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Show ixrtKsriTErouMERCE. I rr-liis Cioveruiiient Interler-,."(, Interler-,."(, t I'ifveiit Abiise-a by Ittillroatl Couiptnii!-. Washington, 24. The eeutto subcommittee sub-committee on commerce, cont-iaint uf rpcucer, McMillan and Dennis, to riixht, beard arguments on iho bouse Lull regulating inter-state commerce, and prohibiting unjust discrimination t-y ucnini'jn carriers. A large number num-ber of g-nl!cm':n from various parts uf the country, ialrt-s'.cd in the mo is ore ware in'scu!. M L.Woei.U siid be appeared here lo represent eotne ot the merciuin'.M if Nsw York interet-m: interet-m: in trantportatinu. As hs u:,der-ttood u:,der-ttood the nil! it did not underlaku lo rtuuMe chures, except in so far that they may be uniform. He read memorial numerously Ligned by merohante, shippers and ship owuere, saying that the passage ol the bill would deslroy the arbitrary rates of ti asportation now exattr-d aud cooler great bene lit j upon the country. He mad lellers from Calilornia and New York incrcb- aiilrf, bhowing tlmt they had been overcharged by tbo PaciGc aud other railroad lines whilo others had been favored by relate or drawback. He also read a letter from Chapman it I'Unt, ol icw 1 ork, complaining of the unjust discriminations of the Pacific railroad, who aro striving to drive merchants from clipper ships lo the exclusive use of ibe railroad, and saying about 400 merchants have been forced to bow to tliotse companies. Tho writer of the loiters add that ibty ask lor no protection further than the railroads shall not unjustly discriminate against commerce and compel it to use only one channel of transportation, namely railroads. AmhrosoSuow said he appeared in his private capacity as a ship owner, and also 8 a n deleyata of the New York board of trade and transportation, to show what the present efllct of tho railroading system sys-tem has been Oil business. Snip owners hael heretofore felt but little interest in railroading, but now they found one of Iho most important rem tea of comnierco threatened with extinction by tho Union Pacific rail-load, rail-load, which discriminates against merchants who carry their guada by way of Cipo Hor.i, and has established estab-lished mout arbitrary rules to govern them. ThuB merchants were brought face to face lor the carrying trade with a road largely under tho coutrol of ihoso who should bo subject to government, gov-ernment, which granted ita franchise. fran-chise. To show how tho syttem of rebate and drawback operates, Know aaid a man might eugage 5.0U0,-000 5.0U0,-000 of bushols of wheat in Chicago, aud on thie receive'a rebate of throe cents a bushel in transportation. This was $150,000. The rebate enabled the purchaser to pay one cent more per bushel than the ordinary purchaser, pur-chaser, and tutting wheat to another market, sell it at ono cent cheaper a bushel than any body else, having one cent remaining on each bushel, he would thus realize $50,000, without perhaps having spent a dollar. 8ucb ihiugs might go on for a few years when all other great staples of the country might be controlled in transportation trans-portation by railroads and their especial friends. Some ol the railroads rail-roads ore heavily mortgaged and combinations were formed from time to time to obtain control of them. This was no unimportant mutter. One day Gould had gained control of tbe Union Pacifio stock at 16c. on the dollar. One needs but little foresight to see he would Boon put up tbe atock to par, and the way he would do this would be to make the userB of the road submit to extortion. Men make fortunes by bearing and bulling, more than by owning stock. Our Hig has almost disappeared from tho ocean, and shippers come here to ask that thia inter-state commerce bill shall become law in the interests of ships that navigate by way of Cape Horn. If the Union Pacifio could depressor destroy shipping interests, wby might not the New York Central railroad company say to the Erie canal shippers, II you do not altogether send your freight by our road we will charge you double rates of transportation when the canal is frozen up, and so it might bo with regard to other railroads, rail-roads, in discriminating against the Mississippi river and great lakes. Other gentlemen appeared and spoke of the hardships in the oil traffic and monopolies built up by railroads in Pennsylvania in the matter mat-ter of petroleum. |