The Butler weekly times., 1908-10-10
THE RAILROAD RATE LITIGATION.

regular assistants.
THE RAILROAD RATE LITIGATION.
The litigation over the Maxim Freight
/ Rate Laws OF 1905 and 1907. and the two
cent passenger rate law OF 1907, with the
eighteen railroads ~ the state has been
A much greater and more laborious under
taking and. in fact. has been the largest
aud most difficult piece Of legislation in
IN" history of the state. II has been nee
|CSSary for the attorneys for the state To
FUZZY acQuaint themselves with the meth
uds and system uf railroad construction
and operation the method in which the
railroad rates are fixed and established,
the methods AID details Of railroad ac-
counting: in short. with every phase or
the railroad business from the standpoint
VI operation, 80 well as from the stand
point Df litis;ttinn. The expense of expert
accountants Who have spent months In the
examination of The books and accounts ot
the railroad companies, has been consid-
cradle. but | believe il has been money
well spent. This work has enabled the
people Of Missouri as well as the people
" other states, for the first time, to
know the truth rs To the reasonablcness
NJ railroad freight and passenger rates,
II has disclosed to the people az this State
the enormous tribute that they have by
maCtion permitted the railroads to levy
upon them for years,
1t has shown, for instance, that the Bur
llngton Railroad Company makes net
profit of So OO0 each year Tor every mile
~ road that il has in the state Of Mis-
souri,, while IL makes an average of s?hOO
a year for each mile on It's entire system;
that though il has hut II per cent of its
mileage In the State uf Missouri. that IL
. per cent produces over 80 per cent OF us
income While this condition may not eN-
..t la, . MI L. nf
state. 1t Is probable that every road in
the state receives a much larger revenue
for every ton OF freight that IL hauls one
milo in the state than ii receives for
every ton uf freight that it hous one mile
in interstate traffic. This evidence has
; also shown that tho people of Missouri
pay tho railroad companies freight rates
from - to 30 Per cent higher than do
their ncighhors ~ Iowa and Illinois, For
instance the Missouri farmer has to pay
. 500 to have carload Of wheat hauled Too
miles to market, while IN Iowa and I'LL
> nois II costs the farmers of those states
5 hut $40 for the same ear the same dis
' tancc; while the stock rasers in Missouri
{ have TO pay the railroads s2i a car "a
have their cattle hauled 100 miles to the
e stoCkyardS al Kansas City, ST. Louis and
h s. Joseph in Illinois the farmers Of that
I State can hav" their stocl<cdTricd to the
e Chi,lgo stockyards, the same distance
n roads charge the farmer and implement
o dealer s3i 10 have a carload of agricul-
h tural implements hauled l00 miles. Will,
g in Iowa it would cost for the same car
p the same distance. SIS; that while Il
. would cost the Missouri householder. aC-
y cOrdng to the rates established IN this
c State s32 to get n car OF lumber hauled q
i distance Of loo miles, II would cost tn,
n Iowa home builder SIS for the same ca
l the same distance. 4 similar condition
$ exists in the freight rates in Missouri ant
I the freight rates in Illinois and Iowa upor
: other commodities and for other distances
= These facts and many others important 4
4 the people of Missouri, have been devel
q oped in the course Of this litigation. Th
I testimony in these cases has finally beel
$ completed and is now ready to be submit
IS ted to the decision OF the United State
q Circuit Court I cannot but view witt
s confidence the final result Of this litigation
Y But in this litigation, as in the anti
Il trust litigation already referred to. sub
e stantal results have already been secured
d The facts developed as to the value o
$ railroad properties enabled the Stat
Y Board IT Equalization to increase thei
e assessments last year over 10000 00C
= thus adding $4,000 to the States reve
n nues each year.