Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-03-01

demand from these States on tho ground
that Iowa had acted hastily and unjustly. l
have failed to hear any argument adduced
in favor of the two cent rate to passengers.
Chairman: Let me inquire, Mr. Ripley,
what arguments are in favor Of the selling Of
mileage tickets, at two cents mile, that
does not apply to passenger rates generally?
Mr.. Ripley: The theory upon which the
two thousand mile tickets are Sold Is pre-
cisely the theory upon which a lower rate Is
made on car load of freight II Is made
ON the same law. 1t is simply the principle
of wholesale and retail injected into trans
portation. The theory is that the man who
Is constantly travelling can afford to buy, and
will buy, two thousand mile ticket and
that the railroad can afford to carry the con-
slant traveller for less than the transient
traveller. 1t is very much on the theory that
computation tickets are sold in the suburbs
OF all our large cities to those who ride back
and forth every day. or course the two
thousand mile ticket under the law must be
sold to every one and any one who applies
for 1t, but as matter of fact, II will not be
the transient traveller who invests so much
money in ticket, but the constant traveller
will, and can, do il.
Member: l have letter from a consti-
tuent of mine here In which the statement
is made that the reduction of passenger fare
would increase travel over the roads sulli-
ciently TO compensate the company for the
loss consequent upon the reduction. What
do you say in regard to that?
Mr.. Ripley: have to say IN reply to
that, that the gentleman is stating as fact
something which none of us can tell abso-
lutely about, but those of us who have the
best opportunity to be judge of, believe to
be not fact. If il were fact, IL the rail-
4 H.. lt..Ns a.
a fact, there would be no hesitation what
ever in reducing the rate. If sufficient
additional travel could be induced to enable
us to earn the same net money from our
passenger business we now earn there would
be no possible objection to reduce the rate,
But all experience goes to show the contrary
in the case. The population could
| not be materially increased for
number of years along our lines In
| Iowa, and the assumption that the
| travel would be increased by the reduction
| from three cents TO two is mere assump-
! ton, aud will not BEAR from our standpoint
| any examination whatever. Judge Carey
! says, in regard to that, that when the Gran
| ger law in Wisconsin was passed, the rate
was reduced cent mile, and the very
| close watch on the business at that time
showed no perceptible increase in travel. 1t
did not make actually any difference. The
| truth is that Iowa at present think Is not
| in the main travelling community, that Is
to-day there is nothing like the travel that
there is in the Eastern States, even in pro-
| portion TO the population. The proportion
| think of the people that travel is smaller
| here than il is In the East, because SO many
are engaged in agricultural pursuits that do
not require them to travel on business 50
much as the people of a State with larger
| proportion of population.
| Now, it is also proposed and IL is under
| discussion here TO make q reduction In the
| local freight rates for the State of Iowa.
| The demand comes, as nearly as | can ascer-
| tain from the merchants of the State. If
| there is any demand from any other class, it
| has not come to my knowledge as yet but II
| comes mainly from the merchants perhaps
| to some extent from the milers We are
told that merchants of the State find it diff
| cult, having imported their goods from other
| States, to distribute them. We are told that
rates are so arranged as to discriminate
| against these Iowa distributing centres. We
are told that millers of the State are drying
| up. That il is no longer possible for them
to compete with -four shipped from Mnne-
| apOlis, and perhaps from the Missouri river,
and that as a consequence, one by one,
| obliged to give up business. Both OF these
statements are measurably true, but gentle
| men it is not the fault of the railroads that
they are true. The condition or things prior
to the Interstate law was very favorable to
| the interior distributing points in Iowa.
1t was possible for the jobber
at Des Moines, at Cedar Rap
ids, and other distributing points within
the State, to get his property from the East
and to distribute 1t through the State upon
the basis of rates i'm and of rates out, that
| ninth In nod
ditiOn, than any of his competitors outside
the State. To a great extent the Interstate
law stopped that. i cannot better illustrate
that than by citing the example of Cedar
Rapids. Prior to last April, when the in
ter-state commerce law took effect, the
rates to Independence, Iowa, for example,
was perhaps thirty per cent higher than the
rates to Cedar Rapids; to-day it Is very
nearly the same. The merchant at Cedar
Rapids, as he travels north and south along
on the b., &. II. & N. road In the endeavOr
to sell his goods, meets at every one of
those north and south points precisely the
same rate, or nearly the same rate, from
Chicago that he has to pay himself, The
merchant travelling from Oskaloosa or Mar
shalltown on the Central Iowa road north
and south, meets at every one of the points
where he attempts to sell goods almost the
same rate from Chicago that he pays him
self. In other words, the north and south
lines that are in an attempt to do an east
and west business are naturally at disad-
vantage, and all other patrons suffer the
same disadvantage. 1t is no longer possible,
under the present adjustment
of rates, for rate to be
materially higher at q point Immediately
north of Cedar Rapids than at Cedar Rapids.
II is no longer possible for a rate to be much
higher at a point Immediately north of Des
Moines than 1t is at Des Moines. The whole
system of making rates has been changed.
We used to charge ninety cents hundred
from Chicago to Council Bluffs, and we used
to charge a dollar to Red Oak; it was COM
planned of as a discrimination; perhaps II
was. We always maintained that the rate
we charged TO Council Bluffs and Omaha,
was for goods ultimately distributed in Ne
braska that no discrimination against Iowa
was committed. 1t simply permitted the
Council Bluffs merchant to distribute goods
In Nebraska that otherwise he could not
But 1t was said that if we conld afford to
haul goods to Council Bluffs at ninety cents
we could afford to haul to Red Oak at the
same rate. The interstate law provides that
we should haul to Red Oak for no more
than was charged to Council Bluffs. Under
the old State of things when we charged
ninety cents to Council Bluffs and dollar
to Red Oak, the merchat at Ottumwa or Des
Moines, or at any of the jObbing points could
sell goods to Red Oak because the Red Oak
merchant found himself as well able to buy
of the merchants here as to go to Chicago
Under the existing state of things, the mer-
chant at Red Oak pays little more from Chi
| 4l,f, at lac Mninal m