, 1873-02-19
RAILWAY CHARGES.
R(:Allation Of Fares and Freights
by Law.

Fourth Annual Report. Of the
Railway Commissioners Of
Massachusetts.
From tho Fourth Annual Report Of the Rail-
way Commissioners o: Massachusetts. just sub
mittod to tho Legislature Of that State, VIC e1-
tract the following, relating to
BY Chapter 58 Of tho Resolves Of 1872, this
Board was directed " to consider the subject Of
regulating railroad faroa mud froights BY law,
and report in tho form Of bill Or othor'Tise on
This question was discussed at some length
in the last annual report Of tho Board [Third
Annual Report, pp. 17o4): Since TINT report
thoroughly S ] Investigated % bya joint int select Com.
mitteo Of both Houseso Of tho British Parliament,
and the evidence and documents submitted to
that Committee, and its own conelusions thore..
on, havo been published in a "Bluo Book" Of
more than 1000 folio pages III various Of tho
State Legislatures of this country, also meas-
nros have been brought forward, Of which copies
hare been transmitted to this Board, oil Of which
boro closely on tho matter reforred to III tho
foregoing resolve. There ia, indeed, no ques-
tion connected with railroad logiBlation which has
accustomed during the Lust forty years 30 much
discussion or 30 many statute enactmontB as tho
There ore now in force on tito statute books Of
various countries laws Of every conceivable do
sorption, from simple act, establishing cherg-.
es 90 much per mile for each traveller or ton Of.
freight carried by rail, to onactmente Of the
most elaborate nature, under Which roads arc
classified, goods enumerated, periodical reyis-
ions provided for, and di1Ierontlal. special and
thfougIats tar WITH dstipGtion9 IT. ota or t'r ho
e1forta in this direction havo, indeed, boon ayh-
tematicalIy pursued both In this country and in
Europe, from tho first inception of tho railroad
Bystem down to tho present day.
In tho oarlier days Of the railroad aystom, aud
especially in America, tho acts regulating fares
and freights were very Bimplo, and apparently
tloro could DO no difficulty III their enforcement.
each passenger and for each ton Of freight;
adopting what is known as the oqual:n,iloago'
rate. Economically thero can be no doubt what
over that this legislation was founded on
public arc in any dogree to correspond to
cost OF tho services rendered BY
son or thing is carried has very little necessary
and hns boon repeatedly dwelt upon in the ro-
ports Of this Board: Its truth can he made worry
apparent by almplo Illustration. Lynn Is ten
miles from Boston lnd Chicago is thousand.
An article OF merchandise going to the one place
or tho other has to bo received, handled, stored,
placed on a car and forwarded; on roaching its
Destination it must bo uuloadod, stored, and de-
| lvered to the company, or received and unlond-
| cd by the tonsignoo; in either case, tho car iH
| necessarily subject to delays during which it
earnB no freight. Under theBe circumatanceH it
| iB very apparent that the fixed cost incurred by
| railroads In the work Of transportation, THAT
cost which Is common for all articles or persons.
no matter how long Or short distance they are
| carried ,-muBt constitute very considerable
part of the whole cost. So obvious is this fact,
] hat jd t3,nf fJ,a i1na
moss moss at : third OF qfarfor Of that ratio pr milo
which is barely remuneratiye On short business.
The simple and obvious fact, that wheels earn
money only while thoy are in motion, has con-
stantly been disrogardod by those seeking to
! framo laws regulating faree mud freights. II q
| car DO loaded with passengers OF goods, and
Of that car arc. steadily earning money for days
#, however tho cost Of starting that cur, inciud
ing The fixed ontlny Of the corporation in officers.
stock, and roadbed,- an outlay which is in large
! degree tho samo for long transportation or for
| short,-if this cost has to be distributed over
| tow mea only in which tho whcolB are in mo-
tio, then it is evident that the cost Of ranapor-
| tation per mile must largely increaae If it Ia
limited by law and not allowed to increase, then
tho long traffic must pay loss Oh tho short
| traffic.
| AS regards merchandise, this is 60 apparent
1t needs only to DO stated to bo uudoratood. OF
course this economical principle must not bo
confused with the abuses perpotratcd by tho
railroad corporations in charging heavier rates
! to intorned diate than to competing points, or
with tho extortfons at times practicod on local
! business.
| As regards tho carriage Of passengers It Is
tho greater tho profit OIL ouch passenger, and,
| numbers being equal, tho cheapor lo can be
| carried. In practice it is apparently otherwise,
hs it Ia notorious that fares for short distances
4tX,fr H,,tt - 3r i
! is due to tue numbers transported. Tho accu-
mutation of small profits, by dividing the cost
| Of running tho train among vast numbers Of
| persons. operates in e1actly tho came way rs II
| It were distributed ovor a great distance meas-
| ured In miloa.
! oqual-miloago laws were, therefore, found
! cd on the erroneous principle that tho fare or
| freight should DO proportional to tho cost Of
| uniform without regard to distance. An in-
finite number Of acts based on this principle
arc to be found in tho statute books Of this
country. Nowhere, however, has tho system
| been moro porsiBtontly followed out than in
Ohio. In that State thoro arc at least nine dis
tinct rates for tho transportation Of passengers
and freight, authorized by law, and yet others
| aro under discussion. Tho matter has been
Railroad Commissioned, in his report for tho
year 1870, asserts these laws are tho most fruit
ful source Of complaint, and that " There is not
q railroad in tho State, whether operated under
| q apecial charter or tue general law, upon which
| the laws regulating rates are not In some way
violated nearly every time regular passenger, q
| freight, or mixed train passes over it.
son thoRo roads whore scrupulous effort is
made to act within tho limits Of the law, it is
violated In Homo instances by charging paason.
gers who fail to purchase tickets an excess Of
regular ticket fare, and in others BY charging m
excess Of tho legal ratio for short distances, Upon
tho purohaao Of tickets; and in almost every
instance where light and bulky ARTICLES, such as
furniture, willow-waro. feathors, and tho like,
arc carried, . greator rate per ton per mile fa
charged than tho law allows, and arsioloa
yaluo, aro charged in excess Of
| their true weight. Whilo this Ia done
often without complaint, aud tho Justice Of tho
rule ie conceded by 1nanY,x 1t ia neyortholoss q
violation Of tho law"
ia strict enforcoment Of tho provisions Of