Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-03-13

aggregate ind ebtedncss is now. AS it WI
four.e II years ago toincroase the charge ia
transportation, and clcse thcir ccn struetior
account.
Beer With me, gentlemen while Iofer
@uo4}ier illustration on larger scale.
There are four great companies engaged
in tue REPRESENTATION of shc anthracite Goa
of Pennsylvania from the mines TO the sea.
board. The works of these companies With
their outfits, have cost about fifty millions
Of dollars. They carry now, in the aggre-
gate, of coal and other thiness, on the four
lines, about six millions Of tons per annu,n
"a mass sufficient to form a pile forty feet
wide forty feet high, and thirty niles long.
Ih coal sells in the narHess along the
coast at the average price of six Of seven
doiars ton.
But, fit were not FL these four rail roads
and canals anthracite coal either would no,
be used at all at distance from The mines,
o., if used, could only be bought for about
$40 ton.
Now, the transporters Of all the coal and
freight receive but about $50 a ton as
remuneration for the labor and capital by
which they save the public !s14 or SD 6
ton on nearly all Tie coal consumed by d
population Of ten millions Of people
If, instead Of $3.50 a ton, those trans
portcrs received So ton, or only so cents
ton more than they now charge, the aeere-
gate income would be increased S., eco, eco,
Or six per cent. upon their cntire eapissl c.
so, 700 ,00O.
Yet these four companies, holding m al
most absolute monopoly of the anthracite
trade, move on steadily ana collectively, year
after year, each oycrburtened with trade,
each possessing more business than It knows
how to manage, each jealous Of the others
prosperity, and seeking 10 destroy it, and
so adjusting their charges d 10 sasssee their
own and each others prosperity reci4rso.,ss3 Y
Impossible
| would not trouble you, Messrs Editors,
with these facts and comments il ! did not
think it possible to suggest an at'c luate
rene y for great evil, undsr which thor-
sands Of people are this d4y ST fierips Sc
we're distress Tia great error ard tie conse
Of hts 'at depreciation of property, * z :
tara5te to tie rtls d soH Ulti. these are
made what they oughtto be, or something
approaching what they ought to be, our rail
roads cannot prosper No financial ability,
exercised in negotiating loans for tempo
rary relief, no ecohsmy -qf administration
can supercede the imperative necessity Of a
we'll devised toll-sheet. It is from the tesls,
and nothing else, that the reyonyas are to
be extracted.
| will venture, therefore, to submit, as
briefly as possible. some suggestions for the
formation of raid road tariffs, where revenue
and let mere popularity ,.is.te object sought
by the company.
|. LIT each company make is ORR tarif
" toll, dased on q direct ard carefM inres-
ftyation Of tie conditions Of its otrn trade
fnsfead # adapting the tarifs or ctasSi f.
1:at&oas Of othes coapaatss, o. esca using
them as guides.
BY copying the toll-sheets Of established
lines they necessarily copy the errors Of
those lines And, as rule, the older a
company is the longer it has been exposed
to the potent pressure Of those outside in
auenccs which, by little and little, cut away
the profits Of a road under the plea Of en-
couraging trade, until few officers can be
found to exhibit the moral courage necessary
to face the storm Of Indignation which Us
ually follows an attempt at reformation.
Besides, the toll-sheets of many oil lines
are for the most part copied from those that
are older, with frequent special concessions
to vigorous appeals il fa,..er cf particular IA
teress.s
81. "a axraagiag tic juylT Let TIC ffst
step te TO ascertain the tfuc co@f oftlanspor-
tatios @poR the }"5t;calas road for uhich
Me tait is isstsn1ed.
The actual cost Of transportation is clear
ly the minimum limit of admissible reduc-
tons in favor Of those objects Of transporta-
ton which are deemed. from motives OF
policy, NEST worthy ct special encourage
ment.
There may be, and ought to be, material
Determinations in every tariff. But no ar
ticle ought to be conveyed for less than the
actual cost Ct It's transportation, fairly made
out from the proper experience of tie line.
1t is not to be assumed that, however ap-
parent the propriety Of this maxim may APP
pear, it is generally respected, IN fact, there
arc, comparatively, but few rail read com
panies that know what is the sctlal cost Of
transportation upon their read Few com
panies so keep their accounts tAat they " 4
be able to approximate tqsgards cosreo
estimate of that indispensable element in The
preparation Of tariff.
This datum aarnet be supplied by re.
sort to the experience Of other compapses
whose accounts profess to show the cost o
transportation; for the actual cost of carry
ing freight en- one line is not unfrequcntl,
three tt12es, and is occasionally for times
as great as it is on anc tEer.
There is, in fac$5, 10 reliable means 0
determining the cost Of transportation
hence the lowest adnsi44ible charge 70
freight-but by direct as4d sytomati3 doduc
tons from the experience Of The road itsel
for which the tariff Is Intended The ac
counts Of the road mpst BE- 50 kept as t
separate the cost DE te the freight, item by
item, from that due .tc the passenger busi-
ness Of the lipc
But the cost Of transportation is not ;
ixed quan+tiSy even On the same road |
varies from year to year and, ihercft&t
while the conditions Of tlc line are chang
ing frequently, we must use TIE suits Ge
rived from the experience Of e.ell gear t,
correct the tariff Of the Succeeding year.
Having determined the true cost Of trans
snrtat;nn and s,losstcJ that os a n,ini;ou.,