Morning journal and courier., 1882-07-10
Monday Morning, July 10, 1882.
RAILROAD FREIGHT CHARGES.

RAILROAD FREIGHT CHARGES.
 Advance sheets of the forthcoming vol ume of Poor's Railroad Manual of the United States" have been issued, and they contain much that is interesting Among other things is an elaborate discussion of the monopoly cry, which wRs largely increased by the rate troubles of last year. It is claimed that the charges of monopoly made against railroad companies are utterly groundless, and comparison is made be- tween the freight rates of 1881 and those of thirty years ago with results that will sur prise most readers
 In 1855 the New York Central and Hudson River railroad moved 67O, ,O73 tons of freight at charge of S3, 758, ,32O, and at cost of $1, ,539,o12 the net being $2,215, ,4o8. The tons moved one mile equaled 114, ,S27. 793 the charge 3. 27O cents; the cost, 1.341 cents; the net, 1929 cents per ton per mile. In 1881 the same road moved Il, ,591, ,379 tons of freight at a charge of $2O, 736, 75O, and at @ cost of $14, 1913, ,213, the net being
 $5, 1923, 537. The number of tons moved one
 mile equaled 2,646 814, ,O9s; the charge was
 .78O cent; the cost, .562 cent; the net, .218
 cent per ton per mile. The increase in
 tons moved on this road from 1855
 to 1881 was 1O,921, 1906, the rate of increase being. in round numbers, l,7OO per cent. The increase in service per- foundations moved one mile-was 2,531, e 986, SIS tons, the rate of incre ease equaling 2, 200 per cent. The earnings from freight increased at the rate of 4sO per cent, such rate equaling only one fourth that of service performed. The cost of movement per ton per mile was only about one third that for 1855 while the net per ton per mile equaled only
 about one ninth that for 1855. Had the rates charged in 1881 squaled those of 1855, the gross earnings from freight the past year would have been $6G, 45O, ,S17 in the place of $2O, 736, 749, the amount actually received. Had the same net rate been maintained, the total net for 1881 would have been $52, 875,- O3G. in place of $5, 923, ,537, the amount | actually received. The Pennsylvania railroad l moved in 1855, 365, ,OO6 tons of freight at a charge of 2.746 cents and at cost of 1 662 | cents per ton per mile In 1881 it moved l IS, 229, ,365 tons at a charge of .799 cent and
 at a cost of .437 per ton per mile Had it ! charged the same rates in 1881 that it did in
 1855 it's receipts for the past year would have
 been $73, 195, ,s32, in place of $1O, sO1 ,O89, the amount actually received. The charge in ! 1881 was .87 cent less than the cost of move \ ment in 1872. The result of reduced charges ! is seen in the enormous increase of freight
 and of income-quantity making up for re- | duced rate Of profits The Erie and other
 roads make similar showing.
 These figures will not convince the people \ that the railroads do not abuse their privi- | lsges, but they should and will have due weight with those interested in the railroad problem. It is fact that the railroads now
 carry freight at rates that would have been
 believed to be impossible a few years ago,
 but this does not prove the ''utter ground | lessness'' of the outcry against them.