteen and J.
M. Phiffipi.
Fourth Ward.
Dailey's employment omoeJudges
R. L. Wright and John Croon.
THE CANDIDATES.
Mayor.
Wm. MoCuaig, L. F. Johnson, F.
If. MsJsah#.
21
"HOP
su^' -T' :?r
'T*-^ Aldcraua-at large* -*&-*%-
Ray Murphy, John ZsigW' "v'.
First Ward.
John Moberg, C. J. Larson.
Second Ward.
& C. Bailey, T.W.Bell.
Third Ward.
Joe Bisiar, J. P. Omioh.
Fourth Ward.
C. C. Crippen, J. Peterson, Jr.
Police Judge.
H. A. Simons, John Gibbons, H. J.
Loud J. L. Brown, G. Pendergast,
A. X. Crowell.
Clerk,
George Stein.
Treasurer
Geo. Rhea, Garfield Akerberg.
Assessor.
T. E. Lloyd, Thomas Maloy, Frank
Schroeder.
Main interest in the municipal
election which will be held in Be
midji tomorrow is divided between'
the offices of mayor and alderman of
the Third ward. Although there
are five candidates out for municipal
judge, their contest has aroused lit
tle attention and the main interest of
the voters appear to have been direct
ed elsewhere.
It is realised that J. Bisiar, pres
ent alderman of the Third, is having
the fight of his life for re-election.
The ward is the stronghold of the
Bemidji Socialists and at the last
election they succeeded in placing B.
W. Hannah in the council. The Soc
ialists have been active the past
three or four weeks and expect' to
elect J. P. Omlch to replace Mr. Bis
iar/
William McCuaig, L. F. Johnson'
and Mayor Malsahn are having a
fight all their own for the. mayor
ship. Three distinct groups of vot
ers are lining up behind the three
men and the election will give a de
finite line on the relative strength of
the groups. McCuaig is -backed by
the men .who wish to see Benfidjl say
cleaned up, Johnson by those who
appear to be satisfied with the pros- g^M
ent slate of affairs and Malsahn by
the Socialists.'- :V:
It is generally granted that CV C.
Crippen will win .over J. Peterson, t
Jr., who expects to find little Social
1st strength in the Fourth. 8. O.
Bailey has a big problem In T. W. h^i
Bell and no one Is witling to preset 5p-
the outcome of the fight In Che Bee
ond. iJohn Moberg Is generally
granted, re-election from' the First.
V^Three men are in the fight for as- ,r.
lessor but T. K. Lloyd has the back
ing of the business Interests and ap
pears to have the edge on his oppon
ents. George Stein and. George
Rhea will probably "do it" for aaoth
er year. Polls will bo open from ^.l
_. a.m.to9p.m.tomorrow, T,l
sJS
r44-v
's$
V"^s
v^
t--:*'
W