Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-02
ORANGE SHIPPERS AN0
THE Ex0RBlTANT RATES
Vigorous Protest by a Shipper
Against the Rates Maintained
by the Southern Pacific and
other Roads
From The Herald OF February 16.

cular letter in re railroad rates and
the threatened danger to California
interests by the interstate commerce
commission, together with certain 9TH
er printed matter have been received
and carefully read.
As this is u public communication
and probably addressed to the voters
of the state to mould public opinion,
take the liberty of answering it
publicly, as a citizen of California and
a producer of oranges In Southern
California and as one having the pros
pcrity of this state and nation at
| heart.
From my knowledge of things gem
orally I have learned that the aver
age railroad rate in the United States
for carrying freight is z mills. or 7-10
of one cent, per ton per mile. Also
that the average distance for freight
carriage haul is 24O miles. (See sta
tistics of railways, l. G. G. reports
1902, p. 64) I have also learned that
the cost of carrying freight per ton
per mile decreases as the haul in
creases. In other words, that 1t does
not cost as much to carry train
load of freight the second five hun
dred miles as it does to carrysit the
first five hundred miles The reasons
are obvious 1 have also learned that
the average haul for California or
anges from Southern California is
$500 miles to points of distribution.
A Case in Point
The rate charged for hauling my
orange crop from my station, Ontario,
by your road is $1.25 per hundred
pounds, or $25 a ton; whereas, IL the
orange growers were only required to
pay the average rate of mills per
ton per mile (the average rate for the
short haul of 240 miles) it would only
cost me $3.50 per ton, instead of $25
per ton. In other words, we are COM
| PEELED to pay your road $25 for every
ton of oranges shipped, when we only
ought to pay $780, even at the local,
or average rate, for only 240 miles;
whereas, you carried my oranges $500
miles, which rate should have been at
least one half as much per ton as the
average rate of mills for 24O miles:
or / am compelled to pay your road
S25 for what ought to have had done
| for $S.75.
| 1 also know that last year the net
earnings of the railroads and car lines
of this country were, in round numbers,
of mills per ton per mile for freight
carriage. This $900,000,000 is per cent
! interest on $4,000, 100000. l turn to the
statistical reports and find that the
nine groups, or pools, consisting of
the Vanderbilt group, Pennsylvania,
Hartman (yours), Hill, Morgan,
Gould, Moores, Rockefeller and Santa
| Fe system comprise three-fourths of
the railroads in the United States and
are groups and pools, and they operate
under "joint tariff" and have stocks
issued amounting to $9,S27 100000 and
bonds and debts of $3625, 100000, MAX
ing a total of 81, ,452,OOO,OOO.
Now, If this represents three-fourths
of the value of all the railroads, four
fourths, or the full value of all the
railroads, would be $9,936,0OO,0OO a sum
considerably less than $15,00O000000 on
| which was earned 6 per cent. But the
fact is that the railroads of this coun-
| try are not worth any such sum as
$3.50 100000.
Hon. Joseph H. Call of this city,
| special counsel for the government,
showed before the senate committee
of interstate commerce that the value
of your railroad, according to inter-
state commerce commissions report of
February II, 1906, at page 6O6 was
considerably less than 100000 per mile.
If we take this valuation as basis
| lOf all TdllIOdQS lHS tIue NdiuS VI Lie
| total mileage in the Unitel States of
211 900 miles was only S6,330, 600 900, in
stead of $9,936, 100000, for which they
| are stocked and bonded. And Sc, ,0Q0-,
100000 is what the interstate commerce
commission finds is the true valuation
| of all the railroads. The difference
between $4,000, 100000 and the $685.
| 000,0 for which they are stocked and
bonded, being SO, 936,000,O00, must rep
resent watered stock, upon which and
every other orange grower am COM
PEELED to pay interest, at combination
rates, arbitrarily fixed by all the roads
in a particular territory, joining in a
pool, or Joint tariff"
Again, the report of your company
| to the interstate commerce commits
sion for 1902 shows that your system
of 5,443 miles was valued at $153, ,303,867
and had net earnings that year of
| $4,2S1 per mile. Or your SYSTEMS net
earnings in 1902, after paying all op-
Grating expenses. was $23, 3,301, ,4S3, which
is fifteen and one-fifth per cent net
on the total valuation of $685., 1858, ,050.
And / further find from the state
board of equalization that your road
pays taxes on only $4,000 mile, that
earns you net from your own state
ment, A,2S1 per mile, or 2Sh per cent
on the taxable valuation, while my
ranch is assessed for nearly it's full
cash value ana my orange crop does
not pay per cent net ON that amount.
At this rate OF taxable value of $4,000
a mile, your whole system in this and
other states of 544S miles would be
worth $S1,645,000. But we orange
growers are charged rate that pays
6 per cent on $3SS,S5S,O5O. or nearly
five times it's taxable valuation.
In the face of these facts and fig
ures, your road. with a pool, or Joint
tariff" rate with the Santa Fe sys-
TEN, that has the producers and con-
sumers of California at your mercy,
charged me and all the other orange
growers of California a rate on $4,000
carloads of fruit, that you hauled by
trainloads $500 miles, nearly double
the average rate of mills. per ton
per mile for the local short haul of
24O miles, that paid this enormous
rate OF interest. And now you hope
to induce me to use my influence to
help you perpetuate that iniquity
against this commonwealth.
If your road was compelled to carry
the oranges and other products to
market at the average rate of even Z
mills per ton per mile the orange grow
| org aiopa VfnttIH baua ion on0 -, tI,ai,,