Bisbee daily review., 1910-06-23
ANOTHER EXTRA
 sl,OOO,OOO PUT
 ON CONSUMER
Through Advance in Freight Rates. Railroads Have Been Quietly and Systematicly Increasing Rates,
lBr Clyde II. Tarenne.l

WASHINGTON. June 20.-An ad ditiona' annual tax of more than SlOOOOOO has been saddled upon the American. people through increas- ed freight rates
 The increases which have thus fur ther increased the cost of living are not increase enjoined by the govern ment. but increases that are now in effect. and are being paid by the con sumer
 Quietly and practically unnoticed the railroads have been system atically increasing rates ever since the passage of tue Hepburn amend ment to the interstate commerce act in 1906
 The manner in which the railroad has ever been boosting rates is in genious. Their system is to make small increases almost daily. Perhaps today the rate on wagon tires is boosted between Des Moines and Chi cago and tomorrow the rate on sugar between Pacific coast points and Chicago is advanced. So many new schedules and reclassifacitions are fled with the Interstate Commerce. Commission so as to swamp that body completely. to say nothing of be- logging the minds of the public.
 Between July 1. 1906 and January 15, 1909. 60O.O0O schedules of rates and classifications were filed. Each schedule runs from l 10 700 pages each, The comm 'Gsion has been able to go over only a part of these schedules. Even if the commission could have considered each new schedule. it could have done nothing to prevent an increased rate except upon the complaint of a shipper.
 All the railroads has to do is to lie notice of a new schedule with the commission. (and it has filed on an average of 33O. 900 new items day and then proceed to put the new schedule into effect.
 Under this deceptive system. the railroads have increased their profits at the expense of the consumers to the extent of more than sI. .O0O. O.e00 annually.
 According to the report of In- terstate- Commerce Commissioner Knapp freight rates on coal have ad- vanced , cents a ton pig iron. 25 cents per ton; cast iron pipe. 25 cents per ton: gain and grain pro ducts, 2 cents per hundred pounds: hundred pounds; sugar. cents per hundred pounds, etc, etc.
 'Transeontinental rates have been advanced, says the Commissioner.
 both eastboInd and westbound. be- tween points in the Atlantic seaboard territory. and states east of the Miss issippi river. on the one hand. and terminal points on the Pacific coast and intermediate points. on the oth- CT hand. from to 60 per cent"
 Since January l. 1910, the rates on wool from St. Louis and Duluth to New York have increased r per cent; on grain and grain products. from St. Louis to New York. IS per cent. and from Chicago to New York "" fI- NtANs AtESu meats. nlHtOufl river points to Chicago; Is per cent; Missouri river points to East St. Louis. 2S per cent. These are onfy a few advances since January 1.
 Instead Of rates advancing, as they have from 1897 to the present time. every economic law governing trans portation charges requires that they should have been lowered.
 The density of traffic, the average length of haul. the higher efficiency Of transportation facilities-roadbed rolling stock. and all equipment-has increased enormously with scarcely an exception year after year. The ability of the carriers to handle the traffic at a diminished cost has been vastly increased. The policy of the railroads has been to increase freight rates as the volume of it's business increased. instead Of a reduce rates as the volume of business and profit increased.
 Greed alone explains the reason for increased rates. The dividends for 1908 were more than twice those of 1896 as the following table shows. Year Earnings Dividend
 per mile