Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-01-17
- RafIroad ouesffon.

~ lGLLGL 70 the LIaALlc managers OF ll1C
rious railroad companies operating IN
Kansas, asking them to meet the Com
missioners on January 9Th, to discuss
the prOpriety Of reducing the freight on
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
10 The Board Of Railroad Commissioners:
GENTEEMEN:-We have received your
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 prescribed 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 a
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
ings, 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 20 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
theState. The railroads of Kansas, like all
other business enterprises Of the State,
were not established as charitable lnst-
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 a con-
ditiOn of absolute want and distress in
the State which calls for a great work Of
charity. Two new conditions have APP
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 1888, 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 a low price; and this is a result partly
of an OVerprOductiOn Of wheat ali 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 1884, but
little has yet been in a condition to ship.
More Of it than ever before is being fed
to stock, and in former years 1t has many
times been quoted 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 remembered also that about
10 per cent. of the depreciation in the
price of Kansas wheat this year must be
attributed to a falling off in quality, as
appears from the last report of the State
Board Of Agriculture, Csee p. ~ and
this is certainly a misfortune for which
the railroads cannot be held RESPONSE
BILE.
Three questions require consideration.
First-Is there distress requiring a
plan Of relief?
Second-What effect would a reduc-
wheat in the hands of Kansas prOducers2
Third-What effect would such re-
duction have on the railroads of Kansas2
AS pertinent to the first question we
quote an editorial from a recent number
of the Mcpherson Freeman, 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 re, the
,, bod ~aIIwnudu ND
ending with the present crop, Mcpherson
county has raised about9 100000 bushels
of wheat. The Kansas City price has
been about ST, $4,000. The cost of max
ing and threshing the crop has been
about 100000; interest on the land,
100000; freight to Kansas City,
100000 This total expense of the
crop in Kansas City, amounting to
about $5,000000 taken from the total
value Of the crop in that market, $780,
600, leaves q net profit of about 81 $3.50, =
600, besides the bread of the county"
These figures are substantially con-
firmed by the reports Of the Kansas
State Board of Agriculture. The profits
of a crop or the condition of q class can
not be Judged from the experience of
one year, but a period of six years fur
nishes a fair test. AS the percentage of
profit for the entire period viii equal the
average per cent. Of profit per annum
during that period, a simple calculation
viii show that the average net profit per
annum of the producer in the above case
amounted to 386 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 $500, with wheat enough
left over, year by year, to dread
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
lPherson 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