Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-13
RAILROAD RATES TOO HIGH
Continued from First Page.)

state Commerce commission has demanded
a financial showing by the corporations.
He contends hat the Increased rates ex-
coed the increased expenses and are at
tended by a degree Of prosperity unpar-.
ralleled. He quotes the Interstate Com
merce commission as stating in the report
for 1900 that the increased cost of trans
portation then amounted to only s.s4 per
cent as compared with previous years, but
as adding that the significance Of these
facts is that the directors Of railroads
during the year 1899 have availed them
selves of high net earnings. made perma-
nent improvements on railway and rolling
stock and have charged these improve
ments to operating expenses" He quotes
from the Iowa commissioners report for
1902. showing that the Milwaukee company
had charged one year to operating expenses
81 800, 900 paid for renewal Of ties and rails,
and the Burlington, Rock Island and North
western had made similar charges. The
latest reports show the prosperity of the
railroads still greater, showing that the
% per cent advance is still getting in its
work. Continuing, Mr.. Campbell wrote:
Iowa has been hit hard already by the
advances, first of a 22.2 per cent in classif-
cation on interstate raffic, followed by a
similar advance by the Iowa commission
ere on classification, on the plea Of the
expenses. etc, giving the shippers and
producers OF the state a double dose and
increasing the gross earnings of the rail-
ways from $iS. 466, 1858. "A in 1893 to $50. los, 1914,
an increased burden on the commerce Of
Iowa of over $10,O00,OOO. Another advance will
Will he ressntedd s M r wSitstt rf bH tSe neo SdS
OF this great commonwealth.
Mr.. Campbell gave statistics showing that
the net income per mile of railroads on
the 1913, 900 miles in the United States, after
all deduction, was for 1890 1851. for 1896
1916, and for 1900 was s1,1s0 per mile.
with the net income per mile more than
trebled in the last five years. says Mr..
Campbell, ION the railways of the United
States, does it not require q large degree of
assurance on the part of the managers to
ask an advance in rates. and will the peo-
pie of the country submit to this exorbitant
demand in the face of these facts?"
Information for OmcIaIs.
Mr.. Campbell referred to the fact that the
two who have been most active in urging
the advance in rates and justifying the
advance on account of increased expenses
are A, c. Bird of the Chicago, Milwaukee
& st. Paul, and Paul Morton of the Santa
Fe. Both these officials are expert traf1c
managers" said Mr.. Campbell. but in the
financial departments OF their respective
roads they are perhaps strangers to the
fact that the business has prospered i'm
mensely. For instance, the gross earn
ings of the Milwaukee road, as shown in
the report OF the Iowa commissioners for
June 80, 1902, were over $40. 900, 900. the
dividends DECLARED we're SIS per cent on
common stock and Z per cent on preferred,
a total of $5,444, 1871, and of the amount
$1,000 . n n
was for renewal OF rails and ties, and fur
Their that the average daily compensation
OF its employees exclusive Of salaried Of
fcials in 1902 was less than in 1898, being
$2.13 for 1898 and $1.93 for 1902. The gross
earnings of the Santa Fe, which road was
In the hands of a receiver from 1894 to 1898,
we're OYER $40, 900, 900 greater In 1902 than
in 1898; in 1898 the Santa Fe paid no div
idends while for 1902 dividends amounting
to IS, 104. 800 were declai ed, 10 per cent on
common stock and 5 per cent on preferred,
a pretty healthy showing for a financial
invalid"
Carry Freight Cheaper.
Mr.. Campbell declares that the facts arc
that most OF the railroads Of the United
States can Dairy freight at one-half the
rates Of a decade ago and REAP large profits
ny blIdlBuleulnB anu shortening lnebs cut
ting down grades, increasing speed, laying
double tracks, using larger cars and en-,
gines, doubling and even trebling theiI
tonnage. and other modern improvements
they have made It possible to do this. il
conclusion Mr.. Campbell stated to the In.
%terstate Commerce commission by way o.
suggesting a remedy:
Now that the railway managers ignor,
the law and commissioner in putting int
force extortionate rates, and congress
declines to interfere to protect the people
the outcome will be a resort to the ballot
and II government control fails, theI
ownership will be the only remedy, des
perate as IL is. To this we are surel,
drifting-and there will be a day OF reck
oning, and a squeezing process, and IT will
not be the innocent granger or shippe
that will feel 1t, either. Whom the god
would destroy they first make mad. Surel
the railway magnates Of the. country hav
gone daft on the rate and earning issues
and will sooner or later get a terrific fall
l the anOnar fha haffar