The Battle for Rail Oversight

The fight between the friends and opponents of a railway commission for the control of the country commenced last Friday night at Lynden. The occasion was the annual New Year's banquet of Kildall Bros., and it marked the opening of the new line of the Bellingham Bay British Columbia railway. Mayor A. L. Black of Bellingham, a pronounced railway commission advocate, declared that Bellingham would furnish the market were it not for the barriers erected by the great transcontinental lines of railroad, which are endeavoring to build up Seattle and Tacoma to the detriment of smaller cities. Escape from this, he declared, is by constructing independent lines of railway to Spokane or by the creation of a court of arbitration—a railway commission—where grievances may be presented. Mayor Black alleged that the railroad systems are actively opposing independent lines and the commission bill, going so far as to gag the local press to prevent his political success. C. W. Howard, a prominent opponent of the commission idea, replied that it would be plenty of time to regulate railroads when they have secured enough lines.