The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-02-10
Cheaper Railroad Fare.

The Wilmington and Weldon r. K.
follows the Raleigh and Augusta K. X.
which followed the Raleigh and Gas
ton r. r.. which followed the Carolina
Central r. r.. which followed the die
tates of good judgement IN marking
down passenger fares TO 3 cents per
mile between intermediate stations
.sthere and back" We are glad TO see
this It will benefit the people, ana
we doubt not is a wise policy, Tor the
Railroads themselves. "Corporatlohs
have no souls " but they generally nave
pretty shrewd set of brains at the
tore" Thus it happens that the best
MANAGED and most luxurious Railroads
are the cheapest to ride upon. 30 70
with freight.
For the past ten years the tendency
of railroad freight rates has been uni
formly downward; the very comoi-
bination. at whose enormous power
many statesmen affect to shudder, have
had but one result perceptlbie 10 pro
ducers and shippers, that oil lowering
the rates for carriage both OF freight and
passengers, increasing the speed ana
accuracy of running of freight trains, and
increasing the comforts and safety oil
passenger travel. 1t is not necessary
to cite statistics and reports to prove
this: proof is all around US, In the
enormously multiplied traffic. both
passenger and freight, that seeks tle
railroads. and the harmonious and &C
curate adjustment of our whole business
life to railroad habits and economy.
The railways themselves are more anx-
ious to reform the admitted Irregular
ties and abuses in their management
than the public can be they recognize
these abuses before the public does;
they incessantly taxing the best-tralned
talent and intelligence IN the country
to affect further corrections; and 1T lsan
Indispensable fact that the railroads
themselves have done more to cheaper,
reform and popularize railway carriage
than all the Legislatures and statesmen
in the land. The railroad problem IS
m%ultiplex and hard to grasp. Railroad
men themselves admit this. Indeed
the most intelligent of them confess
they have not yet grasped and cannot
vet comprehend, a subject which is con
tinually unfolding new aspects and now
surprises. 1t is no wonder then that
the legislative dealing with it is clumsy
and laundering in the extreme, and that
railway regulation laws have done more
harm than good to the public. There
have peer three such laws enacted In
Minnesota, one in 1871 another in 1874,
both of which were confessed failures,
and the one now existing, and it IS adj
mitted that the freight rates at present
on railroads In that State are lower than
those who are fixed by the law of ISL
a striking proof that the railroads are
voluntarily doing as fast as they can
the very thing which Legislators are at
tempting to Go without knowing how.
Nearly all propositions for railway
regulation are based on the pro rata
theory-that carriage rates should be
proportionate for long and short hauls.
But what would become of Western
produce if this rule were ~inexorably en-
forced? A reasonable rate for carry
ing grain a distance Of 200 miles from
the interior of New York ard PennSyl-
vania to a seaport would be, say 10
cents a bushel; but this rate applied to
grain carried from Missouri and Iowa
would be 90 cents a bushel, and to Kan
sas and Nebraska, grain SLIP a bushel
rates which would make the ship
nent of Western grain to the Atlantic
and to Europe impossible. But what
laws cannot do the railroads themselves
accomplished voluntarily by carrying
Western grain at cheaper proportiOnate
rates than they charge for grain having
only short distances to 60. This is a
glaring violation of the pro rata princi-
pie it is true; but who can estimate its
benefits to Western producers and ship
pers? The railroad rates on grain from
st. Louis to New York to-day (Janua-
r. 20) are only % cents a bushel, and
on -four 81 cents a barrel, whereas by
any pro rata schedule based on short
distances they would be at least double
these figures. Again, the distance from
Philadelphia to New York is 100 miles,
and yet the freight rate on grain from
st. Louis to New York is only | cent a
greater than the rate from St.
to Philadelphia. Does any one
suppose that the roads could put grain
on the cars at one city and carry it to
the other at as low rate as [ cent a
bushel?
These facts illustrate how difficult it
is for fixed laws to deal with the practi-
cal considerations in railroad manage
ment-the difference in cost between
short hauls and long.