Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1881-12-15
Short and Long HauIs on Railroads

Last summer the New York Cham
Der OF Commerce propOunded som e
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 a 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
bitrarily, make the lesser rate for the
longer distance, it would be very fool
ish. 1t would be simply equivalent to
making a present Of that much money
to the San Francisco shippers, and.
while there might not be anything par
ticularl y 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 it
could set. 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
make to Salt Lake City, and all other
points along its 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 fthe continent, being surround
ed by mountains and deserts. Before
railroads were built, while the rate
from New York to San Francisco, 900
miles farther-was, perhaps, as now,
S2 5O, the rate to Salt Lake City was,
perhaps, 800. Here, then, was a nat
urGl discrimination of S97. 80 against
Salt Lake City. The railroad has re-
duced that discrimination to S1.5O.
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 to Salt
Lake can be still further reduced, and
the discrimination lessened, so that. in
fact, the discrimination, 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.
Memphis is about as good a cotton
market as Mobile. Consequently, all
the cotton raised in the vicinity OF
Corinth will go 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 s. a
bale Is reasonable rate for ninety-three