The Topeka state journal., 1900-01-22
Merchants Association of New
York Through w. r. COrWin
Submits a Statement to Classi-
ficatiOn COMMITTEES.
ON CHANGE IN RATES.
Make q Strong Case Against
Railroad PretentiOns.
Say Action Is Unjust, Unneces-
sary and UncaIIed For.

New York, Jan. 22.-William r. Cor
win. representing the merchants associ-
alton of New York, submitted a state
ment to the official classification COM
mittee at a hearing held by the COM
mittee in this city today to receive the
protests of shippers against the re-
classification of freight which went iD-
to effect January I. The statement
which is in the form of a protest
against the reclassification summarizes
the causes of complaint as follows:
'FErst-We believe that the reports of
earnings made by the railroads in the
financial statements in which it is
shown that they have increased their
annual dividends and others for the
first time in years if not in their his
tory, have declared dividends upon their
common stock (the directors setting
forth that the outlook for the future is
sufficient to justify this) show that the
railroads are earning sufficient money
TO enable them to realize largely in
creased earnings, gross and net for the
immediate future, or for as long as the
present period of prosperity may con-
tinue, which we hope will be indefinite
~
Second-That the decreased cost of
operation of railroads as set forth in
their reports and in the reports of the
interstate commerce commission and
the tendency to lower the cost of trans
portat1on rather than to increase it, is
sufficient to overcome a claim of the
necessity for more money, due to the
advanced prices of articles entering in
to the construction and maintenance
of railroads and that the reasonable
prospects of future decreased costs of
operation of railroad properties will
place railroads in a still better position
financially without any increase in
r. a Iafr7 IL
to add to their incomes.
'Tnird-That the theory which has
resulted in the widening of the differ
ence between carload lots and less than
carload lots is wrong in that it lessons
the area of distribution, hurts the small
shipper and the small buyer and should
not be allowed to stand.
"F'ourth-That the method of reclassi-
flying goods is unjust in that it tends to
discrimination and to complications
and that if it be found necessary thus
to simplify classification in these lines
instead of present classification stand
ing, all dry goods should be placed in
the second class
'Fifth-That the new schedule works
an injustice to the shippers in practi-
cally prohibiting the use of wood pulp
packing boxes by large class of ship
perS to whom they are of great benefit
and thus adds to the burden and ex-
pense of such shippers and therefore
should not be allowed to stand
Sixth-That the rule of the new
classification which reads as follows:
Shipments of property combined into
packages by forwarding agents, claim
ing to act as shippers, will only be ac-
cepted when the names of individual
shippers and final consignees as well as
the character and contents of each
package are declared to the receiving
agents, and such property will be way
billed as separate shipments and
freight charged accordingly will work
h1r- 6cI1i 70 in1a
houses as well as the small merchants
and should be rescinded altogether.