Jasper Republican, Volume 2, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1875 — The National Cheap Transportation Convention. [ARTICLE]

The National Cheap Transportation Convention.

The National Cheap Transportation Convention, recently held in Chicago, was largely attended, and the proceedings occupied three full daya of time. The resolutions adopted read as follows: Resolved, That the great and pressing need of this country is a system of transportation commensurate with the requirements of the age in which we live; that the absence of such a system is in a great measure the cause of the present unsatisfactory state of trade and commerce, the reason why our mills and manufactories are idle, why our agricultural interests are unremuneratlve, and why thousands of willing hands lack employment. Resolved, That the presence of a metallic currency is the result of commercial prosperity, and not the cause of that prosperity; to restore this circulation it is only necessary for us to supply the means of exporting our grain, flour, bacon, tobacco, cotton, oil and other products at prices which will enable us to sell those products to other countries; this will give a commercial prosperity, and its'evidence will be a gold circulation; with the return of commercial prosperity all questions relating to one value of different kinds of currency will disappear. Res lied, That this consummation can be reached by providing an adequate system of transportation, and that the only way such a system can be provided is by the co-operation of the people, through the machinery ot Government; that the boundaries of commerce have become so extended through the agencies of steam and electricity that a new and more extensive class of transportation facilities are needed; that the present system has become not only inadequate to the necessities of the times, but it is so tilled with defects and abuses that it dwaris production, stifles commerce and prevents us from successfully competing in the markets of the world. Resolved, That the corporate power embodied in our transportation lines has become so organized, consolidated and combined that it is now able to dictate values to the producers, prices to the consumers and profits to the manufactures and trades, and to build up a privileged class, contrary to the spirit of the Constitution of the United States. Resolved, That the further extension of this power must be opposed by the mass of the people by creating as fast as possible a new system of transportation lines which will insure competition, and thus protect the public interests. Resolved, That as means to this end the National Government should, as speedily as pot&ible, undertake the construction of lines of transportation recommended by the United States Senate Committee on Transportation Routes, or such of them as after survey produce the most favorable results. Resolved, That a national railway, exclusively for freight, should be constructed from the graingrowing sections of the West to the Atlantic seaboard, to the end that this great territory, with its. dense populationvand the principal distributing cities both of the East and the West, may not be wholly at the mercy of existing railroads when water routes are closed by ice. Resolved, That, if it be deemed inexpedient to have this road constructed and owned by the National Government, the object may be reached by granting national aid to such a road, and assuming in consideration thereof such supervision and control as will insure reasonable rates of freight, forever prevent combination and consolidation with existing lines, and the abuses in - construction and management which pervade our present railway system, and so heavily tax the commercial and consuming public at this time. Resolved, That, whenever national aid is extended to any project in the way of internal improvement, or whenever the construction of, any work is undertaken by Government, the work should be done by contract, in small sections, to the lowest responsible bidder. Resolved, That a committee consisting of seven persons familiar with and interested in water transportation, and a committee of equal number who are dependent upon improved railway facilities for cheap transportation, be appointed to present copies of these resolutions to the Congress of the United States, and to take such other steps to forward the objects therein advocated as may be in their power. Resolved, That the internal commerce of the United States has not in the past received that consideration at the hands of our National Government that its importance merits: that, exceeding in magnitude as it does our foreign commerce in the ratio of more than ten to one, it is entitled to the most careful consideration and fostering care. Resolved, That, in pursuance of this policy, a memorial to Congress from this convention be prepared, asking that a joint committee from both houses of Congress be appointed to consider the advisability of forming a new department of our National Government, to be called the Department of Internal Commerce, said department to be specially charged with the collection, preservation and dissemination of information bearing upon transportation, and with all other matters pertaining to internal commerce. The joint complete® before mentioned to investigate the subject and report at the next session of Congress. Resolved, That we recommend the several States to enact the following laws for the regulation of railways chartered by them: 1. A law providing a Bonn! of Railroad Commissioners to obtain, preserve and circulate information bearing upon transportation, with isiwer to prescribe a uniform system of keeping railway accounts, and with other powers and duties similar to those possessed by the Railway Commie•ioiicro of Massachusetts.

