Show takes a mayor to task for sentiments ex pressed at a banquet he promises to rm steamers to portland portland ore oct 3 president J J hill ot the groat northern railroad was the principal speaker at a banquet tendered by the lewis dark exposition last night to mr hill and president howard elleott of the northern pacific railroad mr alus speech was delivered in response to a welcoming address by governor george E chamberlain of oregon mr lane of portland and president goode of the exposition following mr hill president elliott made a short address president hill opened his remarks by stating that while he granted mayor lanes statement that his railroad was not coming doti the north bank of the columbia solely tor the benefit ot the country he took exception to the mayors assertion that it was wisa to continue with the development of the upper columbia river as a means to regulate the railroads the greatest seaport contended president hill is the railroad mr hill continued by relating the history of transcontinental railroads and of his experience in building the great northern he intended he said to build a good road down the north bank of the columbia and its success or failure depended upon the success or failure of the people tributary to it mr hill adverted to the subject of railroad rates comparing them those of other countries he asserted that in the united states the rato Is 76 cents a atle against in russia and in great britain president hill continued notwithstanding the average rate paid by the people of the united states Is only 40 per cent of that of russia we have a great many people who are preaching a new doctrine and that is the regulation of railway rates by federal authority it has been announced in an official manner that has been no reduction of rates in the united states for 25 years that tariffs hae been reduced at times but that whenever a tariff was reduced the classification fi tas given another turn of the wheel and advanced so at least to offset the reduction in the tariff the man who made that statement did not tell the truth the reduction in the average rate per ton per mile in 25 years on the great northern railway aggregates that has been the reduction that the people have gotten on one railroad and it is difficult for a railroad to make a reduction that does not reach some other railroad wo made a rate on lumber in desperation pe ration which remains the lowest rate today that has ever been made on lumber bufa what did it do for you people in oregon and washington at that time stumpage was going begging anywhere from 10 to 20 cents per thousand today you cannot buy stumpage that Is at an accessible for less than 1 a thousand and the advance in that one interest has been at least in the two stales mr hill went on to promise the citizens of portland it they would deepen the lower columbia nver to from 33 to 40 feet he would turn a large fleet of ocean going steamers to this city he concluded now before I 1 close I 1 want to call your attention in all earnestness 10 something that you are most deeply interested in and that Is federal regulation of railroad rates every lawyer will tell you that there is a clause called the interstate inter state commerce clauso of the constitution of the united states which provides that ane federal government shall not in any regulation of commerce tinder that clause discriminate for or against any locality at the expense of oeners and so on you could not live it the railroads did not discriminate in your favor how can congress pass a law or any commission on the face of tho earth make a law that does not discriminate unless they make a ais uince tariff that Is equal for the same distance for a hundred miles hero or a hundred miles there apply that same rule to you and see what your results will be I 1 will undertake to say that your rates in one hour from the time such a law was enacted or such a tariff was published would be double or twice and a halt what they are take a distance tariff I 1 care not how small you make it for the first hundred miles suppose yoh made it two cents a hundred what would you do with miles you could not live thre la not a man tn the business west of the missouri river who would not have to stop your fields would cease to be cultivated I 1 am not afraid that any federal regulation will ever get down deep enough to touch us where we alvo because long before they do the country will be strewn with railroad corpses they would bankrupt two thieda of the milleage in tho united states |