Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1885-01-15
The Railroad Question.

letter 10 the traffic managers OF the va
rious railroad companies operating IL
Kansas, asking them to meet the Com
missioners on January 9Th, to discus
the propriety of reducing the freight OF
grain. They complied with the request
and met the Commissioners on the day
named, and read to them the following
statement:
Topeka KAN, January 5, 1885.
To the Board Of Roilroad Commissioners:
GENTLEMES:-We have received youl
letter of December %, requesting con-
ference with the traffic officers of Kansas
railroads to consider the question of tar
ifs on grain in this State and the present
low prices of grain in the markets.
In the summer OF 1884 the railroads OF
Kansas put into force a schedule OF
freight rates which was pre- crlbed by
this Board. The Board announced this
schedule to be a reasonable one under
the authority conferred upon it by the
railroad law, and it was prepared after q
very lengthy and exhaustive investigation
of the entire subject, during which many
hundreds of producers, consumers, ship
pers and railroad officials were examined,
and after taking into account the earn
iDgs, profits and business of the roads,
the past history of the roads and the
State and also the prevailing rates in
other Western States, the Board found
that the roads of Kansas had voluntarily,
within few years, made reductions of
about 40 per cent. in freight rates before
the new schedule went into effect, and
this schedule accomplished a still further
reduction of from 10 to 90 per cent.
In view of the fact that local grain
rates are now as low in Kansas as in any
Western State and lower than in most
Western States, and Of the other fact
that the entire subject, after a recent
adjustment which was concurred In by
all parties, has only fairly been put into
working order, we claim that any further
reduction at present would be unjust and
a serious blow struck at the railroads of
the State. The railroads of Kansas, like all
other business enterprises of the State,
were not established as charitable insti-
tutions, and We maintain at the outset
that they should not be treated upon
that basis. AS long as they furnish rates
which are reasonable and which do not
unjustly discriminate, their office is full
filed, though in the present instance we
have been asked to consider the ques-
ton as to whether or not there is con-
dition Of absolute want and distress in
the State which calls for great work of
charity. Two new conditions have ap-
peared in Kansas since the Board pre-
pared its reasonable schedule of rates
last Summer. One is, that it has been
found from official reports that the roads
of the State are earning less profits per
mile of road in 1884 than in 1883, and
are quite sure to earn still less in 1885;
and the other is that our grain growers,
especially wheat growers, are either
holding their crops or have been selling
at low price; and this is result partly
of an overproduction of wheat all over
the world and partly of a temporary
doubt on the part Of capital as to the fu
ture. As to the corn crop of 1854, but
little has yet been in condition to ship.
More of it than ever before is being fed
to stock, and in former years it has many
times been Qnoted lower in Kansas than
at present. 1t follows that no condition
of distress could have appeared up to
date on account of the low price of corn.
1t should be RENE mbered also that about
10 per cent. of the depreciation in the
price of Kansas wheat this year must be
attributed to falling off in quality, as
appears from the last report of the State
Board of Agriculture, see p. Il and
this is eriainly misfortune for which
the railroads cannot be held response
BILE.
Three questions require considerations:
First-ls there distress requiring a
plan of relief?
Second-What effect would reduc
ton in grain rates have on the price of
wheat in the hands of Kansas producers?
Third-What effect would such re-
duction have on the railroads of Kansas?
AS pertinent to the first question we
quote an editorial from a recent number
of the McPherson Fireman., a paper pub
lished in the leading wheat growing
county in the State, and devoted to the
interests of the producers:
beginning with the crop of 70. the
first year the county had railroads, and
ending with the present crop, Mcpherson
county has raised about 100000 bushels
of wheat. The Kansas City price has
been about Sc, 930,000 The cost OF max
ing and threshing the crop has been
about S3U00000; interest on the land,
81 ,OOO,000; freight to Kansas City,
81 100000. This total expense of the
crop in Kansas City, amounting to
about S5GO0,C00 taken from the total
value of the crop in that market, Sc, $780,
600, leaves a net profit OF about 81 $780,
900, besides the bread of the county"
These figures are substantially con-
frmed by the reports of the Kansas
State Board of Agriculture. The profits
of crop or the condition of class can
not be judged from the experience of
one year, but period of six years fur
nishes fair test. AS the percentage of
profit for the entire period will equal the
average per cent. of profit per annum
during that period, a simple calculation
will show that the average net profit per
annum of the producer in the above case
amounted to $50 per cent. of the total
expenditure, counting interest on land as
one expense. That is to say, for every
500 expended in making, threshing and
marketing the crop, there was made a
clear profit of $3.50, with wheat enough
left over, year by year, to s.bread
the country. The total wheat shipments
of Kansas during this period has not
averaged the payment of as high a
freight rate as has the wheat of Nc
Pherson county, owing TO its average
proximity to market. A mere statement
of such facts is sufficient to show that no
where has legitimate industry been bet
ter rewarded, even including the crop of
1884 at its lowest price. and judging the
future by the past, no State can furnish
higher Inducements for immigration.
Ii the 100000 bushels of wheat mar
keted from Mcpherson, was raised at the
rate of fifteen bushels per acre, in ad-
dition TO the amount required to bread
the county, it would make about 100000