THE HAY RATE CASE
THE HAY RATE CASE How the National Hay Association was Freed from Railroad Domination A Victory for the Shippers By LYNN HAINES AMILLION DOLLARS is a lot of money. Men will struggle desperately...
...Agent, L. and N. Ry., Detroit...
...It is not difficult to understand why this contest has been marked by a series of bitter battles, nor why its progress has emphasized practically all the principles and practices that underlie every large conflict between special privilege and the general good...
...Agent, B. and O., Toledo...
...Lines, Pittsburg...
...Every person who admires sturdy, true and courageous American manhood can not but admit that Dolliver, Cummins, Beveridge, and the other insurgents are worthy of respect...
...But this case presented little opportunity of that character...
...Loftus and a harmonious and determined directorate, Attorney Manahan and Mr...
...Senators Carter and Dixon of Montana both voted with Aldrich uniformly...
...The Commission brought suit to enforce the ruling before Judge Wing of Ohio, but he decided in favor of the railroads...
...Shore Line, Detroit...
...In 1907 the Hepburn amendment gave the Interstate Commerce Commission power to enforce its own rulings and in June of that year the big case was reopened by the filing of a new complaint before the Commission...
...J. C. Mullen, Gen...
...The second was to identify about a score of the fodder fakes drawing fat salaries from the largest railroad systems and compel them to take seats among the spectators...
...C. P. Markley, Gen...
...Michigan's Opportunity THERE are no words too strong to describe how wide apart have been the public sentiment of many communities and the actions of the men who represent those communities in Washington...
...They were fighting, as usual, for the people and a principle...
...It was the old political question of Property vs...
...Patriotism BUT George S. Loftus and James Manahan are men not easily "restrained...
...More than that, the controversy involves approximately $20,-000,000 in freight charges that must be refunded, if the shippers win...
...C. S. Bash of Ft...
...This charging of an unreasonably high rate on hay represented what is commonly and correctly recognized as a special privilege...
...This made an annual difference of about $6,000,000 in the freight paid by that industry...
...Agent, Lehigh Valley, Toledo...
...A complaint was filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission and that tribunal rendered a decision in favor of the shippers, restoring the old classification...
...Men will struggle desperately for the possession of such a sum...
...Just what it is the people do not know, but they do know that Aldrich and his followers are doing their best to fix it up to suit the great financial and industrial interests of the country . . . without doubt the ten 'insurgent' Senators are nearer acting in harmony with public opinion than do those who are clinging so closely to Aldrich...
...Knowing conditions they kept the issue alive and finally forced the railroads to take a stand in the national convention recently ended at Cedar Point, Ohio...
...The rest was easy...
...Taking waste and risk and value into consideration hay was already bringing better returns to transportation companies than any other commodity of like value, and it was to be expected that the National Hay Association, representing the dealers of the country, should object to this unjust change in classification...
...As a last resort they attempted to pack the convention, not alone with subsidized shippers, but with railroad men whose only interest in hay was its relation to dividends...
...Among the other States which will have the same opportunity as Michigan to pass upon Senators who have voted uniformly with Aldrich are Ohio, Montana, California, and Nevada...
...Other-wise they would have obeyed instructions from their superiors...
...F. E. Russell, T. F. A., Canadian Pacific Ry., Montreal, P. 0. M. B. Haughty, Gen...
...It is not to be doubted that Montana would scorn the thought of sending Aldrich himself to the Senate.—Mark Sullivan in Collier's...
...They have the courage of their convictions, and that is the kind of men who are needed and who arc lamentably too few in Congress...
...Backed by Mr...
...Chas...
...Wayne, Ind., should now be able to prosecute the celebrated case to a speedy conclusion...
...B. C. Adams, Com...
...The Railroads Change Tactics UNDER such trying circumstances J railroads are resourceful plunderers...
...Here is one from the Escanaba "Journal": "The great mass of the people are convinced that there is something radically wrong with the tariff and the manner in which it has been tinkered...
...The Loftus-Manahan element stated it so clearly that each mighty million involved stalked about like Banquo's ghost to shame the perfidious and to mock their masters...
...George S. Loftus, big, brainy and brave, then chairman of the transportation committee of the National Hay Association, signed the complaint in the name of that organization...
...But the railroads, bold and barbarous in their disrespect for law, refused to obey the order...
...They did the very thing that public service corporations are now being driven to do all over the land—they gained control of the organization that was prosecuting the complaint, in this case the National Hay Association...
...For in this case, even against almost impossible odds, the Association was reclaimed and the people seem certain to win...
...Traffic Mgr., Penn...
...The case was then taken to the Supreme Court, which divided on the question, four to four...
...Agent, No...
...Agent, M. C. Ry., Toledo...
