National Republican., 1883-05-28
hallway TRANSFORMATION.

The state board of railroad commissioners
Of New York gave a hearing on Wednesday
to deputation of dry goods merchants, who
made complaints of the high rates Of freight
by rail Of the merchandise dealt in by them.
The representations of the merchants were
in substance as follows The railway classifi.
cation schedules were the growth of no well
considered and fairly applied principles of
justice. The freight rate on carload
OF coffee or sugar from New York to
Chicago, first class, would cost tho shipper
SO The freight on carload of domestic
dry goods, on tho samo basis of rate, would
cost the shipper $50. The domestic goods
would load car to its full capacity the cost
Of hauling and handling tho freight was the
same as in the case of sugar or coffee. At the
present tariff it cost on the average to deliver
a bale,of sheetings per cent. on its cost from
New York to Chicago per cent. to st. Louis,
and 81 per cent. to st. Joseph. The false rep
resentation of the contents of packages which
some shippers had practiced was wnked at by
railway employees, and that the honest ship
pers were the sufferers. The first class freight
paid as much money to the railways for their
service as the fourth class, with only about
one-half Of the labor and cost of service
The railway companies replied through
Commissioner Fink, the expert employed by
them al to steer them in their warfare upon
the public. The New York Tribune, chief
organ of the corporations, thus reports his
explanation:
He conceded promptly that there was no prIn.
ciplc governing the classification of freight by tho
railways They followed tho rule of making tho
rates that the traffic would stand. The roads were
Obliged to CARRY grain and other food products at
allow profit, or at no profit at all-sometimes even
at loss. If the cost of transportation was the
element applied TO the making of rates, in many
cases the water routes wonld rob the railways of
competitive traffic or production would be dImin
ished In large districts This sort of discrimina.
tion was beneficial to general trade and to the
people. lfthe exact cost Of transportation, with
reasonable profit added, should be charged ON
each article, without reference to its nature arm
ers would be unable to send grain to Europe,
tho business interests of New York would be
that ruin.
ave charge twice as much as the average cost
on quarter of our freight" Mr. Fink said, "Jn
order that we may carry the other three quarters
at less than cost We do this on the same prnci-
pie that the dry goods men sell their coarse
domestic goods for little or no profit They do Il
to get custom In other directions, and SO do we,
The same principle governs all the railways in
the world"
in nj On1 tl,at tala
the freight charges OF the roads was necessary to
pay the interest on an investment of 8 per cent.
The capital invested in railways. including
water" did not exceed $4,000 mile. He con-
sidered that the reduction In rates asked by the
dry goods men would not benefit the consumer.
BY the rates that tho traffic will stand"
is meant such rates as can be charged without
absolutely preventing the shipment of the
goods. The railway companies do their busi-
ness by public permission on public highways,
and are dependent on the public consent to
continue it. Then they tell the public that
they alone are entitled to fix their own rates
(Which they are not), and that in
doing so they expect to absorb what
ever is the profit of production and
manufacture. The farmer must give his pro-
duco for having it carried to market, less
enough to pay his farm hands. As for him
self, he can live by mortgaging his farm un.
til his successor takes it to go through the
same experience. There is nothing like it
except the rack rent of Irish landlords and
the bills for supplies to the negro tenants on
the Lower Mississippi, in each case the whole
crop being the measure of the demand. The
railway managers may not eventually turn
out to be good judges of "what the traffic
will bear"