Omaha daily bee., 1907-04-05
RAILROAD TALK OF RUIN.
An Instance illustrating the Shallow
ness OF Assertions.

ness of Assertions.
Springfield (Mass.) Republican.
The railroads would have less trouble
with state legislation for reduction Of rates
II they were more cOnsiderate of the prin-
clple that maximum revenue may be found
in lower instead of higher charges. They
are quick and adept in figuring out a rev.
enue advantage from rate increases, and
very dull and slow in discerning revenue
advantage from rate decreases; and It il
probably not an extreme statement TO say
that when discovery has been made Of
actual revenue gain from rate reductions
which might have been considered ruinous,
It has usually been forced upon the roads
by the power Of the public authority.
It thus appears to be necessary to take
with several grains OF allowance the cur
rent cutlery Of the railroads that the rate
reduction legislation OF many Of the states
will prove absolutely ruinous and force
numerous properties into bankruptcy. This
indeed is no more than what some Of the
managing officials themselves are quietly
doing, one Of them, unnamed. being thus
quoted I'm a New York interview:
"A great deal of this talk heard nova
days reminds me OF a conference held at
Des Moines twenty years ago between sew
eraI railway presidents and Governor Lara
bee OF Iowa. We were protesting vigor-
ously against reduction In coal rates
made by the state commission, and sus-
tanned by the courts. We pleaded for three
whole days that the reduction meant ruin
to US. On the morning Of the fourth day
one Of the commissioners called me aside
and showed me a rate on coal made over
night by the Rock Island, which was much
lower than the one established by the COM
mission. As soon as 1 could I got one
other president out Of the room and told
him what had been shown me. That night
we all went home"
The point Of this Is not so much the fact
that one OF the roads was talking ruin
while secretly making rates lower than
the "ruinous" ones. This might have been
done to get business from other roads at
any cost. The point is that the ''ruinous
rates were maintained and submitted to
by all the roads without any ruin and ap-
parsntly to their general advantage.
This is not saying that the current rate
reduction legislation Is generally moderate
and reasonable. Much OF II no doubt might
prove too radical and bordering upon con-
hscstion. But II cannot be forgotten that
the railroads of Ohio talked ruin very
loudly over the enactment Of a 2-eent rate
law last year. and have since found that
the law worked a positive advantage for
them In improving their passenger trafie
against the electric railway competition
/ They were unable to figure out any such
result I'm advance. and lacked courage TO
try for II in any event; and this Is far from
being the only case where outside power
has had to be applied 10 bring a monopoly
railroad into knowledge OF how TO proceed
for its own best interests. The courts are
going TO be generally appealed 10 against
much OF this new rate legislation; but II
is quite possible IN many cases that the
courts would not help the railroads in Civ
ing Judgment according TO the railroad de-
mandE