The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-27
Governor Stubbs Clashes With a
Rate Expert.
f. C. Markham Came Here to
Enlighten the Executive.
UP HIGH IN THE AIR.
Talked of Things That No One
Understood.
Finally Forced to Admissions by
Mr.. Stubbs.

Finally Forced to Admissions by
Mr.. Stubbs.
F. c. Markham assistant to Vice
President Clark Of the Missouri Pa
clfic, held conference with Governor
| Stubbs this morning in regard to the
pro rata of freight rates and what part
OF the earnings for the traffic it hauled
should be awarded to the Central
Branch. Nothing very definite was ac-
compnShed at this session and the
| meeting was adjourned to the after
noon when Attorney General Jackson
could be present
| Mr.. Mark ham is a traffic expert His
business is to pro rate the earnings to
J the different divisions of the road for
their freight traffic. He is accomplish
ed and suave. seems to be master of
MS subject and is a good conversations
| alst Fart OF the duties of a good
| traffic man and rate maker is to keep
the general public absolutely in the
| dark as to how he does his work Mr..
| Markham doubtless occupies a place
at the top of his procession. He can
convey less real information in a large
| volume OF words than any one not an
| expert in this line. He came to the
Missouri Pacific from the Illinois Cen
tral some five years ago and the Pa
clhc made a good deal when it secured
| his services.
Governor Stubbs wanted to know why
| the rate on freight was higher IN Kan
| sas than in Missouri. or Illirois, or
Iowa. or other states east of US. He
rropounded this question directly; point
words all of one syllable After a half
| hour of hard work he secured the fol-
| lowing answer:
The reason that Kansas rates are
higher is because the volume of traffic
per mile In this state is less than it is
in the states you have mentioned"
| Governor Stubbs expressed polite
disbelief of this assertion. .'That is no
answer at ALL he declared "It
costs less to build and operate a road
yet we have to pay higher freight
rates. Volume of traffic less, indeed.
Why half of the time our shippers
cannot get cars in which to ship their
stuff"
Then the governor got back to the
question of the Central Branch and
the pro rata of earnings awarded it
for the freight it had hauled. He
found that IL per cent of the traffic
of the branch was composed of coal
from the Kansas fields but did not
learn what per cent of the earnings
per ton of coal it hauled was awarded
to the branch. He found that AZ per
cent of the branch's traffic was com
posed of grain products and he was
informed. after a hard struggle that
81 per cent of the rate from western
Kansas to st. Louis was awarded to
the branch and the remainder to the
: parent line into st. Louis.
| The Fog Got Thicker Still.
In the fifth round, after a lot of in
fighting in Markham's corner. the
governor was told that the pro rata
was awarded som etimes on the mile.
2 age and some times the rate basis
and that there were times when il
was awarded on combination of the
two. The governor was groggy fol
l the rest of the round.
During the intermission he was re-
vived by his secretary, Dave Leahy
: who read him chapter from ar
astronomical work devoted to ascer-
5 tanning the distance between planets
and the ratio of orbits to axis. An
other second injected some paral1elo-
grams and quo warranto analyses into
his arm and he was ready and strong
l at the call of time.
Markham started the round by de.
claring: 81 am here to explain the
. principles of rate making and ] have
l had 35 years experience in the busi
ness He expected that assertion tt
end the fight. but the governor wa:
> strong as a lion and game as a peb
BILE, He countered as follows:
'I don't believe you or anyone else
can explain rate making There is NJ
explanation for some of the rates
They are made, that is ALL I know
I something about railroad operation
and I could understand the rate mat
' ter if it was explained to me. Bu
: there is no explanation. I would like
to hire an expert and pay him bis
money to explain why Kansas freigh
rates are so high. A railroad man. Of
rate maker, comes along and he say
the rate is so much. and he goe
away. And that is all there is to it
The shipper pays the rate or he keep
his goods at home
Markham came back smiling anG
Y appeared in good condition. He wal
trained to the hour. He asserted tina
the volume of traffic on roads cas-
of here was as high as $4,000 pei
n1ee, while on the Central Branch i
e Was only $4,000 per mile.
t Stubbs Has Expert Groggy.
E, The next round was all Stubs. The
: governor asked Mr.. Markham il i
, was not fact that his road was no
:. interested SO much in whether any
branch road paid or not, but rather
depended upon what it contributed il
the way of business to the paren
lines. The reply was in the affirma
tive.
Having committed himself thus far
Mr.. Markham began to give ground
To the next questions he denied tina
the Missouri Pacific owned the West
ern Pacific or the Wabash. The gov
ernor was incredulous. Then Mr.
Markham became magnanimous ant
admitted that the Pacific owned the
S Iron Mountain.
The morning conference ended
there. By consent it was called {
draw
|. The newspaper reporters present
a after comparing notes on all that Mr.