Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-01-31

Board of Trade of the United States. and
was finally adopted
Freight Car Companies.
REPORT OF TIE RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS or
MAsSA ACHUSETTS.
Below we give that srtion Of the Massa-
chusetts Railroad Co missioners' report
which refers to the rela lions of freight ear
companies to railroad companies, and more
especially to the Vermont Central Railroad:
FREIGHT CAR COMPANIES.
There are now practically three forms of
ownership of the freight rolling stock in
use on the railroad system of this country 3:
| O) The ownership by individual railroad
| corporations; (2) the ownership by those
corporations a. parties TO organizations con-
| sisting Of several connecting roads; and (3)
the ownership by private parties or com
| panies. which derive profit from the use of
| their cars By railroad corporations The
| first form Of ownership is themOst common,
and does not need to be dwelt upon. The
cars in this case are the property of the in
| diyidual corporations. and are intended for
use exclusively on their roads. When,
| however, they pass for any purpose over
! connecting roads, their use Is paid Tor at
| certain understood rates, usually computed
/ at So much per diem. Thi, was the form Of
ownership which existed almost exclusively
in the earlier and simpler days Of railroad
| transportation, and j. not liable to any
abuse As the system deyolped, however.
and the lines of connection extended, this
| form of ownership failed 10 meet the re-
| quirementS Of the public. The delays, dltil-
| culties and inconyeniences necessarily incl
! dent to il were the source of grave and we'll
! founded complaints Where goods were TO
be forwarded great distances over number
| Of connecting roads, shipperSand consgneeS
found it almost impracucable tOAdo business
with many corporations at once, the reSpon
Sibilitv Of each of which ceased with the
limits of it, individual line This fact gave
a great impetus to the deyelopement Of the
several express and despatch companies.
| These undertook TO receive goods and for
ward them TO their destinations over many
separate and connecting roads, they all the
time being responsible for safety and prompt
delivery. These organizations owned them
selves, no cars OF rolling stock they sim
PLY used that which the individual railroad
corporations supplied, and paid for such use.
| This system speedily developed grave abuses
The profits of the express and despatch COM
panie- We're large. and the officials of the
various railroads gradually became more or
less pecunarly interested in them. Those
parties We're thus made subject % directly
conflicting interests. As employees of
railroad corporation they were u duty bound
90 see that the corporation employing them
received o full equivalent for the use OF lts
rolling stock and road-bed but. as partners
in the express or despatch companies, what
ever the railroad corporations received was
So much dcluctel from their partnership
profits The tendency. up to the year ls6j,
wa. however. strongly in this direction.
The advantages of prOmptitudc and re-
-pon~iblity iu forwarding goods which the
acknowledgements offered 10 the business
public were 50 apparent as compared with
ANYTHING attaiuab.r in dealing with several
individual and disconnected lines, that 1t
seemed inevitable that the whole business of
handling through freights must gradually
pass into their hands. and that, 80 far a-
this. the largest and most profitable part OF
the merchandise traffic was concerned. the
railroad companies would ultimately con-
fine themselves t. the the mere duty of fur
ui-hiug and hauling cars for iorwardcrs.
having themselves no dealings whatever
with the general outside public. The cN-
press and despatch companies under such
system would have occupied the position oi
forwarding middle-men
Il would have been difficult % devise any
system which would have afforded better
opportunity than this for the deiuuding of
railroad corporations hy their employees.
Itwouid inevitably have resulted in the cor
poation~ doing the bulk of the work, al the
lowest possible rates, while the despatch
companies would have eXacted from the pub
lie the largest profits. This obvious fact
speedily attracted tine attention oi those
managing certain leading throuEh-.ine~,
and il was no first proposed that they
should themselves. in their individual ca
pacity. organize into companies 90 do the
torwarlin. business over the roads employ
ing them. iu opposition tl the existing de>-
patch companies, and going one step in ad-
vance ofthe~e 10y owning their own rolling
stock thus ohtaiuingat once complete con-
tro. of tine roads through the control of that
without which the could not be operated.
I'm other words. SD far rs through freight
was concerned. while the employees were TO
furnish car, and % transact all business
with the public on their own private ae-
count. the railroad corporations were TO
confne themselves to the ownership of 4
r0ad-bed and motive power. This scheme
failed To- meet the approya. of certain officials
who were either more careful of the rights
of their employers or were largely in
terested iu the securities Of the cor
ponti0ne they represented. These
gentlemen entirely concurred in the
absolute necessity of some organization
such rs that proposed. which should effect
for through business practical cOnsoida-
tiun Of the numerous individual and con-
Meeting lines. thus ai0rding thepublic some
responsible party with whom 10 deal; but
they insisted that the corporations them
selves and not their employees should make
up the proposed organization, and should re-
ceiye the profit, accruIng from il. This
view prevailed, and the several despatch
/ lines known a~ the c1lored. or Red, " hite
and Blue Lines, were organized in c0ntor-
mity with it. Ouly certain corporations,
however, are includerin these organiza-
tions Many corporations are either parts
/ otcompeting through lines, or they have
not thought it their interest to enter the
I system and contribute TO 1t their quota of
/ cars.
1t Is on one of these competing through
/ lines between New England and the West,
/ that the system originally proposed and
abandoned for the colored line system, has
/ in this part of the country found its fullest
/ development. Observing the great success
/ and popularity of the coiored lines, those
managing the competing route wished to
organize a similar system for the roads un-
| der their control. When the subject was
discussed, the difficulty of want Of means
presented itself The parties managing the
/ Vermont Central road, which was the most
important link in the chain. asserted that
| this company was in no condition TO supply
its quota of ears to an organization such rs
that suggested. Ii was therefore proposed
that certain private parties, including the
managers of the reads. should raise among
themselves the necessary capital, and should
supply the ears. to be owned by them, and
run over the connecting roads at certain
rates per mile. This scheme was carried
ont. and the National Car Company was
formed the cars being distinguished by the
green color which they were painted. The
company went into operation in 1865, own
ing then two hundred cars, equipped with a
patent adjustable axle TO enable them to
run over roads of different width of gauge.
! The allowance made for the Use of these
cars was at first 3 cents per mile run, wheth-
er full or empty Subsequently, when the
number of cars was increased. the allowance
was reduced on the additional portion of them
TO 2.5 cents per mile; which amount. on
vet further addition of cars, was again re-
duced to > cents per mile. The business
/ proved extremely profitable to those own
ing the cars, the number OF which was
rapidly increased from 200 in 1869 to 900
| in 1872. In consequence, however. of the
severe criticisms made upon it during the
past autumn. in connection with the iinan-
cial troubles of the Vermont Central road.
the company has disposed of one-half of its
cars to the Grand Trunk Railroad, and now
runs only 500. The success of this organi-
zation, however, and the pressing need felt
of additional freight rolling stock on an in
solvent road, induced the managers of the
Vermont Central TO organize another COM
pany in 1870, called the Vermont Iron &
Car Company, which was intended to do
local business over the Vermont Central and
its connecting roads at mileage rates, in the
same manner that the National Despatch did
the through business. The cars of this COM
pany were of the ordinary construction.
and the allowance made for their use was
25 cents per mile. The company began