2. A law to prevent Mock inflation. 8. A law prohibiting representatives of the people from being retained or employed a* agent*, attorney* or counsel in any case where the public interest is involved. 4. A law providing that all common carriers other commodities, and to deliver the same at its destination. '■ ' 8 5. A law providing a uniform clawiflcatlon of merchandise and nrohibiting the printing of conditions on hills of Jffiling issued by common carriers which are designed to evade the just responsibility Of such carriers. 8. A general law, or constitutional prohibition, against the consolidation of railroads, by which the power of these great corporations is often greatly increased and their proper control and regulation prevented. Resolved, That we have no warfare to make upon any of the great industries of the country, but, on the contrary, the very object of the convention is to promote peace ana harmony among them by securing an equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of life, without which there can be no permanent harmony of interests. As the offices ot all the members of the human body are essential to its perlect vitality and vigor, so are all these Interests essential to a country that would be great and prosperous. It is the true interest of ail to promote the interest of each other, and onr best policy will be found in the union of all the great industries of the land for the sake of national peace and national prosperity. Resolved, That for the purpose of effecting a more perfect organization an Executive Committee be appointed for each State, consisting of a number equal to the representation of said State in the Federal Congress. Resolved, That the said Executive Committee shall have power to appoint sub-committees in each Congressional district in their respective Resolved, That it shall be the duties of these several committees to collect and disseminate such information in their several States and districts as may aid in procuring proper legislation upon this all-important matter of transportation, and that their efforts and aims shall be to procure for onr people the cheapest means possible! Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the subcommittee to correspond with the Executive Committees of the States, and the State Executive Committees with the National Executive Committee of this body, so that there maybe uniformity of purpose and action between the whole. Resolved, That when this convention adjourn it be to meet in October, 1876, at such place as may be designated by the Executive Committee. Reso'ved, That your committee further recommend the adoption of the resolutions introduced by the Hon. Wm. Bross in this convention relating to deep-water communication between the great Western lakes, Montreal and New York city, by the way of Lake Champlain and the Caughnawaga Ship-Canal. Resol ted. That we are In favor of completing both the Northern and Southern Pacific Railways as soon as the means for the completion of the same can be properly made available. Resolved, That the attention of the State of New York is called to the absolute necessity of cleaning and bottoming out the Erie Canal to the maximum depth provided by law, and that improved lock-gates, now in common use elsewhere, be applied to the locks, to the end that its present capacity may be increased. Resolved, further, Tlyit the authorities of that State be, and are hereby, requested to take into consideration the enlargement of that canal to a capacity that will admit the commercial application of steam as a motive power. The last three of the Bross resolutions, adopted as above, are as follows: Resolved, That the interests of the United States and of the Dominion of Canada in reference to transportation between the West and the East are identical; and that while the Dominion grants to citizens of the United States free use of Canadian canals and rivers similar privileges should be guaranteed to the citizens of the Dominion, on terms of mntnal advantage. Resolved, That in view of the enlargement of the Welland Canal now in progress and of the present prospective diversion of the carrying trade of the Northwest to the St. Lawrence route, the construction of a ship-canal from the St. Lawrence to Lake Champlain, for which a favorable charter has been granted by the Dominion Government, and of the enlargement of the Champaign Canal, by which vessels of 1.000 tons can reach Lake Champlain and New York in from six to eight days less time than by existing routes and at much less expense and depreciation of value in transport, is of vital importance to New York and New England and to the entire country. R solved. That this convention concur in the opinion expressed in the report of the United States Senate Committee on Transportation of the Thirty-ninth Congress, that the enlargement of the New York canals, the constrnction of the Caughnnwaga Canal (from the St. Lawrence to Lake Champlain), and the free use of the Canadian canola will greatly cheapen transportation from the West to the East, ana that we are in favor of the appointment of a joint commission on the part of the United States and that of the Dominion of Canada to arrange and recommend terms for the mutual free use of the canals and inland waters of the two countries by the citizens thereof.