...Ordinarily public service corporations gain and maintain these advantages over the people through the direct prostitution of politics—obtaining bills of sale of legislatures, buying executive silence or assent, or corrupting courts...
...The people can always be depended upon to promote equity if the issue is clearly seen...
...and 0. C. Ry., Toledo...
...Almost immediately thereafter these two men were restrained by the Association officials and finally the Board of Directors arbitrarily ordered the case dismissed...
...James Manahan, now known nation-wide as a champion of the people in the warfare against railroad arrogance and misrule, was engaged to prosecute the case...
...The fight was desperate and spectacular...
...With the same subtlety and success that usually characterizes their activity in the regular province of politics they saw that the Association was officered by men who would betray it into the hands of its enemies...
...Six times that amount is the issue in the famous rate case that for nearly a decade has agitated the national organization of shippers and receivers of hay...
...And it was in this Conventien...
...The railroads had to abandon the Sioux style of battle...
...The rest of the story is not, as one would suppose, the recital of a great battle...
...E. L. Abbott, Agent, Lehigh Valley, Columbus...
...Griffen, Gen...
...How the Fight Began EMPIRE BUILDERS have evolved two methods of raising rates...
...S. A. Jones, Com Agents, Lackawanna Ry., New York...
...And yet Michigan's two Senators were at Aldrich's command on every vote where he wanted them...
...In February, 1900, the railroads of the country, acting in such beautiful harmony as to completely dissipate our old hallucination about competition, changed hay from sixth to fifth class...
...It has not been a question of six millions now, or during the life time of that association, but of that much money each and every year...
...D. P. Wood, Gen...
...M. Henderson, Com...
...So swiftly and so subtly do the Hills and Harrimans of the country accomplish such transformations that it only required two years to completely change the Association, through its president and directors, from an organization that was fighting aggressively and justly for its rights to one shamefully subservient and inert...
...He must come before the next Michigan Legislature for re-election...
...Patriotism, and the people won, as they will ultimately triumph in every conflict with the special privilege class...
...Agent, C. H. & D., Toledo...
...Senator Burrows' term expires with this session...
...And the amendment to the Interstate Commerce Commission act gave that body the right and authority to enforce the order...
...That was precisely what happened...
...Agent, Red Line, Toledo...
...If accurately interpreted and honestly told it would be, rather, an exposition of the philosophy and practise of the property power in politics...
...On the contrary conditions had developed which made it more certain that the former decision must be reaffirmed...
...Here is a partial list of the agents and traffic managers of railroads who were sent to the convention to participate in the fight for millions: H. A. Yant, T. F. A. ,T...
...The first is more or less open and honorable, consisting in a direct addition to the price charged on a certain commodity...
...It is known how beneficiaries of special privilege dominate political parties through their Cannons and Aldriches, and even by-masked "reformers," but few realize how completely these interests can control great social, commercial and even religious organizations...
...If Michigan public opinion is sturdy enough to express itself in action, they will soon have the opportunity...
...That is the strength of democracy...
...The Interstate Commerce Commission had already given a decision in the case...
...And "the people" in that convention repudiated the action of its officers who had acted in the interest of the railroads...
...Gerkins, Gen...
...I would that everyone could under-stand how "the system" sows seeds of dissention and disruption in the very organizations through which the people are supposed to secure their rights...
...The time intervening between the filing of the first and second complaints had revealed no reason for a changed verdict in favor of the railroads...
...A. P. Anderson, G. F. A., Hocking Valley, Columbus...
...From the newspapers of Michigan and from private expressions of opinion it is clear that the people of that State wanted revision downward and sympathized with the Insurgents in the Senate...
...The 1907 convention officially approved of the filing of the second complaint and instructed Chairman Loftus and Attorney Manahan to proceed with the prosecution...
...George S. Loftus was chosen a member of the board of directors, placed upon the executive committee of three and placed back upon the transportation committee, with the assurance of sympathy and co-operation in his efforts to restore hay to the classification that meant a saving of so many millions to that great industry...
...That is my reason for telling this story—to suggest that vital political fact, and also in order that reformers may become more militant and more hopeful...
...A. P. Hunter, G. F. A., Red Line, Detroit...
...They knew also that the order to dismiss the case did not represent the judgment and desires of the rank and file of the Association, but that i t was the voice of the railroads, speaking through a false Association directorate...
...So the railroads did not dare risk the issue in the judicial arena...
...The first victory of Manahan-Loftus et al, was over an unfriendly organization of the convention...
...Property vs...
...Michigan is a State whose population is much the same in character as Wisconsin, across the lake...
...The other is a more subtle scheme of increasing the transportation tax by shifting the commodity in question to a higher classification...
...There were some speeches that for force and fearlessness have rarely been equaled and then the National Hay Association was at least temporarily freed from railroad domination...
Vol. 1 • August 1909 • No. 34
