The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1895-10-05
RA1L1Ril0jAp'Ne: RATES:
T~!aX'vr.,y p.
THE observation-disclosures FINALLY
DECIDED. ~

~ t~A+-.;- p. !,
1~9as7vl..,
THE sTEENERs6NfGAsE FINALLY
DECIDED. -
20. .:4s s4:x*:.:. -.
Judg Kerr of st. I:,uI FINDS ih"Fa-
vor. of. the Great N~ort1,ersS. and
mission in IMis Accelerated Case.
1s7. s4s..i!.e ,ct. n.-yaaaf. h ss;r has;
filed his decision in 'i,.Rpqs %s?;called
~"stcercrsop rate case" REVERSING the
ac,ioi. Of the railroad and warehouse
commission. Tire principal reason for
| tile reversal is that the rite liked by
| the, 4ypbaiss!on j., not, reasona!te.
7 .r7har:fats invH1ttG:G$d' in His MnisY tcnd-
ing ease &&arp rc:tssdtrably fatifFar3o the
| public. 's.l.h. brief they, are that s.Iilias
Stecne,xoL. Il citizen OF POLK comfy.
began. i&fSSEAedi6i in 1894 tieefo2 the
railrc ;sdSS Md .Anchousc cofa.1dssion.
%..alvsing that the freight charges of
.tflt Great: Northern ~oni.sEa&spin'. from
East Grand. Forks. Fisher inh Crooks
|. ton: Respectively. to MinfeapoliS and
\ ,St ~ ! fS;W esEs;s sSisssiySs f saa3 T% tites sase
should charge for"graihss-' The commits
sion's rate applied to 1ic entire state,
f | n's sp iiScd n w See1l'a aso Of. = 9T miles' ana 1 II.
der. 4 cents; for:J MITES, ia not ex-
cccding 10 miles. AL cents; over 10
miles and not exceeding 10 miles. A.
%txents. aud go on up to 400 miles. The
Ylilroad company appealed to the dis
trict court. and alleged that prior rates
We're reasonable. that the ratestiXeu by
the commission was too low,.a and that
ftlE commission had exceeded. Its au-
] tl1olitN: in establishing rates all Qver
flI!e state instead OF, bet Wcensthe'spcci-
7 Observation-Disclosures In Mr.. St4rner-
Esoh's complaint. ".,,:.:>'
Judge Kcrr'sl findings Of fact'and his
memorandum of opinion on;the appeal
fccopprises Il document. of fSsteeigbt
ftype-written pages. and is quite OK
Exhaustive. The principal points in his
|. The ?efSaf Northern and NSffliiern
fPaciic. are competing and parallel
slin&s' betwcen:the stations named. and
a law 81. NJ DEGREES that rates
on such roads between terminal points
tfffist be substantially the anne The
distance lfrolr Red river points to Min
| neaiu,iisy is substantially the same on
| both roads. hut from Red river points
to Duluth is about siXty-tivc 1ililes less
! by tho Northern Pacific. Therefore: on
a mileage. basis the Great Northern
| would be compelled TO surrender the
Duluth business to. its rival. which re-
ulircmcnt. would be unreasonable un-
der the circumstances. and. therefore.
illegal The court: gives at length the
history OF the building of the Great
Northern and it's cost as testified to
before him. and says that it is very
difficult to determine the present value
Ut the road and its equipment. 1t is
impokant to settle this. because the
law may not deprive. the. owner Of
property of Il fair return Of profit upon
it's value; Hef their attempts to arrive
at an approximate valCe by determin-
.tiNn 80 d'b' reproduce the lines. OF the
ncSota. and it's terminal f;ecilftiES.' the
court fixes $4,000. 900 S a reasonable
estimate.
The court then details the items of
the fixed charges and goes into diff.
cult pi'Sfiems of apportioning to the
minnesota: portion of the road the
calyinGS oE;.tte' road on it's interstate
traffic. . After, complicated mathemat-
,ieai' combinations the net earnings i1
Minnesotasf for 1894 is estimated af
SS52.416. The gross and net earnings
Of the entire road as computed. and
Judge Kerr demonstrates that the
rates .ti&atf. by the commission would
result n'depriving the railroad com.
pany of the income from it's business
to which, it is entitled.
In Concluding his findings Judge
Kerr says: "rlle reduction of rates
pE0pQsed by the commission, applied
to tbs. Northern Pacific company,
would serge simply to aggravatc the
strained condition of it's finances and
sink it DEEPER into insolvency. but un-
der the theory adopted by the court of
Il fair income upon actual value. ffle
result as .a.pplied to the two companies
would not. be materially different. ex-'
ceptt as effected by the shorter haul OH
the Northern Pacific road to Duluth.
II capitalized only to the extent of Che
cost of its reproduction in the.State of
Minnesota. the Northern Pacific could
moi. any: more than the Great North
crn. afford to haul grain between the
points named at the rates fixed by the
commission.
/. In a very lengthy but clear memo
rsnhuM OF opinion Judge Kerr says,
%Si;eaking. of determining reasonable
rates:.: TT, is difficult to conceive of a
problem, more intricate and involving
more niatters which must be taken
tory answer can lie reached" n X =
The concluding chapter of the men,
"randum says: sat the close of a
difficult task it has been my duty to
perform l give expression to theefeei-
ing present with me throughout the
trial that any decision which I may
make is likely to be of little practical
utility:. it simply passes upon the VAL
idity of an order made Il year ago. 1t
does not prevent. andasliould not deter
Inc commission from making at once
another essentially similar order if
present circumstances would Justify
it. The reasonahleness of a rate
changes with changed conditions and
,irfa1rstances. that which would be
fair and reasonable today six months
or Il year hence lRay be too high or
too low. and SO that Which may have
been an ~unreasonably low rate at the
time of the commissioners order may
be reasonable now.
''The evidence in this case closed
early in July. 1t was not. therefore.
i'll evidence before me SO as to be con-
sidered. but it is in the air that the
yield of crops in the State'is greatly i'm