Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-03-25
,,,ooudine Proportions of the
Railroad Business Of the
Uulted States
AVERAGE 500 CHANGES A DAY.
,..dsus Task Of Adjusting Sehed'
VI nl.,-sls, 900 Niles of Road ana
r,3sO,ooo Employees

chicago.
Nn''Io ia loaded with railroad presl-
s s.n,s said the visitor in the hallway
Tvchange to the man in uniform wno
'ras clicking his castanets' the ohio"so
way of signalling the men III cnarse Vi
the elevators ,os orssldept
,,, emf much Of figure compared 10
,o,ssloners II the senate accepts mo
sonse plan Of increasing the powers VI
,he interstate commerce commission
was the reply
Tb,s sapient observation was wasted
n,o who did not comprehend It's fuil
s,sniecance. A little investigation
soweyer showed that II was not an
evaeseration, for 1t is safe to say thh' II
,no commission had been given power
which the lower branch OF CONGRESS
Uonld have granted to II, me'hpvas
would have been given oontoi 49,, or
nrssident IN the world ever dreamed OF
Isnoging The most eminent mar VINO
h"s ever served upon the commissloiil
Tn"deo Co9ley. once said that IT wouii
w. "snperhuman" task for ANYBODY "
sttsmnt 10 regulate the railroad Ihtes
80 the country, But II has recently peoh
yronossd Ia give this commission power
II nrescrlbe not merely regulations ana
rrartlses which affect rates, but all
regnlations and practises which aneot
,he transportation OF property, Thus
avery rule and custom of every railroad
os n the number OF It's trains, tneir
mead the number OF stops, the metnods
er,nloyed TO prevent accidents, and all
,ha other countless and bewilderins
ouesilons connected with passenger or
freight transportation would be put IN
control Of a tribunal of seven men
Tho gigantic proportions Of this re-
sponsIbility can be imagined II II -
horne IN mind that there are IN TINS
country $4,000 miles Of railroads, win
outstanding securities OF more than
$4,000 0oOO OO Railroad od pr ono anS
amounts to at least *lo'OVV'VVVVoV'
Tbere are 100000 railroad employees,
ana their wages amount to more than
ss0O00O, 900 a year.
such staggering figures can be given
without number For instance, these
railroads used last year $4,000 locomo-
tlyes ana 500, 900 cars, carried more than
ZOO 900 900 passengers and 100000 tons
Of freight valued probably AZ S2O'OOO,-
400 900 The virtual management OF
companies doing this tremendous busi-
ness would be undoubtedly Herculean
responsibility for any commission. The
last man selected for this body by the
president OF the United states was over
70 years old and one need not accept the
popular Interpretation OF DIR. Oslers
pleasantly about chloroforming men
who have reached threescore TO feel
that such an extraordinary responsible
ity might overtax his powers.
few more figures about railroad
rates may be quoted to convey a fair
idea Of the powers which 1t 10 proposed
10 give these seven men. A president
Of Harvard once remarked that there
ore three kinds Of lies, Lies, lies and
statistics" But these figures are not
the statistics which are tabulated by
experts for the sake OF befoggins an
issue They are simple and direct. II
Is estimated that there are 100000
scheduled railroad rates in force in this
country today. Without considering
whether some or many of these are ex-
tortlonate or unjust or too low one can
appreciate the full significance Of
Judge Cooley's observation, that for
one body OF men to adjust them all
would indeed be a "superhuman" task.
On an average about 500 changes In
rates occur every day There were
l62,42S rates filed last year. Here Is a
list Of some Of the changes reported
during that period:
Pennsylvania Railroad ...,..4,123
New York Central & Hudson
River Railroad ..,,,,,,,,,.,,.1,b6 t
Illinois Central Railroad .......6 ,344
Chicago & Northwestern Railway. 2,l7S
Chicago Rock Island & Pacific
Railway r,,,,,.,,,, .,,,,,.,,,8376
Chicago Milwaukee g. st. Paul
railway .'.,s.,,,. .2,oyl
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad .,....3,p2b
Louisville & Nashville Railroad, ,sS0
Northern Pacific Railroad .,,..,. 774
Union Pacific Railroad ..,,....,. 7S9
wabash Railroad ...,.,,.......lil 3b
IN a recent speech In the house Of
representatives. Congressman Stevens
OF Minnesota appended to his remarks
this list of changes filed I'm one week
Of last month in the states OF Mime
sofa, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri In
which the Chicago Great Western Rail-
road operates;
A'chison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail-
10, way ,''t.'s's.''ss 'rs''.s'.ss 40
Chloago q Alton Railway .,...,.
Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad 10
Chicago & Northwestern Railway. 30
Ohloago Burlington a quincy Rail-
90 why ''.,,,....,., .,..,....,. "a
Chlcago Great Western Railway IL
chicago Milwaukee & st. Paul
20 Railway Observation-Disclosures. bS
'hlcagN Rock Island & Pacific
-, halfway '.,.t.s, .,...,..,.., 81
Nhlcago, ST Paul, Minneapolis e.
=, omaha Railway ......... I;
cleveland, Cincinnati Chicago &
81 Louis allway ........ q
1,ieat Northern ailway ........ |!
illlhols Central Railway ........ o.
iowa Central Railway .,........
minneapolis a St Louis Railway.
minneapolis, st. Paul e Sault Ste.
-, Marie Railway ...........
Mssourl Kansas & Texas Railway q
Mlssour Pacific Railway ..... 81
Notthern Pacific Railroad ..., II
Vulney;. Omaha q Kansas city
81 AWAY ,''',.''..,, 400,
9" Louis & San Francisco Rail-
r., road ''.,,,..,,,,.,,,.H... 10
Toledo St Louis & Western Rail-
Terro ~, ,','s'.'t.''''..'....,,,,
Wlte ilaute n Indiana Railroad
y,apash Railroad .......
Wisconsin Central Railway .....,, I
seeret rebate private car lines an,
ner Inequalities OF modern railroad
hs may need more rigid investigation
,hS When one nonders such figures n
,n se ne Is inclined to agree with u
cbnark or the man In the Railway FIX
Hse and to appreciate that even
ui.Uau president would indeed be a
""portant person compared with