Weekly Trinity journal., 1873-10-04

necessary outlay LOT interest," anu Hiouci
ate return of capital will allow and be
rated according to distance, in which
| grades and curves are dominant ele-
ment, the frequency of loading and dis.
charging, the character of the cargo and
the amount of traffic. These elements
constitute the true rule, and must all be
considered in making up a freight tariff.
1t is inequitable to add another, viz that
wheat or other coarse products must be
transported at such rates as to make the
raising of wheat or such other products
profitable, no matter what the distance or
what the price of wheat in the Market
Yet, substantially this latter idea has
been diligently fostered, and railroad
companies held up as enemies to the
farmers because they do not conform to
it.
l am not here to assert that the rates ol
transportation in this State do not exceed
those which would result from the rule
have stated. Others who have made the
matter a study can speak as to that. In
a table published by the Overland fol
this month, / find that the rate of freight
between San Francisco and Colfax, pei
hundred pounds, for first class freight, is
SO cents for second class, so cents for
third class 40 cents. On the Illinois Cen
raj Railroad, under their new railroad
law, to which shall presently refer, the
rates for the same classes of freight for
the same distance, are respectively 63,
SO and 43 cents. For the mountain divis-
ion of the Central Pacific Railroad, be-
tween Rocklin and the Summit, an in
crease of grade of each twenty feet per
mile is equal to an additional mile on a
level. An equalization of the grades over
the Livermore Pass would greatly in
crease the distance. The Illinois road
runs through prairie country, and its
business is enormously greater than that
of any road in this State.
LEGISLATIVE REGULATION OF RAIL-
ROADS.
But the reformed railroad law of Illi-
nois may be to liberal. If freights and
fares are too high how should they be
regulated One plan is for the Legsla-
ture to take the matter in hand and rem
edy all evils. A wise committee of ex-
perienced men, acting from reason and
not prejudice, and influenced by justice
rather than spite, might be able to sub
nit plan to the Legislature that would
do justice to all parties. Such Il commit
tee would have to consider that ton of
silk worth 1000 could afford to pay Il
higher price for transportation than ton
of hay worth $l5. Mirrors and carboys
of acid could not travel at the rate of
sheet-iron and molasses. If valuable and
condensed products do not pay well for
transportation, coarse and bulky pro-
ducts can have no discrimination in their
favor, aud the new burden is laid on those
who now most complain. 1t must be ad-
mitted that from some source an income
must be derived sufficient to pay the nee
essary expenses. If low uniform rate
is laid on all articles, it must be higher
| than the present lowest rates, and in
practice the present low rates swill be
brought up. One difficulty in legislative
regulation is the want of experience Of
the average legislator in the complex
matters of railroad freight tariffs. Gov
ernor Carpenter of Iowa, in an address
before the State Agricultural Society OF
that State, wherein he dwelt with great
force upon the need for modification of
rates Of transportation said:
&C. am not prepared to say that n Leg
islature can successfully and wisely fix II
schedule of tariff charges, upon commod-
tiles exchanged and distributed by means
of railway transportation, and, in fact,
am inclined to the opinion that it is i'm
practicable, as it seems to me that no or
dinary enactment would either be suifi-
GENTLY flexible to meet the changing pro-
cesses of commerce or the increasing
wants Of the country"
He holds the opinion that it would be
difficult, in the general traffic of the coun-
try, to so hedge the railroads by statutes
as not to allow them some discretion as
to charges. But he holds that there is n
limit on all articles, above which they
ought not to be permitted to advance
their rates. There is probably the safe
extent TO which legislation on this point
can go, il that limit can be ascertained, g,
as it can be if inquired for in n spirit of
candor.
Charles Francis Adams, Jr., has given
much thought to this matter, and has
written ably and voluminously upon it in
the reports of the Railroad Commission
ers of Massachusetts, and in the North
american ReUielO. In the report of the
Commissioners for January, 1873, drawn
up by him, they discuss the question of
the expediehcy Of legislative action, and
say
Under the effect of competition, the
laws intended to be applicable to one class
become applicable to those of another,
there is no discrimination as regards spec
ial requirements either of localities or of
corporations, provided they fall within
the lines Of classification and n passen-
ger road may find itself on the same foot
ing with a mineral road. II is almost an
impossibiity that any measure could be
framed at once sufficiently precise and
sufficiently flexible to meet the require
ments Of so complex system and, even
were it possible to frame it, it is extreme
ly improbable that it could pass the or
deal of any legislative body.
The final difficulty of all legislation of
this class is its excessively dangerous and
politically corrupting tendency. 1t forces
the corporations, whether they wish to
come there or not, into the lobby of the
Legislature and the rooms of committees
and commissioners. They are forced
there for the protection of their interests /;
for the essence of the system is, that GER
tain persons, whether the Legislature it.
self or officials designated by the Legis-
lature, have devolved upon them the res
possibility OF establishing the revenues
Of property belonging to others. The
Commissioners have grave doubts of the
success OF any effort at the regulation of
the railroad system, which practically ef-
fects a separation between the ownership
of railroad and its management"
ILLINOIS REFORMED RAILROAD LAW.
The result Of legislative arrangement
Of freights in Illinois, if the New York
Tribune and other Eastern papers are to
be believed, has not been satisfactory TO
the people Of that State. The currents of
business have been disturbed and impor-
tant advantages have passed from Chica-
go and other cities of the State toward
cities of other States. AS this law was
the peculiar product of the antagonists of
the railroads, devised in the interest of
the producing classes as elections even
of judges have been determined by their
construction of it it is interesting to note
its effects as an example of the best that