, 1877-08-19
THE FASr-FRE1GHr BARNAcLEs

/
especially as it involves railroads, covers q
wide field. Our reporters have investigated
one phase, and in our last issue were printed
the results, which give one very important
reason why railroads are unable to pay divi-
dends and are compelled to reduce the wages
Of their employees. In IN interview with
very prominent railroad official, the latter
] let in flood; Of light upon this subject,
| speaking in general way OF railroad busi-
! ness. One case will illustrate the whole.
| In order to attract custom, the railroads allow
| rebate to heavy shippers. A large mer-
camille house makes an annual contract With
the roads or with the fast-freight lines which
! live upon the roads at a certain rate, say IS
cents per hundred. The house pays this
| rate, and then ct any time it pleases lays
claim to a rebate of Is cents, which is
allowed, leaving 80 cents which must be
divided between three or four companies
and their s*Red," g White" or *'Blue" !"
lines. Deducting the numerous minor
charges from this amount, and it is easy
to see that next to nothing goes
into the treasury Of the Company
to be divided among the stockholders.
Therefore it happens that while the expenses
Of a road may be light and the amount of
tonnage it carries very heavy, still its re-
ceipts are exceedingly small, and do not yield
any return to the owners
At the bottom Of all this trouble lies that
barnacle upon railroad prosperity, the fast
freight line. The official to whom We have
alluded says: "All the roads running from
the East, the great trunk lines, are unfor-
tunately harnessed with too many sub-Ines,
with which they are compelled BY contract
to share their earnings. By sub-1ines I re-
fer to the lines known as the tGlobe,' Blue
Anchor sStar-Union,' National Dispatch
and whole grist of others Us numerous Us
the tentacles of V1cTon Huco's Dev1-Fish."
And again: - Each railroad has three or
four or more lines hanging to it's skirts,
and these lines have separate establishments
and separate managers, officials, clerks, and
runners. They are in themselves, to all in
tents and purposes, thoroughly organized in
stitutions, and are only secondary to the
railroads On whose tracks they run It costs
money to run these lines, but competition
has created them aud made them appear as q
necessity" These parasites upon the rail-
road system are organized by outside specu-
lators [well- grounded suspicion says inside
spectators, the wheel within wheel), who
put their own cars upon the tracks, handle
them, and do the business as independent of
the road as it they owned it, the Company
pensation for the use Of engines and tracks.
They arc about as useful as the parasite,
and in their cut-throat competition with each
other they play the part of the parasite by
sucking away the substance of the road.
Their most frequent prete.t for existence is
that they bring business to the roads,
while they do not bring pound. Tho bust
ness Of the country inevitably and of neces-
sity seeks the railroads. There is Just so
much business to do, and there are 10 faci1-
itiesfor doing it outside Of the railroads They
did it before fast-freight lines ever suggested
themselves to busy spectators or scheming
railroad officials, and they will continue to
do it after these barnac1es are scraped off,
rs they must be sooner or later if stockhold-
ers eyer expect to get dividends. They may
divert business from this road to that, but
they do not increase the aggregate quantity,
any more than drummers for dry-goods
houses increase the quantity of dry goods
bought and sold. They are supcrhuous
middlemen, eating up the dollars that ..legiti-
mately and honestly belong to stock or bond
holders, involving the roads in cut-throat
competition and bad faith. and eventually
bringing some Of them under the red flag Of
the Sheriff. They are pirates, who have
seized upon the railroad property and hoistetl
their blue, white, or red flag, as the case
may be, and, like the pirate, when they have
robbed the ship they scuttle it. Hence all
the disorganization aud unsettled character
Of railroad business, the vicious system of
rebates, confidential drawbacks, and dead
heading, the discovery of Directors that
there are no profits, though the tonnage may
be immense, the orders alashing off 10 OF Is
per cent from the wages Of employees, and
the unjust and illogical system of switching
charges, which it is believed in some quarters
do not 60 TO the railroad companies. There
are two classes robbed by this middle busi-
ness,-the stockholders and bondholders on
the one hand and the employees on the other,-
and meanwhile the general community is not
benefited in the least. There is no doubt
that the railroad companies can largely
increase their profits without cutting the
wages Of employees at all, by getting lid. of
these suckers and managing their own trans
portation, which in these days of telegraph
facilities can be done without difficulty The
sooner these fast-freight lines are wiped out,
whether they are managed by outside spec
ulators OF whether they are run by secret
collusion Of Railroad Directors, tho sooner
will stockholders receive dividends and EN-
ployes good wages.
CCnHERLAsD, Nd, Aug. 17.-The Working
mems party organized to-day. A platform was
adopted opposing the National Bank system and
advocating the issue OF all money by the General
Government, opposing unequal taxation, favoring
LEGISLATION making paper money equal in valne
with specie, favoring tariff to protect home in
duetrY, advocating railroad law making pro-rnta
rates, and faVoring SundaT 1aws.-AssoetdledF Press
U{5UufcH.