The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-11-11

/ penetrable wilderness and over the bar
rem and trackless deserts in wheeled
apartments that equal in elegance the
/ palaces OF kings. The railroad has con-
/ tributed more than any other one IN
nuence to the greatness OF this republic.
/ without II many of the most fertile
parts OF our own state would still be
the home Of the Indian and the buffalo
ana the spot where this beautiful and
| flourlshing CITY now stands would prob
ably be unbroken prairie. The nations
nave ceased building highways. The
railways have relieved them Of that ne
/ cesslry and the public road is now only
local institution. In our country the
| railroads have been built by private en-
means of communication between dis
tant parts Of the country that were
formerly provided by the national high
ways and canals.
Corporations Now Control.
AS result the handling Of the COM
IS now IN the hands of private corpor-
atoms. The railroads, however, not
only provide the highway but also
transport the products. 1t therefore
performs an additional service to that
furnished by the ancient highway and
for this service charges a fee the
same as the workman does for his
labor or the merchant for his goods.
me great development of railroad
facilities has so changed the business
conditions Of our country, that the
producer and shipper are compelled to
use the railroad to transport their
products and merchandise to and from
the market. The railroad SuSta1nS the
same relations to the town and city
that the highway does to the farm.
The user of the railway however,
must pay the price asked by the rail
road as It has the power to arbitrarily
nix the charge for such service. In
answer to complaints of excessive
rates, 1t is sometimes fippantiy said
that the farmer or merchant does not
have to use the railroads, that he can
employ the public highway and old
freight wagons If he prefers. It would
be just as reasonable to tell the resi-
dent of a tenement honse in the city
of New York that if he does not want
to use the city water upon the condf-
tons imposed he could get his water
as his ancestors did. The railroad is
as essential to our commercial life
today as water is to the physical ex-
istence of the great city.
Railroad Is to the City What Highway
Is to the Farm.
The business man is compelled to
use the railroad as much as the far
mer is the public road that passes his
farm. Indeed, the railroads sustain
the same relation to every interior
city that the public highways do to the
farms, and it would involve the same
principle if a corporation were per-
mitted by charter to construct and
maintain all the roads in Harvey coun-
ty and equip them with vehicles for
transporting the products of the farms
to market and as compensation for
such service allowed to charge the far
mers whatever it pleased. This viii
at first thought appear as an extreme
comparison. but It is accurate and ex-
act. Every interior town as Well as
every farm is subject to the domination
OF the railroads. They have the I'M
restrained power to fix the price that
he o nf
your products to market and that
which you shall pay not only for the
transportation OF the articles that YOU
consume, but frequently that which
you pay for the article itself. The
price of every ton of coal that is used
in the great cities of New Y Ork, Phil
adelphia, Baltimore and Washington
is fixed by a few railroad managers
and this is also true of many other ne
eessities of life.
Competition Controls.
The power of rate making is so great
that by its exercise the railroads are
able to determine commercial centers.
/ They decide where cities shall grow
and where they shall not. They in
crease or decrease the rates as their
interests require and thereby shift the
currents Of trade from one city to an
other The reasons that form the
/ basis for fixing rates or changing them
are varied. Severe competition, per-
sona1 interest of the managers of the
roads the influence of heavy shippers
and aggressive business men, are the
principal factors. Competition. or the
absence of it, however, usually con-
trolls. To this may be traced almost
every inequality and injustice that ex-
lists in railroad charges. Where there
is no competition the railroad makes
the rate at as high q figure as the traf-
fic viii stand. Where there is
severe competition the rate is fixed
at an amount that viii secure the bust
ness. Competition between railroads.
/ however is being largely eliminated.
The rates are determined by @ traffic
association whose recommendations
are accepted by the various roads
Occasionally rate wars break out
when a road fails to follow the rules
laid down. These rate wars are not
as a rule advantageous to the coun-
| try; the loss incurred by the war be-
ing made up by increased charges
elsewhere. Freight between certain
points is sometimes handled at the
mere cost of carriage, not counting
anything for interest on the invest
ment and the bonds or incidental ex-
pense, and in order to make UP the
| loss those communities that do not
have the advantage of competing
rates are taxed higher. Again,
heavy shipper who has hundreds of
/ thousands of tons to move can fix the
rates of his business competitors. His
! business is of so much greater value
4 to the railroads than that of the small
| patron that it will always favor the
/ large shipper, and to cover up and con-
/ ceal this favoritism, the rebate is re-
sorted to, or he may be more prompt
| " furnished with cars and given
many other advantages which In time
enable him to destroy the business of
/ his competitors. This unjust use of
/ the power of rate making has been
most forcibly illustrated in the favors
shown the Standard Oil company and
/ the beef trust.
Commerce of Cities Dwarfed by Dis
elimination.
But not only is the business of in
dividuals destroyed by the iron heel
/ of the rate-making despotisn, but the
! conannerca of cities is dWarfed. Com