River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-12-22
Short and Long HauIs on Railroads.

Last summer the New York Cham
ber of Commerce prOpounded some
leading questions to the railroad mana
gers of the country in respect to the
charges on freight and transportation,
and among them was the following
concerning long and short hauls:
What do you think of the practice of
charging more for short than for a
long distance? For instance 81 per 100
pounds from New York to Salt Lake
City, and $3.50 from New York to San
Francisco?
One of the railroad officers makes the
following answer:
If the railroad company were able to
fix the rates from New York to Salt
Lake City, and also the rates from New
York to San Francisco, and should, ar
bltrariiy. make the lesser rate for the
longer distance, it would be very fool
ish. 1t would be simply equivalent to
making present of that much money
to the San Francisco shippers, and,
while there might not be anything par
ticularly wrong in it, it would hardly be
considered a business transaction. But
if the rate from New York to Salt Lake
City is in itself reasonable, and less than
the service is worth, and if the rate
from New York to San Francisco was
already less by water route than
the route to Salt Lake City, then
the railroad would be entirely right to
compete in San Francisco for New
York business at whatever rates 1t
could get. By being free to do this, it
could gain a considerable new business.
Profits from this business would help
to pay its expenses and interest, and
contribute that much to reducing the
average rates, which it could afford to
n IKE to Salt Lake City, and all other
points along It's line. A moments re-
Election will show that Salt Lalt City is
one of the places against which nature
has Disseminated most heavily of all
places of the continent, being surround
ed by mountains and deserts. Before
railroads were built, while the rate
from New York to san Francisco 600
3 80, the rate to Salt Lake City was,
perhaps, $100 Here, then, was nat
ural discrimination of S97 80 against
Salt Lake City. The railroad has re-
duced that discrimination to $3.50.
Whenever the railroad can secure a
still larger amount of through bust
ness from San Francisco, and, perhaps,
from China and Japan, so as to reduce
its average expenses, the rate 10 Salt
Lake can be still further reduced, and
the discrimination lessened, so that, in
fact, the discr mination, which enables
a road to secure San Francisco busi-
ness, is in the true interests of Salt
Lake shippers.
Take another case illustrating the
same principle:
Corinth, Miss, at the intersection of
the Mobile and Ohio and the Memphis
and Charleston railroads, is ninety-three
miles from Memphis, and 23S miles
from Mobile. A reasonable local rate
on bale of cotton from Corinth to
Memphis would be, say 81 per bale.
Mem his is about as good a cotton
market SIS Mobile. Consequently, all
the cotton raised in the vicinity of
Corinth viii 60 to Memphis, unless the
rate to Mobile is made the same as to
Memphis. Between Corinth and Mo
bile, however, are many stations where
much cotton is brought for shipment.
We will take Tupelo as an illustration,
$50 miles from Mobile. Now, if 81 n
bale is reasonable rate for ninety-three
miles the rate fr1m Tupelo to Mobile
go miles-might very well be 3. Ii,
therefore, the Mobile and Ohio road
completes in the market at Corinth for
cotton, it will be charging less for the