The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-21

been changed. The Santa tes Mlssouri Pacific. and Rock Island systems, all having lines leading from Hutchinson, made ioitn tariffs with the Hutchinson and Arkansas River Railroad company covering the transportation of salt to Missouri rver ponts and some of the tariffs applied to other points as well. This Hutchinson and Arkansas Riyier Railroad company. while incorporated. does not operate any railroad or own any equipment, but it does own some switch tracks or siding adjacent to what is known as the Morton mill, own ed by the Kansas Salt company. This railroad company received under the joint tariffs p per cent. of the rates, but not exceeding 50 cents per ton. The persons who control this railway company are those in control of the so- called salt trust, and they receive the benefit Of the division accorded to the Hutchinson and Arkansas River Rail- road company.
 It was testified that 50 cents a ton represented fair profit to the pro- ducer, and that the trust was selling salt under contract at the Missouri river at price with whichi the inde- pendent operators could not compete. This price drove the independent op- orator out of that business, and it would not have been made had not this divisi- ion been given to the Hutchinson and Arkansas River Railroad company.
 There is reason to believe that de- vices of this nature are frequently re- sorted to. If the present law is not sufficient to reach a case of this sort, it is evident that some amendment should be secured which will; for if carriers are free to make contracts and divisions of this nature, it is evident that they may prefer at their option one manufacturer to another.
 COMPLAINTS BEFORE THE CON-
 MISSION.
 Since the last report 544 cases have been presented to the commission. The complaints in these cases constituted the bases of all informal and formal actions before the commission, and the number includes a few investigations ordered by the commission. The num- Der of contested cases and inyestiga- tions instituted for the year was S2, and these involved directly the rights and practices of 296 carriers. The number of these cases in 1902 was 9S, and in 1901 1t was 19. A brief statement of the complaints in formal proceedings con- visions of the law claimed to be vio- lated is given in the report. The 462 cases handled informally by the com mission cannot, on account of the great number, be referred to specifically in the text of the report. The cases of this description presented to the com mission during the year exceeded the number submitted last year by 112. They embrace almost every grievance that can ordinarily arise in the rela- tions of shipper and carrier. Detailed proceedings brought before the commits sion are set forth in the appendix.
 ACCIDENT REPORTS.
 With the end of the month of June last the reports which are made to the commission by the railroads under the accident law of March 8, 1901, completed two years record, and the totals of the principal items in these reports are given in the appendix. In the year ending June 30, 1903, the number of pas sengers killed in train accidents was 164 and of injured 4424; of employees killed Se5, injured GAO; casualties from other causes, added to these, make totals of 321 passengers and 3,233 employees killed and 6,973 passengers and 39,004 em- ployes injured. These numbers are lar ger by a considerable percentage than the corresponding numbers of the year last preceding. .t-.
 THE SAFETY APPLIANCE LAW.
 Since the last annual report of the commission the safety appliance law has been amended in important par ticulars by an amendment approved March 2, 1903. This requires a fixed minimum of 50 per cent. of cars prop erly equipped with air brakes in work ing condition to be placed in each train. In cases where, because of high speed or steep grades, safety requires more than the 50 per cent. specified in the amendment, the railroad is responsible, in accordance with the terms of the original act, for the use of enough power brakes to insure sufficient control of the train without the use of hand brakes
 The necessity of showing that a car was engaged in interstate commerce, a matter of great difficulty in many eases, has been obviated by this amendment The law nnw applies to all equipment on lines engaged in interstate commerce without regard to the service in which it is used
 The railroads have had ten years to place their equipment in condition to meet the requirements of the law, and 1t is time 1t was complied with in every detail. .-...-l
 STATISTICS OF RAILWAYS. The commissions report includes a comprehensive abstract of the fifteenth annual report on the statistics of rail- ways in the United States for the year ending June 30, 1902. This report, a volume of 700 pages, is similar to pre- vious reports in the series, though sev- eral new summaries appear for the first time therein
 To present concisely the results of railway operations, the commission is- sues each year preliminary report on the income account of operating roads, which is published in advance of the full report on railway statistics pre- pared by it's statistician. For the past fiscal year this report comprises re- turns for roads representing 201,457 miles of line, or about 98 per cent. of the mileage that will be included in the