Barbour County index., 1910-12-14
AN APPEAL TO THE. PUBLIC
RAILROADS TELL THEIR SIDE OF
THE RATE QUESTION.
Santa Fe Sends Its Officials Out to
Speak at Many Public
Gatherings.


Gatherings.
Topeka, Kansas.-The railroads are
telling their side of the transportation
question to the people. The Atchison.
Topeka & Santa Fe Railway company
started the movement, and the other
roads will follow, each in it's own way.
The santa Fe's plan of reaching the
people on its lines is unique E. P.
ripley, president of the company, or
dered that program be made which
would include a public meeting in
every city on the Santa Fe system,
TO De addressed by the higher officials
OF the road. This work was assigned
10 >. II. hoontz, general freight agent.
L nat the campaign might be free
from even the appearance of politics,
no lawyers or others who had at any
time dabbled in political affairs were
permitted to accompany the party.
When the list of speakers was made
up, 1t developed that not one of them
had ever made a public speech to ex.
ceed five minutes in length. Various
officials have been drafted as the
work has progressed over the system.
Those who do the speaking for the
Santa Fe at the meetings in Kansas
are c. w. Kouns, general manager;
E. L. Copeland, secretary and treas
urer; j. M. Connell, general passenger
agent, and j. r. Koontz, general
freight agent, who is in charge of the
campaign.
Ihese men, by training and expert
ence, are competent to discuss the
several phases of railroading, and
they do it in a business-like way, as
one business man talks to another.
Ihey invite questions from the audi
ence, and sometimes there are lively
debates.
The attendance at these meetings
is usually large, being made up of the
town business men, and farmers and
stockmen from the surrounding coun-
try. The meetings are held under the
auspices of the commercial clubs of
the town visited, and the officers of
the clubs extend an invitation to the
public to attend
General Manager Kouns makes
talk in which he undertakes to show
that the Increased cost of living" ap-
plies to railroads, same as to indi-
vlduals. He has a large collection of
data about the increased cost of ev-
erything the railroad company has to
Duy. These advances range from ten
20 one hundred per cent. "Everything
we buy Mr.. Kouns says, "has in
creased in price, while the only thing
we have to sell-transportation
constantly hammered down"
General Freight Agent Koontz,
VINO has been making freight rates for
the Santa Fe for twenty-five years,
tells the story of freight rate making.
He says that commercial conditions
and requirements must fix the basis
Tor freight rates. He says that the
state and national commissions grad
ually are coming to that view of the
case. Mr.. Koontz makes it plain that
the Santa Fe is not opposing govern.
ment and state regulation, but what
we want the people to do" he urges,
lis to study the question from ali
angles and thereby be better prepared
to advise their representatives in con-
gress and the legislature regarding
the proper control of this great indus.
try" In other words, according to
Mr.. koontz's idea, the public, in as
sum1ng the duties of regulating the
railroads must likewise assume the
responsibility of regulating them prop
erly. Mr.. Koontz says that while the
Santa Fe does not object to physi-
cal valuation of the railroads to as
certain whether they are over-capi-
tallzed, it insists that freight rates
pased on a physical valuation would
De a calamity to the business world
because of the different values of par
allel lines, and the constant fuctua-
ton OF rates in accord with the fluc.
tuatlon of values, if rates were based
on values.
Treasurer Copeland talks about the
financial department of the Santa Fe.
His showing is that the Santa Fe is
worth every dollar for which it is
capitalized, $5S0,000,0OO. He says the
company during the past year paid
out in operating the road, including
taxes, $75,000,000. The interest on
the company's bonds of 100000, 900
was $12,000,000; the dividend paid on
$279,000,000 was $14,OOO,OOO. The
company set aside for betterments
$4,000,000, leaving surplus at the
close of June, 1910, $365,OOO. By using
the per cent in his comparisons, Mr.
Copeland brings his large figures with
in range of the average citizen. His
conclusion is that as the Santa Fe's
surplus for the year closing June 30,
1910, is less than one-fifteenth of one
per cent of its capital stock and
bonds, and as it's dividends are small,
the company is not earning as much
on its investment as is the average
firm in the average Kansas town.
The company has paid as high as five
per cent dividend on it's preferred
stock; dividend on the common stock
has run as high as six per cent But
the average for fifteen years, Mr..
Copeland says, is four and three
fourths per cent. The interest on
the bonds is four per cent. Mr. Cope
land says that the Interstate Com
merce Commission lately sent twenty
expert accountants to Topeka to
check over the Santa Fe accounts.
The experts reported that the &C
counts were correct.
General Passenger Agent Connell
closes the meetings with story OF
the colonization work done by the
Santa Fe in the new country through
soI, h.