The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-13
RAILWAY o
Mr.. Blanchard Uses an Illus
tratiOn in Argument.

P~ittsburg Commercial Gazette.
George r. Blanchard, commissioner of
plying the press with some arguments in
support of that pool and its principles.
Among other things he says:
THE government pays uniform railway
compensation for the like carriage of it's
mails, and stipulated prices for the trans
portation of it's troops and supplies, and
it does not plead that competition is les
sened, trade restrained or it's expenses
are increased because 1t does not receive
concealed rebates from those charges II
would be dismissed. Nor do it's officers say
that as the rates they ask for are for the
government they will exercise its power to
they will divert their large business If rail-
ways do not concede for the state some
or all of the irregular things done under
private guiseS called competition AS the
government is the largest patron of the
railways, its legal aid should be given to
put and keep all other patrons upon the
same honorable plane on which 1t conducts
it's own business with the same carriers"
And what are these nice terms on which
the railroads do business with the govern
ment? A fitting answer may be condensed
from an article by Walter Clark in the
Typographical Journal dealing with the re-
ports of Postmaster General Bissell for 1894.
According to these reports the government
pays the railroads S cents a pound for the
transportation of mail matter. in addition
to paying rental for the postal cars, while
the express companies are charged l cent
a pound and less for the same service. TIL
amount paid the railroads annually as
rental for the postal cars is about So, $780,
900. 1t is figured that the government
could build these cars outright for less
than 81, 000,0 900, and giving the average life
of a car as twenty years, 1t is thus paying
$72, 900, 900 for the use of property 1t could
acquire for less than 81. 900, 600. No wonder
Mr.. Blanchard is in favor of more of that
sort Of patronage. This same Mr.. Blanch-
ard, by the way, is referred to in Mr..
Clark's article as testifying before the In
terstate-commerce Commission that milk
was carried a distance Of 1886 miles to New
York at a charge of one-sixth of a cent
per pound, returning the cans free. and
that the distance could be increased to
1000 miles and there would still be a profit
of one-sixth of a cent. At the same time
the government paid for transporting the
mails, over the same lines. s cents for an
average of 44S miles. besides paying for
the annual rental of postal cars more than
200 per cent. on their cost. 1t is charged
by Mr.. Clark that in the month set apart
for the quadrennial weighing of the mails
many of the roads are in the habit of ship
ping numerous sacks of books. pamphlets
and other mail to points on their lines, and
then reshipping them again and again to
swell the gross weight on which they are
TO receive pay for the next four years.
Whether they do this or not 1t is certain
that they have a very nice patron in Uncle
Sam. Mr.. Blanchard would have done bet
ter to leave out any reference to this sub
ject in his arguments in favor of the pool.
1t does not afford a happy illustration for
the pool advocates.