River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-06-12

/ out the country are always able to base
| your selling price on the cost of produc-
! ton, and when your raw material and
| labor increases the cost, your prices are
! advanced, but Notwithstanding the
enormous advance in wages. in material
| of every kind, the rates OF transportation
! in the United States have gone steadily
| by comparison so much lower than those
! OF any other country that there is no
| comparison between them.
| If these results have been accomplished
under all the changing conditions of fl
nancial prosperity and adversely in the
past thirty years, have we not, as a ma
/ ton, reason to rejoice in what has been
accomplished rather than to seek to de-
stroy or appropriate the means which
have brought about these results?
| When we consider what has ben &C
| complished by the railway companies in
| the past thirty years, the singularly low
rate Of transportation which prevails, the
| third of what it was thirty years ago. the
reduction of freight classi1catlonS from
| fifty or more to three the increase by
| thousands of through routes ana rates
! the Improvement of facilities Tor trans
portation in roadway, equipment and ter
rninals, has not the country apundant
| reason to congratulate itself on what mas
| been ACCOMPLISHED? And l will say FUR
| Their that all this has been brought about
| to serve the public and help themselves
rather than by any legislative or other
interference. The railways of the coun-
try are subject to the interstate corr
| merce law 1t is said that carriers do
not observe the law; that rates are I'M
reasonable; that the public are oppressed.
! TO remedy the evils growing, as is
! claimed out of the violation of the law,
government ownership is suggested by
! some, and AN increase OF the power OF
| the interstate commerce commission by
! others.
| Government ownership means the con-
! troll and operation of railways by govern
! ment officials. A mere statement of the
! proposition arouses in the mind of al
most every thoughtful man. the fear
struction of the government itself.
Price of Transportation.
If the earnings which the railways are
| entitled to receive were to be derived
solely from traffic beginning and ending
on their respective lines, the rates OF
! price of transportation would necessarily
be much higher than it is. The interest
! largely in the increase of the volume OF
! interstate and international traffic over
the lines; Take; for instance, the lines OF
! from Lake Superior and the Mississippi
river to Puget Sound. All the interstate
! traffic they can obtain from the great
perior and east of Chicago must come tC
them across the lakes. which are closed
around the south end of Lake Michigan
| by way of Chicago. TO increase the vol
ume of traffic. and thus be able to reduce
| rates these two companies must secure
a share of the interstate traffic from the
territory named and must also be able &c
reach territory furnishing market for the
freight produced along their lines and re-
turn freight to be transported oyer their
lines and by steamship correction with
the. Pacific coast TERMINAL;
If the stock of the railway is held as an
| investment by those interested in the
territory served by the lines, in increas-
ing the volume. of traffic and in reducing
rates will be lowered.
If the question of the, ownership OF
stock was left to the public, served by
would it not be for the interest of the
! public to have such ownership placed in
! the hands of those who had acquired il
| as an investment and whose interest is
directly connected with the building UP
of the lines and building up the territory
| served by them?
Railway Competition.
There has been during the past year a
great deal of public discussion about rail
! way competition and a large amount OF
volunteer literature has been written on
the subject. 1t is always a safe basis tc
assume that no business will continue fol-
any length of time if the result of its
| transactions is a loss, and this is equally
true of your business and that of the
NO fsard +n bII1d I, IN So, o.
merce on the foundation that railways
will destroy each other for the genera
| benefit. This has been done in some
cases in the past and the roads which
have followed this course have gone
through the portal OF bankruptcy int
the hands of rival owners, and, in some
cases, into the hands of owners whose
greater interest is in other directions
and whose object in obtaining them ha
been more to restrict the growth of thu
country than to increase it.
Competition in railway rates is eithe
active or inactive. All railway rates arr
the subject of conference between thu
lines interested, followed by an agree
ment as to rates and the conditions o
the business of the country demands tina
n iS a followed A
rates are by law made public, and what
ever rate is adopted by one road must b.
adopted by the others, or they will los
their share of the traffic. In this Their
is no active competition. When competi
ton is active, tariffs are disregarded ant
private rates are made to large shippers
and rebates paid, amounting, as has beef
published, to enormous sums IN tn
yearly aggregate TO prevent a1 this activ'
and the several states have enacted law
which have been a dead letter on tn
manded that the various commissions
take some action under the law. The re
cent activity of the interstate commerce
commission has resulted, | believe, to
if they follow it up with the power con
ferred upon them by the act of congress
be abolished to the advantage. of tn
trade of the whole country, and of tn
railroads as well.
There is however a competition be
tween the railways which will continu
to exist as long as the railraws are run
and that is the competition of markets
the necessity of building up the various
interests of the country served by tn
respective railway lines.
In this the competition lies between tn
producer and the railway in one locality
acting together, against the producer AM
the railway in another locality. com
peting for the business. If the railwa,
done by increasing the business of it
customers. This same principle apple
land along the lines of railway through
out the country. and particularly apple
to the lines west of Chicago. Unless tn
farmer can make money by the, cultiva
ton of his land, either through Sellin:
his wheat, his grain. his cotton or hi
stock, with profit to himself, the tim
must come when he will cease to cult
vate the land. and the railway is left, a
; | 1t We're, in a desert.
Low Rates on Necessities.
For the past twenty years or more
| have had some experience in opening u
and peopling new states, and have 81
ways adopted as a fixed policy the max
| ing of rates on the products of the coun
try seeking market and the necessitie
of life. such as coal lumber and building
material, at the lowest rates the com
pany could afford, looking more to GU
profit from the lighter articles of mer
chandise and shelf goods consumed in tn
| country. AT times We have been crit1
ciZed for this. this criticism mainly com
ing from merchants who have desired
| lower rate.
The following VIII illustrate our an
swer and the reason for the course w
have pursued: Take a farmer in low;
say. twenty bushels to the acre, tw
thousand bushels, or sixty tons. A re
duction of five cents a hundred. or 81
ton. would amount to him to $50 per an
mum. If he visits the country store one
| a week for fifty-two weeks and take
away, from the store each week fit
pounds of merchandise, in a year he Wi
have taken twenty-six hundrsS pounds
! the entire freight OF which woukt no
| have averaged 40 cents a hundred. 0
, 5000, so that if the railway carried. tn