Arizona republican., 1909-12-19

tO tnc ptopit oi AfiZoud IS Oi no CoH . sequence. then the efforts of the com mission have been in vain.
 In its petition of July 16th. 1909. the commission requested all lines in the territory to make a downward revision of rates and with few exceptions the carriers have complied but not to the extent asked by the commission. These reductions on the Southern Pacific and Maricopa and Phoenix lines. automatically reduce the through rates to Phoenix and other towns in the territory from the eastern districts. Chicago, New York, etc. but the com mission has not as yet presented a pe- tition to the railroads asking for an adjustment of the through rates from New York and other eastern cities to Arizona points. but is awaiting the decision of the Interstate Commerce commission on the Spokane, Phoenix. Salt Lake and Reno cases now pend- ing.
 If the ruling of the federal commis- sion in these cases proves unsatisfac- tory to the local commission and 10 the people of Arizona it will then be the duty of the Arizona commission to present its case to the Washington authorities and such is their intention. In the article above mentioned. the evening paper falsely accuses the local commission of having endorsed the re- cent adjustment of rates.
 We quote: This adjustment. it will be remembered, was endorsed by our local commission as being satisfac- tory to them
 From the only public statement that has been made by the chairman of the commission we quote: The people should not take it for granted that the commission is satisfied for all time with this adjustment. especially of through rates. and there should be no fear on the part of the Commercial club that this revision of rates will in any way affect their complaints now pending. since the commission has ac cepted this adjustment only in the sense that it is the best that could be effected by this commission, which. as you know. has no power to regulate rates. and has not and will not endorse this adjustment as meeting with out approval as d final adjustment"
 The fact remains that the commis- sion has quickly secured an adjust ment of the rates that will save the people of the territory more than a million and half dollars annually: whether that saving shall go to the consumer or to the dealer is a matter tt feet control
 It is clear that the price of neckties, thread. hats. shoes, medicines and even clothing will not he effected because the saving on any one article is so small that the merchant will not change his selling price and to clearly illustrate this fact we will cite the case of the Tucson clothier. MT. Kilt. who says and quite correctly so that he can make no reduction in his sale price because of this reduction in rates.
 The old first class rate New York to Tucson was 3.6f and the new rate 3.27 per hundred or a reduction of 37 cents per hundred pounds.
 A suit of clothes, making allowance for the box, will weigh about ten pounds: his saving therefore is but 3.7 cents per suit: but the whole freight charge on d suit of clothes is but g. cents and we would like to know what reduction MT. Kilt would make in his sale price if the railroads carried his freight free.
 Would the new price of a s30.00 suit be s29.6S? or if the rate had been cut in half would his sale price be s29.S2?
 Certainly not and the saving would accrue to Mir. Kilt.
 On heavier articles. a half dozen dining room chairs, q roller top desk, the furnishings of bed room, heavy farm wagon, a gas engine. a threshing machine and like commodities, the saving to the consumer should be ap- preciable: but still rests with the merchant
 Before the announcement of these rate reductions. that million and a half saving looked good to the president of the Commercial club.
 He. MT. Akers. even went so far as to request both MT. Hastings and Mir. Stubbs to change the address of the letters from the Arizona Railway com mission to the Commercial club and when it was explained to him by these gentlemen that the rate reduction was brought about by the Railway com mission. he then requested that the letters be addressed to the People of Arizona. both of these requests being ignored because it was SO clearly his intention to attempt to rob the com mission of the credit of it's first six months labors.
 The Fl Paso jobber is in the same Identical position he occupied prior to the rate reduction because the same reduction was made from New York and Chicago to Tucson. Phoenix. Globe. Clifton. Douglas and Bisbee and all other towns in Arizona as was made from Fl Paso to those towns.
 He is rejoicing because the rates are lower and less money will be paid out in freight charges in the conduct of his business: but aside from that fact, he is no nearer the Arizona consumer than he was before and the Arizona merchant will continue to place his or ders where he has been placing them heretofore
 The big scare talk about the Phoe- nix merchant losing his iobbing busi- ness to Southern Pacific main line points is fiasco and the business it self is a will-o'-th- wisp-
 The total average business done by