The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1880-03-04
RAILROAD TARIFFS.
LETTER FROM GENERAL MASAGER J.C.
cLARKE, CHICAGO, ST. LOUIS ASD SRw
ORLEANS RAILROAD.
Nrw oRLrAxs. Feb. %. 1880.

tttesi JdcEs0n, WiSs:
MY DEAR SIR: Yours Of the 9Th did /
not reach me until this morning. 1t may
be too late for me 10 make any suggestions 10 I
you IN reference 10 the HUMPHREYS bill, /,
which discussed before your committee.
II must be apparent TO every intelligent I
mind, how impossible it would be to make
a rigid tariff Of rates. that should not vary
according 10 the values OF tine articles trans
ported and the distances they might be
carried
lfyou were to make a uniform rate, ap-
plying TO all freights, at the same rate per
ton per mile, many OF the products now
transported by rail would be prohibited,
because Of the fact that the rates would abb
serb the value OF the products.
Surprising you transported barrel Of
-four, Bacon salt, meal, or mOlGsses for 20
miles, and charged % cents for its traDspof-
tatiou; then suppose the same articles had
TO be transported 300 miles, and YOU charg
ed % cents for each additional ~ miles
you see ct once II would bc a prohibition
on transporting the articles long distance.
Again, take lumber Supporting you trans.
ported car load Of lumber 80 miles, and
charged for that service $40, which would
be 81 per thousand feet.
Now suppose that car load oflumber was
destined TO travel $50 miles and you were
to charge ~ per thousand feet for each 80
miles, the cost of transportation for this
distance would be $lS per thousand feet,
and the lumber would still be far short,
perhaps, Of its final destination You at
once discover that any such charge you'd
amount to prohibition on all shipping sin~
gle pound.
The lumber shipped from Mississippi,
completes in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio
and Indiana, with the lumber from Mchi-
gan, the northwest and Canada; aud we
must either transport it ut such rates as it
can afford to pay or prohibit It's transporta-
ton altogether, by such a law as is sought
for in the HUMPHREYS bill.
Then, again, take bale Of cotton, and
suppose that we charge 80 cents for trans
porting it so miles The northern limit of
Mississippi to New Orleans is, iu round
numbers, 400 miles; aud If we made an ad.
ditonal charge Of 90 cents for each 30 miles
of transportation the cost would be 81 per
bae--our present charge being SO per bale
for this service
Thus, you see, this uniform tariff would
initiate against the producer or the party
who had any surplus product Of any kind to
ship to market.
Now, the great object which the Hum
phries bill has sought to obtain, is that
local freights and passengers for short dis
tances, should pay no more rates per ton
per mile than for long distances, or that
through and iOcai rates should at all times
be the same. Such policy would at once
destroy all through business, simply be-
cause, the traffic intended to travel long
distances, would not bear the rates of trans.
portation that such law as the HUMPHREYS
bill would impose upon il.
lfthis bill were enacted into a law, it
would seriously tend to destroy all manu-
featuring in the State, and would impose a
burden upon the surplus products of agri-
culture that would work great hardship to
the producer.
The yalne of any article ~ the rnnt of
| production, and the price it will bring at
the point of destination, will, in nearly all
instances, fix the rate which such article
will bear for transportation; aud the car
rier must be willing to transport at such
rates as will leave a profit to the producer,
or the raising of such products as will not
bear the charges provided in this BILL must
be abandoned.
Now, if the local shipper is only charged
fair and reasonable rates for the services
performed for him. does not common sense
dictate that he is not injured in any man
ner, by the railroad hauling for some other
party longer distance, even though it is
done at lesser rates.
Allow me to call your attention to
another matter that does not seem to
be understood, or if understood is pur-
posely perverted, and that is this: We
haul cotton from Memphis, say, IL compet-
ing point with river and with railroads
to Cincinnati, New York, Norfolk, Charles
ton and Savannah, but specially with the
river We transport it from there to
New Orleans for $3.50 per bale. Nine
tOths of all the cotton we haul from that
point is compressed, and we get So bales into
car, which gives to us gross revenue of
Sih00 per car Now, all the cotton we
nall from Grenada, a point 100 miles nearer
New Orleans than Memphis, is uncompress-
ed, and we get 81 per bale for hauling it,
or uncompressed cotton we can get but 20
bales INTO box car which gives gross
revenue of 500, or sometimes % bales, pro.
ducing 500. While the uncompressed cotton
is not of the same weight as the compressed,
nevertheless, you will observe, il taxes
fully the capacity Of the car Our proper
ton of the rates from Memphis to New Or.
leans, gives us So. Then, YOU viii see,
while we charge SS per bale from Grenada,
the cotton from Memphis at 81 90 per bale
affords about the same amount of revenue
to u.s. Now if all points on the road would
erect congresses and compress all their cot
ton, we would be very glad to haul it at the |
same ratio of charge, because it would take
very many less cars to do the business than
it does now.
You must also bear in mind that in the
months Of April, May, June, July and Au.
gust there is but little local traffic on the line
of our road. AT this season of the year we
have our houses full of idle engines and our
side-traoks full ofempty cars, because there
is nothing for them to do. Now, if we send
our cars away and seek business at connect.
ing points, and haul that business at COM
petlng prices, does not common sense show
that the local shipper is not injured by any
such line of policyS lion the contrary, we
did not secure traffic from competing points
and beyond the terminus of our line. we
should be compelled to charge the local
traffic at least Cos per cent higher rates than
We now charge, in order to earn sufficient
revenue to maintain and keep the road in