The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-07-16


ing came of the hearing on the posi-
bility of reducing passenger rates in
the state before the railroad and ware
house commission yesterday. Repre-
SentatiVeS of the roads and the COM
mission were in session all the FORE
noon and a greater part of the after
noon and the meeting adjourned with
out date in order to allow the commits
sion to call for another conference if
more information is desired.
NJ. u. Grover represented the Great
Northern road and he made a lengthy
argument against the possibility of di-
VOTcing the passenger business from
the freight business of the roads. A.
c. Bird, vice president OF the Milwau-
kee represented that road, +. B. KEEL
lOgg was on hand for the Great West
ern and the Iron Range roads, Thomas
Wilson for the North Western and A.
+. Clark represented the Minneapolis
& st. Louis.
M. D. Grover Is Spokesman.
Mr.. Growers remarks were indorsed
by the other representatives and he
was practically spokesman for the
party.
Mr.. Grover declared that passenger
rates were on evolution, and that there
was no known basis for fixing them.
They are established" he said,
largely through competition, and also
to a large extent by law. There are,
however, a thousand other conditions
that effect them, and it is simply i'm
possible to separate the passenger ex-
penses from the freight expenses.
The density of travel has not in
creased with the expense of operating
passenger trains and maintaining the
stations and caring for the equipment,
which is now of the best All these
things must be taken into cOnSidera-
ton when computing a rate, and at
this time the travelling public is get
ting a great~deal more ror its 3 cents
mile than ever before"
Mr.. Clark said that the Minneapolis
& st. Louis had prepared a statement,
diVorcing the business, but he added
that 1t was mere guess work, and that
it was impossible to reach a division
with any degree of accuracy
There Is No Uniform Passenger Rate.
1t was the prevalent opinion of the
railroad men present that the present
rate of 3 cents a mile would buy more
and better transportation at this time
than at any period in years past.
Mr.. Clark declared that there was
absolutely no such thing as a uniform
passenger rate.
He said:
Our statistics show that it costs
y
While the total revenue per passenger
per mile is but 1.94 cents. The actual
revenue On all passenger business is
less than 3 cents per mile on our road
and on many others within the state.
No state in the Union SO sparsely set
tied as is Minnesota has a rate of less
than cents per mile"
Judge Mills seemed to think that the
roads could give the necessary infor-
nation if they so desired. He came
out pOintedly and asked Mr.. Bird if the
Milwaukee road could furnish the fig
ures.
IF the Milwaukee road" he asked,
was positively ordered by the highest
authority to make that division you
could do it, couldn't you?"
I'VE cannot do the impossible" re-
piled Mr.. Bird.
Roads Are Losing Money.
The action of the passenger men
at the conference did not bespeak the
indifference with which they claimed
to regard the matter. While there is
nothing in the Daily resolution that au-
thorizes the commission to make a
reduction in the rate, the officials seem
to fear that such is the intention of
the commission.
No doubt it would entail an endless
amount of work to furnish the in
formation desired, but even then it
would only be reported back to the leg
lslature, and it is not likely that the
commission would even make recon-
mendation.
According to Mr.. Clark's statement
the Minneapolis & St Louis is losing
money on its passenger business, and
his position was Endorsed by the other
roads.
The commission has the matter I'M
der Amusement and before reporting
will probably make another effort to
get the desired information.