Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-01-08

81 and OIL. ........
4lll. BormauelIL way -......-.... -.........i %
5;li. Manl gemeat aud Office Pensss........I "
Tolsl 5ost per mile per train OF working
expenses 3lS
But as these trains return empty, only
earning money ia oce direction, this
amount must be doubled; and. would
give a tUtaisum Two shilliugs two pence
fartbiug, or So cents To esrn IS "a, or
showing a profit Of uearly BOD PER cent.
As the contractors found tue wagons,
which might be calculated at 81 ( a mile,
the entire expenditure would lie brought
up 20 3 3j, or 90 cent? for the duuOle
journey. The cost, therefore, for con
veying each ton of coai is Is IL, or 81
cents, for a hundred miles"
/ cannot conclude without a further
quotation from Nr. Gait, who says:
The policy hitherto acted upou by
railway directors, and, considering them
as traders, not an unfair one, has Been to
keep the pullIC 10 complete ignorance Of
the internal working of our rail way sys-
ten, so far as regards the extremely low
rate st which passengers and goods can
be conveyed on railways" But an in
geniOus chairman might gay The fact
is that we and all the other conpuaiss
can carry passengers sJ exceeding low
rates. A lirst-class passenger We can
carry four miles f0- a farIning lone half
Of d cent, second class six miles for q
farthlng, and a third class ten miles for a
farthing, and ali beyond that, with fairly
loaded trains, Is profit" Wien the pub
lic come TO know that g passenger can be
conveyed one hundred miles for two
pence halfpsnuy gor FIVE centsl, for
which he il charged eight shillings and
four I,p 4 %,
ton Of eOalc an be brought from the north
Of England foriabUut a.shilling "a cents),
the cost being there SIX or eeven shillings,
and the price in London four or five times
that sum, 1t requires no prophet to foreJelt
that the days Of railway monopoly,
IN private hands, viii in this Coun try
Eng land sOoA be numbered But, how
ever great may be the benefits acCruiUg
to the people from the low fare system,
they are uHattsinable under the present
mode OF management The presidents Of
these roads would not be justified in try
ing experiments, or in sacrificing one per
csnt. on the dividends OF their share
hOldeTs.n
There is one point to which I would
call particular attention. The amount
annually paid for freight far exceeds
that paid for passage. The latter Is uaid
by the thousands who travel, the former
by the millions who stay at home. Com
plants are often made of the exhOrbi-
tance Of the former, very seldom of the
latter. The one is adiFect tax levied on
The travelling, the latter an indirect tax
levied on the whole community. The
merchant makes no complaint, for the
consumer pays it. The consumer makes
no COMPLAINT, for he is not aware how
lF n FRrfn he.v 30
pOrtatlon. he does not know that with
the full freights the railway might COM
mand, prices could in many cases be re-
dUced one-half. He does not realize tia t
the monOpOlist has no Tea'oD for iEcreas-
ing the amount Of freight, as the high
price he receives makes it a matter of
small account TO him whether the load is
heavy or light. Let us take an example.
Coal at the pits mouth in Pennsylvania
is worth about a dollar and q half ton.
Let Us take the English price OF thirty
two cents ton for a hundred miles, and
third for deprecated currency, making
about forty three cents ton.
The distance to Philadelphia is about
three hundred miles a citizen buys ten
tons and pays cost and freightage,
which, together, amounts to about 81 70
ton or 81 80 for tho lot. While be is
concentrating himself on the reduction
rsiiFcsd employee enters aud says the
market price OF the coal is eight dollars
we have been obliged to send in the first
bill at cost, and now present one for the
profits, which amount TO five dollars and
twenty-One cents q ton. Fifty-twO dol
lars and ten cents for the difference III
the profits should be stated in this way,
sven 3 Philadelphia Quaker would be
justiaeo ia saying, Verify, friend, thy
profit ia eXOrbitsnt -
ITO BE ooscLUDED TO-MoBRoRl