Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-10-06
MAY INCREASE RATES
Owing to the Cost Of Operation and
Wages, Says Paul Morton.
CERTAIN RUM0R DENIED.

Paul Morton. first vice president of
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe rail-
way, was in the city for a few hours
last evening, coming with a party of
railway men in a special car from the
west in the afternoon and leaving on
the s o'clock train for the east, says
the Denver Republican.
Mr.. Morton said that the rumor that
the Santa Fe is preparing to absorb
the Colorado & Southern, or parts Of
it, was news to him. He said the
Santa Fe's plans for the present were
limited to the betterment of its present
lines and the improvement of it's equip
ment.
The general rise in prices has add
ed materially to the problems of rail
roading, said Mr.. Morton. I'VE have
to pay more for labor and material all
along the line. and rates remain the
same. OF course, we gain in the in
crease of volume of travel, both of pas
sengers and freight, but if prices keep
on going up we may have to advance
rates. The expense of r~ailroading is
a composite item, made up of interest
and capital, the cost of many different
classes of labor. and many kinds of
material. If the price of everything
goes up, why the rates will have to be
increased, or the return to the investor
reduced.
81 do not think that there will be
any great movement of coal from Colo
RADIO to the east, even though the
strike continues. The east may draw
upon Missouri and Kansas for coal to
some extent, and this will leave a dis
trict further east for Colorado and
southwestern coal mines to supply. In
that way the strike is likely to affect
Colorado. Colorado coke is already
going to Chicago in considerable guam
titles, but the difficulty is that the rail-
roads are short OF cars for it's trans
p~ortation.
The car problem is getting to be
like the currency problem. The nation
at times finds itself without enough
money to carry on it's business, and the
railroads at times find themselves
without the cars they need. | think it
is all wrong for the government to
keep gold boarded up while the coun-
try is in distress for it. That is a mat
ter than can be reached by intelligent
legislation, but the a problem, l be-
lieve, is with us to stay. There will
always be certain times of year when
there is more business than at other
times. The roads cannot afford to keep |
a lot of cars standing on their side
tracks nine months of the year, so
they may be able to give prompt SER
vice during teh other three months.
Il don't know much about the Colo
RADIO Fuel & Iron matter. | believe
that there has been some unpleasant
ness between Mr.. Gates and Mr.. Os-
good. The company is one of our big
customers and we are naturally inter-
ested in seeing the concern continue
prosperous. 10 | think that the United
States Steel company, if it gets the
Pueblo plant, will restrict its produc-
ton? / don't believe that the United
States Steel company wants the Colo
RADIO fuel & Iron plant.
The Arkansas valley in Colorado is
now one of the garden places of the
world, and the travellers on u line,
who go mile after mile all day through
a region which only a few years ago
was almost barren, cannot fail to be
impressed with the wonders which are
brought about by irrigation in the
west"