Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1875-01-09
RAILroAp vaRE AND FREIGHT
hill.

The irrsprsssibls Beck. Of bride scorn-
ing nosoriety. has determined to be
prominent. even IL nothing more than
his ears shall b seen. After publicly
announcing his purity and airing his
witticism at the expense Of the State. he
now comes to the front with m act which
proposes to regulate freichts and fares
on tho railroads OF this State. We
make no professions Of acquaintance
with this subject. and until We shall
have devoted some study to the cost OF
constructing and operating u railroads.
shall not attempt to discuss the merits
OF Mr.. Beck's bill. We are assured by
those familiar with our railroad inter-
ests. and therefore, perhaps. equal
ly A. competant as Mr.. Beck. to judge
In such matters that the bill in question
10 incongruous. incomplete and unjust;
that its attempted classification Of
frsights Ia absurd. and that II has evil
IDENTIFY been prepared without reference
either to the primal cost Of railroads or
the cost Of carrying freight. One sug-
gsstion which presents itself to our
mind is this: II the rates prescribed by
Mr.. Beck's bill will afford a fair profit
to q road which cost 81. 900 n mile. will
they not give enormous profits to one
which cost say $50. 900 per mils' Or
on the other hand. IL the rates per ton
per mile for freight, hIed by this bill.
will secure . Legitimate profit to the lat.
ter road. will they not bankrupt the for
msr7 In other words. should not the
legitimate sost Of q railroad. |. e.. the
money invested per mile in its construc-
ton. equipment and maintenance, have
something to do with the rates ii may
charge and the profits it should earnl
II We do not misintsrpret its meaning.
this bill proposes that no railroad in the
State shall charge more than six cents
per mile for passengers. This without
reference to the country travelled over,
tho csst Of building and maintaining a
rad. or the distance travelled. It strikes
us this Is not q fair deal. Stage rates
over mountain countries are invariably
higher than over q level plain; il costs
more to keep such road in repair. Should
not the svenu c~orrsspondto tho greater
eostl No one will deny tha. it costs
moro to haul freight from Empire City
TO Virginia than over a corresponding
distance Of level road; yet. under the
provisions Of Mr.. Beck's bill. the same
rate would Be- charged from Empire to
Virginia as from Reno to Steamboat
Springs. Is there no difference in the
cost OF hauling freight from Carson to
Virginia from that OF hauling from Reno
to wadsworth ? Yet the charge would
b the same per mile. II may be an
swsrsd that what is lost in hauling mp
hill IL gained in going down. This
would in part be true wsro equal quanti-
ties Of freight transported each way.
We all know that such Ia not the case
upon our local road. against which it is
suggested the bill is mainly directed. We
have pursued this subject further than
intsnded at the outset. Our sugg-s-
tons are crude. yet We believe raise
questions worthy Of serious considsra-
ton. II IL shall be found necessary to
discuss the question Of railroad trans
portation thoroughly. we shall look
about for q few facts and figures.