San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-02-26

IT Is generally conceded that the man
ayers Of the great railroad lines are the
best financiers the world produces.
with little or no personal capital they
enlist aid and start lines that cost hun
dreds of millions Of dollars, building
them to a successful terminus, and run
ming them to a profit to themselves and
those intimately interested with them.
Having in mind these facts, ii appears
inexplicable why often they should APP
parently adopt policies that to the or
binary observer seem detrimental to
their own interests Reference is made
particularly to certain Texas lines, and
in other instances to all railroads in this
State. For Illustration it will be cited
that the Southern Pacific Company has
put on freight rate for live stock so
high as TO almost prevent the shipment
OF stock under any circumstances, and
in the majority Of cases it Is so eXorbi-
tant that ranchmcn can drive much
chegper. The freight FROM Del Rio, Val
Verde County, to San Antonio, III
miles, is S3S per car, which is about p
cents per car per mile. The distance
from here to Harold, in WiIbarger
County, the northern point Of shipment
by rail for those who want to 60 TO Kan
sas, Colorado and the other Northwest
err States and territories, is All miles,
and the rate per car via the lnterna-
tional and Great Northern, and Fort
Worth and Denver Railroads, is S4S per
car. or rifle less than lit cents per
car per mile, and fifty per cent less than
the Sunset road. It is the general sup
position, rs there is State pool, that
freights should be equal. but such does
not appear to be the case. The effect OF
this eXOrbitant rate on the Sunset line Is
that no stock will be shipped from any
point west of here, but it will all be
driven up through the staked plains and
on to their destination, and the railroads
get none of the business whatever. II
the International and Fort Worth and
Denver roads can haul for III cents per
mile per car, cannot the Sunset do the
same? Yet the eXorbitance Of the latter
road drives not only the business from
itself. but from the other roads, and
none Of them get any Of 1t because it is
destroyed. Another instance of this
self destruction Of business is in the
agreement by the terms Of the State
pool to withdraw double deck cars for
the transportation Of sheep and hogs.
There are now at least !, J0O,0OO head OF
muttons in Texas. 81 per cent OF which,
or 800. 600 head, would be shipped yearly
to market, were the rates such as 10
warrant the traffic, Bot at present they
are left on the range to die Of Old age,
because the railroad freight takes al
most all that the muttOns would bring.
Thus the railroad loses the transporta-
tion of some 800 car loads of freight. Is
it wonder then, that the wisdom OF
these great railroad managers is under
question? There would be little com
plant on this score were not the thou
sands OF sheep raisers of the Southwest
equal if not greater losers. The rail
road, practically Kill the goose that
lays the golden egg.
IT Is depIorable to see one man or set
Of men preying of his fellows. But
such has been the case in this..State this
winter. At first, when Il few sporadic
cases of smallpox were discovered in
this city, papers in all parts of the State
published the most exaggerated rumorS
in regard to it, di.regarding the true ac-
counts given in the local press, and in
jured the city thousands of dollars. Now
that the same disease has appeared in
other cities, papers of rival towns use
the fact to create panic so as to re-
dound to their own profit. Prosperity
sought at such a price will never last,
and will react to the injury OF the party
seeking it.