The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1905-12-13
WEDNESDAY, DEC. IL, 1906.
THE MYSTERIES OF RATE MAkING.

In the literature issued by the rail
roads for the purpose of convincing
the people that the proposed govern
ment regulation of transportation
charges is unwise and unnecessary, il
has been alleged that rate making
Is an "intricate science''-so intricate
and SO scientific an undertaking, In
fact, that none except railroad em.
ployes can do the Job. The latter, i,
is minated, possess knowledge and
ability not given to, aud impossible
of requirement by, men who r not
on the railroad payroll. In other
words, the railroads allege that any
body of men chosen from the ranks OF
millions oflAmerican citizens because
of their reputation for fairness and
impartiality in all matters presented
to them for adjudication, and who
possess or can secure full and accurate
evidence as to what constitutes a rea-
sonable freight charge, are incompe'
tent and dangerous as rate makers.
The absurdity of such a contention
will be apparent; at a! glance. Men
who are at present invested with au.
thority to make rates have no monop-
oily of the knowledge or ability neces-
sary for such an occupation. There
are probablySthousands of other Am.
erican citizens who could arrange a
schedule of transportation charges
that would, at least, have equal merit
with those now in force as just aud
reasonable rates and satisfactory rev.
enue producers.
What are the mysteries of rate.
making, anyway? Some authorities
assert that rates:are the creatures of
conditions-that a charge for a certain
service in q locality should not be
the basis for a rate that applies to an
exactly similar service In another 10.
cality. One railroad president recent.
ly declared that rate.making is merely
guesswork-that the rate maker de-
cides upon a certain charge between
specified points, and builds up his
schedule of freight charges upon that
foundation.
Another railroad official testified to
the effect that rates are made by Gin
tuition" which in this case Is pre-
slmed to be a scientific term for
''guessing at it,"
The fundamental principle of rate
m aking is to get az much revenue as
possible without killing the traffic. II
the railroad rate.maker cannot get as
much evenu as he would prefer, he
Arranges transportation charges with
. view to getting all the revenue that
can be squeezed out OF the business.
In localities where there 10 competi.
ton between rival railroad systems,
or where there are transportation IA.
cilities by water, the railroad rate.
maker makes the lbest bargain pos.
sible: but where there Is no competition
whatever he exacts 1.-THE last cent of
tribute from those whoCare subject to
his dictation.
The archaeological in:charging all
the traffic will bear:is based upon the
cost OF the article at its:shipping point
and the selling priceIat its destination.
The difference betweenithese figures is
the maximum charge.a ailable to the
rate maker, and ~he:generally gets as
near to it as possible.sAn illustration
Of this system OF rate making may be
of interest:
Baled hay is selling in the Fort
Benton market at $l4 per ton: it is
shipped from Milk river points at a
special rate OF 1900 per ton, and from
the same points to Helena. a distance
of about 260 miles, the rate is 81. 90
per ton.
n local resident recently learned
that baled alfalfa hay can be pur.
chased in Billings at $500 per ton,
and that the freight charge to Helena
is $3.50, making the Helena price of
the hay $3.50 per ton. AS the rate on
hay from Milk river points to Helena
is $500 per ton, he calculated that the
charge from Helena to this city, 40
miles, would not exceed that figure,
but concluded to inquire about the
rate. Before replying to the inquiry,
the railroad rate.maker a%scertained
that the selling price of baled hay at
this point is $14.0O, compared with its
cost of $3.50 in Helena, a difference
Of $3.50 per ton, and in due course
quoted q rate of s4.40 per ton on a
hay shipment from Helena to this
city. That would make it cost, laid
laid down here, sl3. 80 per ton, or ten
cents cheaper than the present ruling
price.
This feature of the rate.making
mystery can be remedied only by a
state railroad commission, q curative