The record-union., 1893-01-12

I I
/ Railroad through the Santa Cruz Mount
! ANS, one end of which, though solidly
| tlmbered, i. e., with continuous support,
tlmbers touching each other, is at this
writing broken down by mountain
sAde, which viii stop all traffic for several
weeks.
/ The snowsheds are over thirty-two
/ miles in length. These sheds and tunnels,
/ so costly Of construction and mainte
nance, serve only as bridges for transport
ing traffic between distant points. They
/ produce no income, and must be sup
/ ported by the traffic at productive points.
/ 1heSe are conditions which cannot be
/ ignored In arriving at reasonable rates.
| IL certainly would not be q fair COM
/ parlson to take he State OF Illinois, with
/ less than one-third the area of California,
us surface nearly level, its population
double, its productive land IS per cent.
greater, It's immense farm products aver
I aging not more than five miles from rail
| or water transportation facilities, to prove
/ Ihat the rates in this State were unjust
| ana unreasonable because they averaged
aDoVe the rates prevailing in that state.
ne cost OF constructing the roads III
/ limos IS very much less than the aver
( age cost IN this State. The cost of main
! tenance and operation is also less on ac-
count OF the differences in physical char
/ acteristlcs, lower cost oflabOr, etc. From
/ these facts it is plainly evident that
/ neither traffic managers. Railway Com
| mlssiOners, or even Legislatures can
create the conditions which control in
establishing rates on TRANSPORTATION. The
| commissioners of California hitherto
have moved wisely and cautiously III the
adoption OF SCHEDULES OF rates adapted to
conditions over which they could eXer-
else no control. This fact will be made
clear to the careful reader of Colonel
Morgan's report that no matter how care
fill and L n
be made commercial and trade activities
are liable at any time to compel a change.
Commercial conditions are constantly
changing, and it must be apparent to
every unprecedented mind that railroad
carriers must adapt their schedules to
meet these conditions as they arise. The
rates since 1870 have decreased almost eX-
acLly i'll the same ratio as the increase in
traffic. This fact is verified by the re-
ports ofeVery Railroad Commission III this
State since the first one was created in
1876. If physical and commercial condi-
tons were the same on all lines and sys-
! TENS of railroads, uniformity of rates
would be the rule, but comparisons Of
rates on any two systems can do no more
than to show that differences founded on
natural conditions can no more be equal
lied than two solid and equal-sized
| bodies can occupy the same space at the
same time.
DENSITY OF POPULATION.
In his comparative statistics of Califor-
mia counties and table showing the dens-
ity Of population and its increase in the
/ two decades from 1870 to 1890. Colonel
| Morgan shows conclusively that the rail-
roads OF California have kept abreast of
| the increase in population and traffic in
! their construction of new roads and re-
/ ductions in fares and rates. 1t may lee
asserted without fear OF contradiction
| that had the rates which legally prevailed
| in this state in 1870 applied until 1892 the
net earnings Of the Central and Southern
! Pacific Railroads alone would have paid
off every dollar of the Indebtedness on
| first and second mortgages and 6 per
cent. per annum on their paid-up capital.
! Why was this not done and the debt paid
off?
Because changes in commercial condi-
tlons diverted to other routes traffic once
tributary to these lines. and principally
| because the opening OF new industries
demanded lower rates for their prosper
GUS development, constantly requiring
the railway managers to decrease and adj
just their rates to commercial and indus
trial necessities.
COST OF FUEL.
The concluding portion of Colonel Nor
gan's report and his deductions there
from are best told in his own language, as
lD6Y are given more in detail.
The cost of the fuel consumed in the
operation and maintenance OF the rail-
roads Of California is unusually great and
| there is no probability Of materially re-
/ ducing it. Therefore, being so important
and permanent an item Of expense, it is
/ briefly presented.
I In California the principal fuel used is
coal, a small proportion only being wood.
! With minor exceptions the results show
! that the average cost Of wood is fully
| equivalent TO the cost of coal, being from
S2 rs to So per cord, delivered on the loco
motive tenders.
The actual average cost Of the coal used
by the Southern Pacific Company on its
lines i'll California is So 40 per ton de-
hvered on the locomotive tenders. The
average cost to the San Francisco and
\ orth Pacific Railroad Company is 81 25
per ton. The average cost to the railroads
in Southern California is 81 50 per ton:
the cost to some roads being as high as 49,
The average cost of the coal used bv ALI
of the railroad companies Of California is
at least 81 per ton, delivered on the loco
motive tenders and at the other places Of
consumption.
FUEL COST AT THE EAST.
From Philadelphia and Baltimore to
| Chicago and St. Louis, and thence to
Kansas City. the average cost Of coal de-
! livered on the locomotive tenders, of the
roads extending throughout Pennsyl-
vania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio.
Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, may be
safely estimated at not more than 81 a6
| per tOn-lS per cent. only OF the average
cost per ton to the roads operated i'll Cali
| fornia.
The following comparisons show the
vital importance Of cheap fuel in the Oper-
alton OF railroads: The cost of the fuel
used by the Southern Pacific Company in
! - -N-... J.. Oh
| 1891 3,23S, ,SS6, equal to 81, ,l56 per mile of
road.
! The system Of the Chicago and Alton
/ Railroad Company, from Chicago to St.
/ Louis and to Kansas City, in ali SIS miles
| mot including second track, extends
| through Illinois and Missouri. The cost
of the coal for operating it, delivered on
| the tenders OF the locomotives, was, in
/ 1887, SIG per mile, being $40 per milo
| less than the cost of the Southern Pacific
/ Company in California in 1891 But there
! is to be considered the further fact that
/ khe passenger and freight mileage per
| mile OF road was much greater on the
/ Chicago and Alton system than on the
| Southern Pacific Company's lines.
DIFFERENCE IN COST OF FUEL.
Estimating the passenger and freight
mileage Of the Chicago and Alton sys-
| tenn to be the same as on the Southern
/ the difference i'll the cost OF coal per mile
| of road operated is fully SS15 per annum,
and that this excess in cost aggregates
/ s.. $780, 900 per annum, or a fraction more
than 10 per cent. of the gross earnings Of
the roads of the Southern Pacific Com
pany in California.
The average cost of the coal used by
the Santa Fe system in California is 81 Is
per ton; therefore, as its volume of pas
| senger and freight business and mileage