The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-01-17


commodities. 1873 per cent
The reports of the interstate COM
merce commission tell a different story
for the railroads. These show de-
crease all along the line. In 1881 the
average rate per ton per mile for the
transportation of freight by the ran
roads was .941 cents,-that is, nine nun
dred and forty-one one-thousandtns
of one cent to carry ton OF frelg mt
one mile. In 1900, the rate was -72S
cents. and in 1905 .766 cents. The av-
erage for 1905 was advanced an IN
f1nitesfmal fraction over the average
for 1900, but the average for 1905 was
S.8 per cent lower than the average
for the ten-year period. In 1901, the
industrial commission, in report TO
congress, said that 1.-The competition
of carriers and the rivalry of markets,
in their constant efforts to control
freight movements from grain terri
tory, succeed steadily in lowering rail-
way rates" The same report told or
the steady and heavy advance of the
prices of cereals. adding: 1.-The Amer
lean product meets the worlds COM
petition in foreign markets on favor
able terms and usually with great
success, with the result that, because
of the cheapness of transportation and
American producer gets very much
more for his labor than the inhabit-
ant of any other country on earth"
T.
based on statistics carefully and hon
estly collected by the federal govern
ment. In some quarters, these conclu-
sions may not have been In accord
with the popular impression, but tnat
should be an incentive rather Tor CIV
ing them the widest possible publicity.
That until now, when the commercial
depression has sent many empty cars
to storage tracks, the railroads have
not been able promptly to move all OF
he Ho hof IA offered
known. It equally is we'll known that
the railroads have used hundreds OF
millions for the purchase OF addltion-
al equipment. But their protestatlons
of good faith and their pleas for fa1r
play; their pleas that wages and the
prices for commodities have advanced
far out of proportion to the rates OF
transportation, which, really have de-
new capital have been increased,-ali
these fair and reasonable arguments |
have not sunk very deeply into the
popular mind. until recently, possibly.
but here these things are amply prov
ed by the reports collected by the gen
eral government.
That the products of agriculture and |
of manufactures have increased In
quantity and value by leaps and
bounds every one knows, but every |
one does not scrutinize the reports of
the railroad companies, which, month |
by month, have shown that the IN |
crease of gross earnings, caused oy
enhanced volume of traffic, often are
more than offset by the increase OF
expense, caused by the advance OF the
prices of everything Of which a rail
road makes use. do not, Mr. NC
Pherson asks, 1.-The conclusions reach |
ed through the foregoing analysis in
dictate a tendency, while manufac-
lures and agriculture have been nour- |
ished and stimulated, toward the I'M
poverishment of the railroads and an |
impairment in the performance OF
their functionS?"
In conclusion Mr.. Mcpherson says;
AS Secretary Root has recently pointed |
ward fuller honesty in the conduct of
business. Practices that were easily toll
the ban Of public opinion. Rebates that
were once vigorously sought by every one
who had pretext. for claiming them nave
been dug up by the roots. The principal
shippers Of today, the men who come in
contact with the traffic officers OF the
railroads and pay the freig9r ns' aave
The outcry has been most vociferous from
those who have not adjusted their busl-
nomic currents The outcry has been ia
ken up by politicians-who do not snip
freight or pay freight piiis Sh snei[ bodv
of the people. who likewise do not to any
extent ship freight or direct
ly pay freight bills. These people have
been ignorant of the fact that the freight
charges have been in constantly decreas-
ing ratio to the cost of production and the
cost of marketing the great commodities
of daily need The freight charge is SO
low that it is seldom factor in the retail
prices of these commodities. That is, the
retail prices of the commodities of daily
use, with but few exceptions, are deter
mined without reference to the rate of
freight; they would be neither higher nor
lower if the commodities were transported
by the railroads gratis. II
Moreover, there has been general ig-
and must underlie the making of rates by
the railroads. If every one would read
the great authorities upon this subject
Acworth of England, Fink, Hadley, Taus-
sig and Seligman. in the United States.
the cIamor against the railroads would
dwindle and fade. Indeed, this ignor-
ance of the principles that underlie rate
making has been the principal source of
popular dissatisfaction