5<D UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



Again in a similar address some years later is the following: 



It is not possible that the railroads centering here can much longer ignore the 

 importance of the enormous tonnage, but must see that it is to their interest to give 

 to our manufacturers and jobbers a freight rate that will permit of the distribution 

 of goods to a much greater distance than they now enjoy. In fact each year the 

 dealers have to cut the profits to hold their trade to far distant points. Yet with the 

 discriminations by the railroads in favor of cities located on navigable waters, the 

 tonnage continues to develop, and when they see fit to foster the manufacturers and 

 give to them equal rates with those located to the east, Denver will be the most 

 important city between Chicago and San Francisco. 1 



An illustration of the attitude of the railways toward the development 

 of manufactures appears in the testimony of Professor Ripley and Mr. 

 Kindel before the United States Industrial Commission. During the 

 years 1890-92, a number of men had planned to build a pulp- and paper- 

 mill in Denver and use the raw materials of that section to manufacture 

 paper for the newspapers that circulate in the Rocky Mountain region. 

 In this way it was thought the great expense of shipping this commodity 

 a thousand miles might be avoided. Plans were under way when the 

 attention of one of the railroads was called to the matter, and the officials 

 of the railroad informed the promoters that if a paper-mill was built in 

 Denver, and thereby the shipment of paper from Wisconsin interfered 

 with, the railroads would kill the enterprise at any cost to themselves. 

 This they threatened to accomplish by lowering the freight rate on paper 

 from the East. The promoters were greatly discouraged, but as the 

 freight rate was very high, they decided to build the mill. Plenty of 

 timber was available in the near-by mountains. Coal mines were in 

 active operation within twenty miles of Denver. The promoters thought 

 there was every reason to believe the mill would succeed owing to the 

 great expense of hauling paper 1,000 miles from Wisconsin. The rate 

 on incoming paper had been $1 . 55 a hundred, and the complaints about 

 the high rate had been one of the leading causes that had led to the erec- 

 tion of the mill. As soon as the mill went into operation, the railroads 

 reduced the rate on incoming paper to $0.25 a hundred. The profits 

 of the enterprise were greatly cut down and the mill finally closed. 2 



1 Report of the Chamber of Commerce, Denver, p: 57, 1895. 



* Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. IV, p. 264, 1902 ; ibid., Vol. IX, p. 287. 



