Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1905-12-20
THINK RATES ARE REASONABLE
The Southern Submits Reasons Why
Its Rates ShonId Not Be Cut.

The Southern Submits Reasons Why
Its Rates ShonId Not Be Cut.
The State Railroad Commission has
now heard from ell of the roads whose
rates Mr.. Brewer of Griffin and Hon.
j. Pope Brown of Hawkinsville want
reduced. The roads themselves can
not tell accurately how much loss they
would suffer, but the Southern figured
that It's loss would be at least $11O, 200
year.
Mr.. L. Green, freight traffic manager,
the official who has charge of the
freight business all over the Soatkern,
made answer for his company last
week. Mr. Green, who is one of the
greateet rate experts in the country,
began his argument by showing how
much the Georgia commission has re-
duced rates in the last twenty five
years. He took up lumber and showed
by the records that the freight charges
on it had been reduced in Georgia
about one-fifth. There are various ways
OF doing some things. One way to re-
duce rates is to increase the minimum
carload-that is, to make the roads
haul more freight for the same money
This is one way. Twenty years ago So
paid for handling 4, 900 bricks 10 miles.
Today $5 will move 5000 bricks II
mlIes-that ie, the roads have to haul
twice as many bricks a longer distance
to get the same money.
Twenty-Five years ago it cost $1.44
to ship one ton of fertilizers 10 miles
in Georgia. Now it costs y cents on
the Southern. That is just one half
Today the Southern would haul ton
of Rrtilizers entirely across the state
for 81 A.
Flour, grain, hay. beans, live stock,
cotton piece goods and one hundred
other articles were taken up and their
rate history was given by Mr.. g cen
The commission has very seldom made
general sweeping reductions, but it
has been trimming the rates a little
here. snd little there year after year
All freight shippers understand, of
course, that for purpses of rae
making, freight Is divided into
classes and commodities. There ,re
first, second, third, fourth, fifth and
sixth classes and then there are letter
ed classes, A. B. @ D etc, The Com
mission often takes an article from a
higher class and puts it into lower
one. This reduces the rate on that
article. All Commissions do this, but
Gaorgia's has worked the trick great
deal more than her neighpors. This
state has 261 artic es with lower clas-
siication than South Carolina and 315
that are lower than Alabama's. The
Railroad men firmly believe that Geo1-
gia's rates are nnreasonabIy low. They
show that all of the states around her
allow them to charge more than the
Georgia Commissions s tariff, and they
insist that rates in Georgia really
ought to be raised Mr.. Green re.
minded the Commission that last Feb
ruary rates were reduced from the
North East and West to Georgia
points. Then in May, the Commis-
sion reduced all class rates from AT
lants, Athens, Augusta, Brunswick,
Columbus, Dalton, Macon, Rome and
Savannah to 16 of the leading cltiee in
Georgia.
Commissioner j. M. Brown has es-
timated that the reductions of last
February will amount to $9l2, 900 per
year.
Mr.. Green declared that all of the
reductions made this year in Georgia
will cost the Southern r r. alone at
least one million Of dollars. He stated
that very much greater part OF the
money earned by his road in this state
comes from Inter state traffic and he
cited figures to show that the net
earnings from business from within
George, or Intra state traffic, are 70
enough 10 pay the cost of oper-
ating, ImproVemf nts ard to meet the
taxes in Georgia In conclusion. he
said that if the Southern was put In
class A. as proposed the Company will
have q deficit of nearly $l5O,0OO q
year on Georgia business.