The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-01
Representative Stone Discusse
That Rate Report.
Fears That 1t Is Anything But
Accurate.
THAT COLORADO TABLE
Says lie Attaches No Importance
to It.
Information Secured From the
Traffic Officials.


Representative Robert Stone Of
Shawnee county, author of the "Stone
resolution is not satisfied with the
work of the state board of railroad
commissioners in collecting railroad
rate statistics as called for by his res
olutiou.
UNLESS this information has been
compiled with great accuracy said
Mt Stone. unless it contains inforn1a-
ton which can be depended upon, the
conclusions are certain to be erroneous
and the tabulation may do more harm
than good.
Il don't want to do the state board
of railroad commissioners any injus-
tice I realize that the amount OF
work called for by the resolution was
very large. I wanted to have a special
appropriation made for the employ of
experts to collect this information, but
I was given to understand that it
would be very doubtful whether the
legislature would stand for an a2nro-
priation, as it was getting late in the
session. Therefore L put throEEl the
resolution without any appropriation.
There has been a good deal said
about the action O. the board of rail-
road commissioners in including Color
ado in the tables of comparisons, when
Colorado was not called for by my res
OlutiOn. L do not attach much import
ance to this. I agree with the rail
road commissioners that we should get
ali the information possible. However.
1 do say that the board had no auth
GRITTY to include Colorado in the list
when compiling the averages, or if
they did, they should also have sub
mitted averages without Colorado. Col
OradO is q mountainous state. rates are
high. as everybody knows, and to in
Clude Colorado would materially affect
the aUera ges. We ought to have the
averages of the states called for in the
resolution.
a thing to which I attach more i'm
pOrtance than the Colorado matter is
the question of how carefully the board
has comDared the tables which they
have issued with the published tariffs.
1T seems to me that this is where the
gross errors are likely to creep into
the report L am informed that the
board did not itself compile the tables
from the tariff sheets, but simply sent
to each railroad number of blank
tables for the officials of the company
to fill out AS 7 understand it, the
board relied on the honesty of the
freight traffic departments for the ac-
curacy of this information. The freight
officials we're allowed to select any
towns they pleased for the purpose of
the comparison. 1T is only natural TO
suppose that outside the state Of Kan
sas they selected their highest figures
for specific hauis. while inside the state
they selected rates based on points
where some competing line had forced
the tariffs down to the lowest possible
mark It is the business OF the rail-
road commissioners to know that the
rates Quoted are eair rates, and that
they are backed I'D by the published
tariffs.
IN my opinion. the governor should
satisfy himself that all these things
have been done before he accent fthe
report. He should know that the s'e-
port is something that can be depended
upon; that it is something upon which
legislative action can be based. and
which can be defended, L necessary, in
the courts
LAS have said before. unless these
tabulated reports are absolutely ac-
curate, they may lead US into some very
erroneous conclusions. and I shall want
to have time to make a thorough ex-
animation of the work before I can say
that the work has been properly done"
One of the officers of the state board
of railroad commissioners was asked
Saturday to state whether or not the
table had been compared with tariffs
and corrected as suggested by MI
Stone.
"'The table was compared and veri-
fed" he said. whenever there was
any reason to believe that the figures
furnished by the railroad companiRs
We're Inaccurate"
He went on to say that if the board
or its clerks had attempted to com
pare every rate quoted with the tariff
sheets and had also tried to fix the
distance tariffs at an equitable basis,
it would have required the work of
twenty-five clerks for a year.
"The legislature gave US TO appro-
pfiation to pay for the work" he
said, fand also required that it be
completed within six months. Hence
we were obliged to get UP the infor-
nation in the only way possible; by
calling on the railroads for assistance
s Colorado was included because it IS
a neighboring state; 1t didn't cost any
more to include it. and we supposed
the object cf the resolution was to get
fair statement of facts.