The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-02-16
RAILROAD SUPERVISION.
0piuion Of Col. A. 1. Rives Manager Of the
n. and @. r. R.

~kAuAVA "a VOAs n. -. hktoS mdnduoI VI tMU
NJ. and 0. R. R.
Col. A. L. Rives, General Mana
ger Of the Mobile and Ohio Rail-
road has written letter to Hon.
w. w. HUMPHREYS, chairman of the
Senate Committee on Railroads, in
regard to railroad supervision and
the bills now before the Senate.
Referring to the bills los pending,
he says:
They appear to confer far too
great powers on the proposed COM
mission of three-powers, which if
injudiciously or improperly used,
would lead to the practical confisca-
ton of all capital invested in rail
road property, and thus sustain and
encourage the disastrous spirit of
communism.
Would it be wise to allow any
three men to depreciate or enhance
at their pleasure, the great railroad
interests of the State, and thus
make or mar fortunes at their SOW
creign will? 1t should also be borne
in mind, that at first the commits
sioners would almost necessarily be
of limited knowledge and expert
ence, unable with the best intentions
to grapple intelligcntly and fairly
with that most complicated and diff
ticult questionable establishment
Of equitable, just and necessarily
ever varying tariffs. Even if fully
competent, by reason Of intelli-
gence, know]abkssaass and sexperience,
the demand kzAime, would
be simply cfSe21sif:
The method Of compensation pro-
posed for them seems also unjust,
and apparently unconstitutional
amounting practically to onerous
taxation, special to the railroads
and against their interest-under
the specious, though erroneous plea
of benefitting the public.
Again, some of the proposed leg
islation is of cast-iron character
for example-an imperative fence
law. Such a law, in sparsely set
tied proportions Of the country,
nights cause great injustice, and
lead to needless expense without
compensating advantages. Take,
for instance, our piney woods coun-
try-is it not more than probable
that timber teams would break
down fences at points temperate.
convenient to them, as occasion
might arise, rather than 60 mile
to a regular crossing? IF so, such
breaks would form veritible traps
for cattle, and increase rather than
diminish the losses to both railroads
and owners.
Fixed rates per passenger per
mile. and per ton per mile, present
similar difficulties. 1t is clear that
where there is q large population
engaged in various avocations,
these lates may justly and properly
be less than in an undeveloped
country, in which there is but little
diversity of pursuits. The in
creased expenses and risks due to
fractional as compared with full car
loads are analogous to those Of re
tail over wholesale business, and
arc also often lost sight of by the
public.
Physical characteristics, too, fire.
quently greatly affect the problem.
From a town situated at the foot of
heavy mountain grades, the cost Of
transportation in one direction is
very different from that in the 9th
er. In one, the locomotive with
difficulty pulls fifteen cars, while in
the other its capacity is measured
by forty. Again, equality of bust
ness in both directions tends to di-
minish this cost, while inequality
enhances it. In the case Of the
Mobile and Ohio Railroad, despite
every exertion to equalize tonnage, it
constantly occurs that cars perform
double service for pay in one dircc-
ton; for instance-from Mobile to
Mississippi empty cars are sent
two hundred and fifty miles for cot
ton, to be hauled back two hundred
and fifty miles loadcd-five hundred
miles service for two hundred and
fifty miles compensation.
Legislation fixing absolute ratios
of local to through freights--anoth-
er tavorite idea with many--is liza
bic to work serious injustice and in
jury to any State which passes
such laws. Mobile, the only sea
port of Alabama, is suffering from
just such a regulating attempt
made ny the Legislature.
Suggestions of sweeping percen
tage reductions have also been made
twenty per. cent. for example, l
do not think that those who make
these suggestions have sufficiently
reflected that they compromise
chiefly, if not altogether, the net.
To the railroad company earning
net twenty five per cent, such &C
ton might leave them only five per
cent, and prove absolutely disas-
trous, especially when the value of
labor and supplies are tending up
wards.
In the much vexed question of
higher local than foreign freights,
it should be remembered that local
short hauls are tar more expensive
than long through ones, for the very
simple reasons that the handling of
freight, and loss of time of engines,
crews and cars, add in greatly aug
mented proportion to the relative ex.
pense. Is it not just that the local
business should chiefly contribute to
the maintenance of any road to
which it is tributary? Is it not too
often forgotten that they are +mutu-
ally dependent upon each other, and
that neither can permanently flour
ish at the serious expense Of the 9th
er?
Profits on junction and through
business are necessarily very small,
so small that if the only dependence
nearly every railroad in the country
would be inferior in condition i'm
perfectly operated and substantially
bankrupt. These gains, though
small, should not be neglected by
railroads, since by increasing re-
sources they permit increased lib
crafty to local industries aud inter