Arizona republican., 1910-06-30
PHoENIX, ARIZONA, JUNE 30, 1910.
The Rate Decision.

terstate commerce commission yester-
 day, covering the question of freight
 rates from the east to the whole in
 termountain country, is the most com-
 prehensive in scope that was ever
 reached by that body. While the re-
 auctions ordered for Arizona are not
 as great as the local shippers asked
 in their complaint, the facts set forth
 in our news columns show that they
 are substantial and will be of i'm
 mense benefit to the merchants of
 this territory.
 That the commission would order
 reductions has been a foregone con
 clusion ever since the original de-
 cision in the Spokane rate case was
 rendered, for the Spokane and Phoe-
 nix cases were in general aspects
 analogous. The withdrawal of the
 Spokane decision, made in order that
 the commission might include in one
 case all the complaints covering the " regarded as indicative of a change of opinion by the commission. The only question has been as to the extent of the reductions which would be or dered. Although the decision an nounced yesterday applies to class rates, it seems to be the purpose of the commission to force an adjust
 ment of commodity rates also.
 One of the most significant fea- lures of the decision is the finding of the commission that the charge for the back haur' from the coast to interior points in Washington and Oregon is unreasonable and exces- sive" Although-if we remember cor rectly-the back haul" was not made a part of the Phoenix complaint, the specific cases in the northwest settle the principle in favor of the interior towns It has always been difficult for the shippers of the interior to un- derstand the justice of the back haul" charge-a charge on eastern shipments to Phoenix, for example, which included not only the through rate from the east to Los Angeles, but the local rate back''-or a part of it at least-to Phoenix. As We have had occasion to say before. this practice was denounced by MT. James J. Hill when he was building the Great Northern into Spokane, and the soundness of the doctrine he then stated was not shaken in the minds of shippers by his own subsequent backsliding- he had a road in operation through Spokane to the coast.
 The new railroad law, enacted in the closing days of the session, gives to the interstate commerce commits sion absolute power to abolish the back haul" charge if it sees fit. That is to say, it rests with the commits sion to decide whether a carrier shall be permitted to charge more for short haul than for long haul The shippers of Arizona would be entirely willing to pay the same charges on freight from the east that are eX- acted from the shippers of the coast cities of California; they recognize the justice of permitting the railways to make low rates to coast points in order to compete with ocean freight charges. But they object to paying more than is paid by coast shippers. | They reason that if the railways find 1t profitable to. do business with the | coast shippers on the basis of the rates to the coast, they ought | to be satisfied with the same rates | applied to Arizona from eastern points The answer of the railways to this contention is, that they might be will ing to make the same rates to Ari- zona as to the coast, if they could get return loads to the east from Arizona, SO that the equipment would be em- Dloyed both coming and going. They | claim that one of the reasons why Il -hey can run through freight trains -o California coast cities cheaper than hey can run them to Arizona towns s, that the same trains go back from California loaded for the east with California goods. The interstate com nerce commission, looking at this question impartially, may never grant Ill that the Arizona shippers ask, but