Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1905-05-17

Of lesser importance, although potential
for great evil, is the concrete practice of
certain, perhaps all railroads of granting
special privileges, rebates, etc. to certain
individuals as against other individuals.
The specific terms for these practices are
rebates, differentials, lOng-haul differen-
tials, the private car system, milling in
transit rates. the midnight rate and proba
bly, some others. Rebates can probably be
effectually prevented under the Elkins
law. They consist Of the return to certain
lisheds freight rates which they have paid
for the transportation of their goods.
Rebates were chiefly instrumental in
building up the Standard Oil monopoly
and other trusts. Differentials and milling
in transit rates are forms of discrimination
whereby railroads openly seek to build up
some particular locality, branch or the
industries along some branch, by the
charge of lower freight rates than other
patrons of the roads are compelled to pay
for like service. AS they are usually re-
sorted to to make profitable some branch
which has hitherto failed to pay dividends
they would be unsssailable except on the
ground that the railroads are not private
property and must be administered for the
benefit of the entire public instead of for
that of their stockholders. Long haul
differentisls are those special rates made
to terminals where several roads compete
for business, sometimes made so low, the
railroad men declare, that they result in
loss to the roads, which loss must, of
course, be made good by over charging
patrons of the road who do not live at the
terminals.
The midnight rate and the private car
system have come chiefly into use as
method of evading the Elkins law since
that act was placed on the statutes. The
first consists of road making specially
low rate for the goods of large patron, or
trust By secret understanding with
the patron, this rate will go into effect at
midnight on certain night on which the
large patron ran make particularly heavy
shipments. The rate will be made public
as the law requires, but by the time the
general public is prepared to avail itself
of the especially low rate it is revoked
and practically only the patron or patrons,
who received secret advance notice, have
benefited by it, and they are thus en-
abled to sell their goods at distant point
at rate materially lower than their less
fortunate and usually smaller competitor.
The private car system is the latest and
most efficient scheme for evading the anti
rebate law. Railroad companies are COM
| PEELED to pay the owners of private cars
| for the use of those cars. Private cars are,
| of course, owned almost exclusively by
| large concerns like the beef trust ct al.
| These concerns pay the railroads the full
published freight rates, but they compel
the railroads to pay them for the use OF
their cars, various rates which amount, OF
course, to rebates, as the net result
affords to the large shipper lower cost OF
transportation than their smaller COM
petitors.
The railroads viii gladly accept any
regulation which will effectually prevent
ali the forms of discrimination which
curtan their profits, but they will oppose
to the bitter end any legislation which
will more completely establish the righ
OF the government TO regulate and super
| wise their business 1t is the desire of thu
} President that Congress shall frame Law
| which win remedy all these evils and es
tablish, for all time, the rights of tn
people, as exercised by their representa-
tive, the government, over the ironet
public highways.