The Portland daily press., 1873-07-30
The New Railroad Law in Illinois

II said L would tell you why the railroads
have been obliged to increase the rates under
the new law. Take our own road, At GER
tain seasons of the year our business is large
ly one way, and we have great numbers of
empty cars at st. Louis and Bloomington.
Those cars must be brought back to Chicago
either loaded or empty. Now, we will sup
pose that there is man in st. Louis who has
freight to 60 east he likes the management
of our road, and would give us the business,
provided we would give him rate to New
York or Boston that will be as cheap as the
other routes. We deduct the amount which
we know we shall have to pay the roads run
ming east from here, and find that we shall
have only SIS car left for our share. We
couldn't afford to run the road at all if that
was our regular price, but the question arises:
Will it be better to send the cars back empty
and let them earn nothing or shall we let
them earn the SIS each? The expense of
getting those cars back to Chicago will not be
perceptibly greater if they are loaded than if
they were empty, and whatever we get will
be so much toward paying the expenses OF
running the road. But this new law comes
in and says: .You must not do this you must
charge more for taking that freight from st.
Louis 10 Chicago than you charge for taking
it from any intermediate station The result
is, we have to abandon that kind of business
altogether, and collect enough more from our
regular business to make up for the loss of in
come" &
ssThe farmers think the railroads are trying
to make the new law odious by demanding
unjust rates. / remarked.
don't think it is so," he replied. 'Some
of the rates are high; there is no doubt about
that, but still think the railroads of the
state will make less money than before. Take
Bloomington, for instance, on our road,
freights will be higher from that point to Chi
cago, ard also east, than they were before.
There we competed with an east and west
road, and the only way we conld get any
through business was to reduce our rates so
that the route east by Chicago would be as
cbeap as the other. ibis we could afford to
do. as Bloomington was point at which we
generally had empty cars that must be re-
turned to Chicago. Now that we have had
to put up the rates from Bloomington to the
same scale with those from other points, the
business all goes the other way, but not as
cheaply as before, for the east and west road
has increased its rates to within a fraction Of
! what ours are, and as long as this arrange
n,ent lasts they will keep just enough under
us 10 get the business.
"I suppose you know that rome of the rail-
road co mpanies are paying any attention to
the law so far as it affects the transportation
the seaboar,d. 1t is impossible for them to do
SO. The rates of freight are determined by
the market price of the produce in New York.
Now. corn or wheat raised in western Iowa
can pay certain amount OF freight, and no
more That is divided among the roads over
which it goes in proportion t. the number of
miles each carries it. The rate on each road
is very low, and has to be; it wou.d uot pay
the expenses of running, if the roads bad no
other business, or if they had to do all of their
business at the same rate. Now, if we should
obey the law and take out for our share the
same amount that we get for local freights,
there wouldn't be enough left for the other
roads to pay for wheel grease. We might as
well build fence around the State and paint
on it No thorougbfare,' for the trade would
all go around us either by the lakes from Wis
consin ports, or by the Mississippi river"
How is it that you can afford to carry any
freight ai rates that will not pay running ex-
penses 90 asked.
'sThats point that has puzzled the farm
ers," he said, ''but think can explain It 10
you. They think we are greatly overcharging
them. because we get such low rates ior
through freishts. Fully one-half OF the ex-
penses of running railroad are what are
called sstationary'-that is, they are the same
whether the road does Iaise business OF
m,a,i one There are the station agents, who
"st ba Maid lust as much if only two trains
III nj in a day, as when twenty go by. Expe-
P:a.,oo has also proved that a road is not safe,
unless It is patrolled and every foot of it is
examine1 every day. 1t takes an engineer, a
fireman, a conductor, nearly as many brake
men and about the same amount of coal to
run a train of fifteen cars as to run twenty.
All of our roads have bonded debt, the
interest of which must be paid whether they
do large business or small one. Now We
will suppose that certain road must earn
81 100000 during the year in order 10 pay
expenses. and its local business brings it in
only s750,OOO. If it has no other business, it
must either increase its local rates one third
or lose s25O,O0O. But there is a through
business that the road can get II it will take
it at half rates; if more is charged it will
either 90 some other way or not at all. If
the business is taken, the expenses OF the
road will be increased, say, 100000, but the
| receipts will be increased S5Q0,0Q0. Now tne