The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1867-04-04

drawn oy Senator SHoLEs of this county,
and indicates also the views which control
led his vote on the question:
The committee on railroads, on due con-
sideration and examination of No 20 A.
a bill to establish uniform tariff for
freight and passengers on the railroads in
the state Of Wisconsin,, and amendatory of
the various railroad charters granted by the
legislatures Of this state,
Beg leave to report as follows:
Adequate transportation rates for rail
ways-just transportation rates for the PEG
pie!
These are alike, important demands.
Less than adequate rates for railways tends
to the withdrawal of capital from railway
enterprises, and to the prostraton and de-
struction of the interest
Oppressive rates Tor the people, tend to
| the encouragement of productive enterpris-
IS, and to the diminution of railway bust
ness and profits.
What are adequate profits?
those which, III the economical manage.
ment of railways, furnish fair interest on
the capital invested, or on the value of rail
way property justly estimated.
What is fair interest?
The law likes seven per cent, though this
Is less than the real worth of the capital in
the market But we will assume seven per
cent What is the value of the railway prop.
erty OF this state estimated upon present
basis of cost?
i Thirty seven thousand dollars per mile
including rolling stock, depots, &c, may be
considered reasonable estimate. lien "a
| fair return 70 raiIuta naDi,.I ,,.ouIJ ruon;r,
nett earnings reaching So, $50 per mile per
annum.
Without going farther back, let us now
look at the figures of the earnings, so far
as we have them, of Wisconsin railways
for 1866
Milwaukee and st. Paul, including eastern
division, about So, O0O-5.4 per cent
| Milwaukee and Prairie du Chen, 81, 500
2 per cent.
Western Union Quot oyer) $500 per
cent.
Northwestern, (no statemeut) but no div
idends on any kind Of stock, and nett re
suits i'll this state not exceeding per cent.
| dere, then, Is an average profit, on CAPT
tai represented, OF less than 1 per cent, in
the operations Of the past year; aud we
know, as a general fact that none Of the
roads have paid interest on the cost If con
struction, while millions of dollars have
been lost in the work
Is it the design of bill No 20 A., TO less
en- the average OF transportation rates, and
diminish to Il still lower point railway
profits?
This would evidently, as regards the rail
way interest. be oppressive, unjust and de-
stsuctive.
Will the proposed measure have the re-
verse effect, aud afford better earnings?
We can afford to wait for railway action
III the matter of increasing rates. The peo-
pie will not thank us for this kind of legis
ation
Is it the object simply to establish uni
form rates for freight and passengers?
This might be accomplished in one of two
ways; Demand that the railway compa-
MES shall make rates uniform or the legis-
ature Itself fix the precise schedule of uni
formity. This bill does neither. But wo' d
it follow, if the rates prescribed were ade
quate and just for one road, that they
would be SO for all ??
The profits of the several companies for
1866 stand as 5, 4, 8, 2.
This shows some difference in situation
aud circumstances A legislative scale of
tariffs, then, that would reduce the to 8
would entirely wipe out 2, and very likely,
the road it represents, a policy under which
the stronger roads might survive, would be
entirely fatal to the weaker
In fact there is no equitable rule which
could be laid down for the general adjust
ment Of rates What would be fair aud re
munerative in district thickly populated
and producing large amount Of material
for transportation would be ruiuous in a re
gion in a reverse position, 1t would be as
reasonable to require stage from u Depot
In country town to carry passenger five
miles for six cents, because stages do so in
New York, as TO classify railroads every
where under the same regulations. Again
what would be fair rate for one hundred
miles would not be a fair rate for ten miles
The general expenses OF switching and sta
ton service would swallow up the whole re-
ceipts Oh the ten miles, and put the rail
road in the position ofpaying money for the
privilege Of doing business
| II a pro rata law should fix fair rate for
a short distance, say twenty miles, the same
rule carried out on longer distances would
bring it to point Of absurdity, where the
charge would be III excess Of the value of
any ordinary article; and if on the other
hand. a fair rate should be established for
long distance, say two hundred miles, the
same rule carried out on short distances
would bring it to an opposite point of absur-
dity where the charge would be wholly in
adequate to the cost Of transportation
The last clause Of this proposition illus
trates III some degree the character of bill
No. 80
In the matter of determinations which
this bill prohibits, it might be well to un-
derstand whether there are not circunstan
ces calling for and justifying this policy
and whether the prohibition may not work
to the injury Of our railways at competing
points and shut off all business from the
Mississippi river, sending il for trausporta
ton to tue nearest points beyond the state
We can understand, IN the absence of
competition, why discrimination may cease;
and why, when there is Il common and uni
form basis OF operation equal aud uniform
transportation rates should be the rule -
but we caunot see the propriety and justice
OF insisting upon the application Of a rule OF
this KIND to roads whose conditions are not
uniform Supply and demand are the nat
ura regulators Of all commerce and oppo
sltion to this principle is like tamperiug
with gravitation. Great disturbance may
be created, but the result is damaging
to all concerned. Railroad tariffs |
must be regulated as the price Of grain, or
pork, or groceries by what the services are
worth on the one hand, and what it will pay
to perform it at, on the other. Arbitrary
prices cannot be sustained, and it is the |
constant study Of railroad managers to
know what rates will be most conducive to
business.
There may be many instances of unequal
and inequitable rates, but these are the re-
suits OF misunderstanding and difficulty in
dealing with subject Of so great magni-
tude. 1t is not for the interest of a railroad |
IN ma a az al, =