New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-08-21
n c. BUSINESS COSTLY.
pO4D'S PROFIT SMALL.
SMALL.
southern Would Make 99-IOO of 10
Under Ne5c Rate, 1t Is SAID.

The widely advertised rate war" between the
-.s,e Of North Carolina and the Southern Rail-
-, company was continued yesterday before
nudge w \. Montgomery special master of
= Tinted States Circuit Court, in the offices
os The railroad corporation at No. 50 Broadway
recbnlcal matters. having to do mostly with the
-o-,.al operating cost of trains we're discussed
"a ~ the close of the hearing in the afternoon
- .35o,i7-ayaert was taken until Il o'clock next
T,-;aay-. when the witnesses and lawyers will
assemble in washington
rrsr Qhat the Southern Railway is driving at
q, us determined fight against the state was
-,a5e plain 10 a Tribune reporter yesterday by
mar closely connected with the railroad
.sTse Northern papers, he said. have not
made = clear that IL costs Us just $3.50 cents for
s-z- dollars worth Of business we do. II we
excepted the reduced rates that the state law
,aS r,roviGed for intrastaJe business, we would
,oxe q profit our assessed tax valuation
,s.hin the state Of Just 39-100 OF / per cent
.Tk,ng our last years interstate business as our
,.a,dara We prove by figures that we will lose
,,,5er the new rate 5000 747 IL in a year on it.
.gv;thin the State of North Carolina we pay
saves on a valuation of s.. 1913 222 "A Under the
nrssent raie schedule our profits would be only
s9se17 II on our tax valuation, which would
-,esr that the percentage Of profit would be
consideration our capitalization and the per-
,sntage that should be due on our franchise
value
~our assertion is that she present law II en-
sorced. would result in confiscation. We are
seeking the protection Of the Fourteslth Amend
rpeut Of the Constitution OF the United States
which provides no state can conhscate the prop
,-ty Of q person corporation without
muneration-"
Tie same man said that the Southern would
depend in part on the decision written by Jus
tee Brewer, and handed down by the United
States Supreme Court, on January %. 1900 in
the case Of the Chicago. Milwaukee & st. Paul
Railway Company agt- Tompkins. in which
The court held that in determining whether
rats was conhscatory the testimony of rail-
mad experts was competent and material and
could not be disregarded.
II WIS strongly indicated yesterday that there
was little likelihood of an acceptance by Presi-
cent Finley Of the Southern Of the propositions
submitted 70 the corporation by Governor Glenn
of North Carolina. Governor Glenn said, as
rublished in The Tribune yesterday morning,
that he thought the Southern might withdraw
its present action and wait for the decision Of
ire Supreme Court Of the United States the
Two cases now pending, one in the state courts
snd the other in the United States Circuit Court
He also suggested that the road might give the
-s-e law a fair trial and if it found it was
really confscatory the road could depend on the
sense OF fairness Of the people TO insure
change The man who was interested in the
railroad pointed our that while these trials and
anpeals were pending the Southern would be
losing about $4,000 a year on interstate bust
ness alone. and that there would be no legal
method Of recovering the loss should the courts
finally hold the law was unconstitutional
Il is 10 ring out these allegations that the
present investigation is going on Yesterday
the only witness called was r. B Taylor, gen
eral manager Of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad
Company. who testified Monday He
hacked I'D the statements Of other witnesses
called since last Thursday. They had all said
that short hauIs were comparatively more ex-
pensive than long hauls- Mr Taylor was even
mora definite. for he said that II cost from IL
10 % centsrnore to earn a dollar on local bust
ness than il did TO earn a dollar on any other
railroad business. He also said that the cost
of labor and materials had gone up so much re-
Gently that expenses were increasing rapidly
E G. Justice. counsel for the State of North
Carolina wanted TO know how much it cost to
carry one ton of freight one mile in local bust
ness. Mr.. TAYLOR said he could not answer this.
and that railroad men did not compute returns
On such unit scale Mr.. Justice wanted 70
know. then what proportion OF the Southern's
business was intrastate- Mr.. Taylor avoided a
direct answer for some time. but finally said
that about 20 per cent Of the traffic was WITHIN
the state borders After other technical ques-
tions Nj. Justice asked what amount Of money
was set aside by the Southern for lobbying pur-
poses Captain Thorn objected. but Mr. Taylor
said quickly Il know of no suck account
and. furthermore. ] have never heard Of any
such thing"
NJ. Justice had from time 10 time toucheo on
the greatness Of North Carolina-its Tanufact-
Ures agriculture and population At the END
Of the hearing he was hoist by his own petarc
when he asked MI Taylor: What one thing
could the Southern Railway do 10 bring about
greater prosperity in North Carolina
Mr.. Taylor smiled but his eyes flashed as ne
said sharply: TO be allowed by the state TO
pursue the courses il has been pursuing without
Indictment because you have stated yourself,
Mr. Justice that under that system the State
Of North Carolina has become the greatest man.
ufacturing state in the South. the greatest seat
OF the cotton industry in the world save Massa-
chusetts the greatest plug tobacco centre IN the
world and the second greatest leaf smoking pro-
ducing district in the world. And all these in
dugtrfes are situated on the Southern Railway.
After the hearing had adjourned a friend OF
the railroad remarked: THE papers have sald q
lot about the fact that United States Circuit
Judge Pritcbard was once Of counsel for the
Southern. They haven't said what is true, too,
that Governor Glenn was once Of counsel for the
road"
DnnVC