Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-05-14

This company operates o66 milel
OF railway in Wisconsin. 1t wa
constructed at cost of s28, 074, BIZ
80. The actual cost of the 129 mile:
from Madison north to Winona June
ton. without equipment, was S., 261 !,
134-41, or $40, 1888 per mile. The
line known and operated as the Wis
consin and Kenosha Divisions, be-
tween the Illinois and Michigan state
lines, cost $13,521, 60147. The
means for this vast outlay were adj
vanced mainly by non-residents and
foreigners. They were induced to
make the investment on the assur>
ance that the people who invited it,
and whom it most benefited, wocld
never render it precarious, nor deny
the owners a voice in the manage
IA eat of their own property.
The singular good feeling which
has hitherto subsisted between the
people of Wisconsin and this compa-
ny has been to us source of con-
slant qualification. We have st,iven
to maintain these harmonious rela-
tions, and have been extremely anx-
ious to remove every just cause of
complaint. The occurrence of a diff
ference, however slight, is to US,
then, especially, matter of deep re-
greet. And, were it possible to avoid
it by sacrifice even more than or
binary, we should not scruple to
make it. But, when the concession
involves our certain ruin, no alterna-
tive is left.
The officers OF this company have
at all times been willing to accord
any information regarding the opera
tions of their road IN Wisconsin. 1t
might reasonably have been expected
that, when so grave o measure as the
arbitrary reduction of the company's
tariff, without rule or reason, was
contemplated, the parties most in,
terested would have been requested
to state what it cost them to do their
business. Without that knowledge,
it is manifestIy impossible for any
authority to fix an equitable tariff.
This company would gladly have
given the information had it been de-
sired. They had ample reason 90
know precisely what their expenses
were. They had laid, and arranged
to lay, in their track, where traffic
was heaviest and most constant, two
hundred and fifty miles of steel rails
"a more extensive improvement in
that line than projected by any other
company in the West. This one ex-
penditure of about 100000 neces-
STATED special increase in the bond
ed debt of the company. Having no
coal minee on this line of road, they
were obliged to pay more than
double the price paid by Illinois COM
panies for fuel. They had purchased
fifty new locomotives from the best
MISUNDERSTANDING them six Of
the most powerful Mogul engines,
for special service on the Tunnel
Division of the company's Madison
Extension, where two of these larg-
est engines are required to haul one
half the load an ordinary locomotive
can easily handle upon a compare
lively level line. The so miles en-
brsced in this Tunnel Division cost
the company more to construct, and
will cost 1T more to operate, than any
IS or 100 miles of the company's
other property. Yet the tariff
named in the act allows us no higher
rates upon this division than upon
the most favorably-located line in
the State. If enforced, they would
compel us to operate that division
at a positive loss. The same Legis-
lature which would ruinously de-
crease our revenue, increased the
taxes levied upon the company one
third
1t will be evident to Your Excel
lency that something beyond the
bare working expenses of the road
must be secured. The interest upon
its bonds must be met. The tariff
named IN the act, applied to our
business, would not yield the requis-
lite sum after paying operating ex-
penses. Can the latter be reduced =?
The company employs several thou
sand men in Wisconsin, none of
whom are extravagantly paid. Were
we to enforce q reduction in their
wages corresponding to that at
tempted to be made in our tariff,
general strike would Immediately
ensue, and the puUlic would Justify
the men. Clearly, then, expenses
cannot be reduced in that way. The
next item of magnitude is the cost of
renewing and maintaining the track,
building and equipment. We are
obliged to furnish the best appoint
ment known to the service, otherwise
the courts mulct US in heavy damag
es for neglect Therefore no oppor-
tunity for reduction in this respect
is afforded.
In proof of the company's willing
ness to reduce its tariff as rapidly
and consistently as possible, the fol-
lowing statement of the rates charg-
ed for the past seven years is pre-
sented to which we may add that
the dividends paid STOCK holders have
never been increased proportionally
| to the reductions made in the tariff,
nor have they ever exceed the rate
of interest allowed by your state law:
Earnings per pas Earnings per ten
senger per mile. freight per mile.
| For the year ending
May 81, s67.......$ .03 s3-lo0 o3 4s-loo
| For the year ending - 40