The age-herald., 1900-03-24

appeared in the Age-Herald of December IS, he agreed to reduce their substance to writing and to supply the committee with a copy of the same.
 MT. Kettig yesterday morning received the written answer. It takes up each charges and deals with it in detail The an swer fills twenty-seven pages of typewrit- ten paper, and handles very exhaustvely, from railroader's view point, the ques- tions at issue.
 First Charge
 The first charge against the roads was that rates in Alabama were relatively high CT than in Georgia. After stating that the Louisville and Nashville does not operate the Georgia road the traffic men say: 'The two roads do not come in competition at any point, and there is no similarity of conditions that would make the rates charg- ed on the one road in any way measure of the rates that should be assessed on the other The rates charged on the Georgia charged in Georgia by the railroad com mission of that state. The management of the Georgia road are on record to the effect that their rates are too low and do not enable that road to earn a fair return on its investment There has been no time during the past ten years when the opera tons of the Georgia road did not show a loss.
 Ia md Nashville road on its lines in Alabama are the same that 1t charges on it's lines in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and all other states south of the Ohio river except Florida, where the rates are higher than in Alabama
 Then follows a statement to the effect that the Louisville and Nashville had not been able to pay any dividends for pe- rod of four years prior to 1898. The state ment is also made that for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1899, the revenue per ton per mile derived by the Louisville and Nashville for operating It's entire system was .7S9 cents, while in Alabama the aver age revenue per ton per mile was .639 cents. It Is further stated that the operating ex- penses taxes and interest on bonds of the South and North division of the Louisville and Nashville from July l, 1894, to June 30, 1899, exceeded the revenue derived from that division by s207 ,022.S5.
 Southern Railway
 The transportation committee charged that the Southern railway charged higher rates in Alabama than in Georgia. This is admitted in the reply of the traffic men. fao of hou "does not prove that the rates in Alabama are unreasonable or unjust. The conditions of traffic operations in the two states are not the same. The lines of the Southern railway in Georgia form part of through lines which carry large volume of through traffic, while its lines in Alabama must depend very largely on strictly local traf- fic for revenue to meet the operating ex- penses of the road, for the reason that they do not form through routes over which an important interstate traffic is carried. The earnings of the South ern railway in Alabama for the year end ing June 30, 1899, were 8 469.6S per mile. The earnings of it's lines in Georgia averaged A7AF per mile."
 Following this is a table showing the rates charged by the Southern Railway in Alabama compared with the rates Of representative roads fin Tennessee, Ken lucky, Mississippi and Florida. In this con- nection the traffic men add: Tt (the South ern Railway) Is not now earning fair return on the capital invested, and could not in justice to its own interests make any reduction in the scale of ratdS now being charged for the transportation of property between points in Alabama"
 Taking up the charge that the Atlanta and West Point road in Georgia charges lower rates between points in Georgia than does the Western Railway of Alabama be- tween points in Alabama, the same answer is made as in the case of the Southern Railway This is followed with a state- ment as to the standard rates as estab- lished by the railroad commission of Geor- gta and the deviations, that are allowed from it, and also by a table showing a comparison of rates of-the Southern Rail- way in Alabama, the Mobile and Ohio in Alabama, the Cincinnati Southern in Ten essee the Illinois Central in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi for distances up to 200 miles.
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