The National tribune., 1910-06-16
LONG AND SHORT HAULs.

The question of the long and short
haul rates has been a burning issue in
the discussion of the railroad bill, and
probably always will remain a source
of hot discomfort. At first thought it
would seem that the only just way of
arranging the railroad rates would be
upon the basis of per ton per mile. with
an added charge for loading and uiI-
loading, which would make the only
and one of 1000. In the matter of
postage the Government settled this
problem arbitrarily after years of eX-
perimenting with distance rates by
making one rate. whether the letter or
paper went a mile or 1000.
Naturally it is impossible that the
railroads should adopt such an ironclad
rule. The first trouble that came in the
formulation of theinterstate commerce
law was that the railroads charged a
higher rate for intermediate points than
they did between one great center of
distribution and another When it was
attempted to prevent this the Interstate
Commerce Commission was bombarded
with kilograms and protests, especially
from the West and South. The rail-
roads made so good a defense. however.
as to the different conditions and the
amount of freight carried that the Su-
preme Court at last made a decree that
the railroads We're to be the Judges in
the first instance of dissimlarity of cir
cumStances and conditions to justify
the lower charge for the long haul
Therefore, the Interstate Commerce
treat each individual case upon its mer-
its, and decide whether the higher rates
for intermediate points should be main
tanned.
Next came a vast deal of complaint.
especially from the Rocky Mountain re-
gions, that the railroads were adding to
the rate to certain points charge equal
to the cost of bringing the goods back
from the Pacific seaports. That is. the
rate to. say, Pueblo, Colo, would be
made by adding to the rate to San
Francisco that of bringing the goods
This rate seems absolutely unjust on
its face, but the railroads insist that in
order to keep their trains running they
must make the rates to San Francisco
and Los Angeles sufficiently low to COM
pete with the steamships carrying goods
by the way of Panama and Tehuante-
pee. They said that IL they did not do
this and meet the steamship rates the
points would have to bear
the whole cost of the traffic, which
would be heavier than the rates they
now maintain. In other words, the
towns in the Rocky Mountains would
have to be treated as if there were no
railroads reaching them from the East,
and they would have to pay the rates
from New York to San Francisco by
water and the Isthmus and then the
rate from San Francisco to their town.
This principle has been maintained by
railroad economists everywhere, and
the Supreme Court has also upheld it.
The Supreme Court has gone farther,
and upheld the principle that a shorter
line can make the same rates as a long
er one.
Into this discussion came also the
claims of the merchants in the rapidly
growing cities of Spokane. Salt Lake
City and Reno who are developing
large trade as centers of distribution
for immense areas of country. They
claim that by virtue of their lower rates
the merchants of Los Angeles, San
Francisco and Seattle are able to cut
into their trade, and their
Senators and Representatives are max
ing savage assaults upon the railroad
bill in order to secure for their constit-
uents the advantages which it is claim
ed they should have. Against them the
railroads argue that the products of
these districts, meat, grain, fruit and
are only marketable by rea-
son of the application of the long-haul
principle. Without this their people
could not receive as great returns as
they do upon their products, and the
would greatly suffer By viz
tue of the long-haul rate, of which the
seaboard cities have the advantage, the
ucts cheaply to points where they can
be exported. The fostering of the ex-
port trade Is a distinct and glorious
policy of every Nation in Europe, and
should be as strongly supported by our
In Mexico and in some
Of the countries of Europe goods in
tended for export pay but half the rates
On those intended for domestic con-
It is claimed that only in the densely
populated regions between the Missis-
,ippi River and Atlantic Ocean and the |
Lakes and the Ohio River can the thru
rates be adjusted in close approxima- /
ton to distance. Even in this territory
there have been burning disputes over |
the long and short hauls. The great |
railroad riots In 1876 had as their real |
basis the fact that Philadelphia. Pitts
burg, Toledo, Cincinnati and Indianapo-
is were reduced to way stations, while |
points farther west were given the ad- |
vantage of the lower rates of the long !
haul. In the Southwest, where great |
cities have sprung up upon the discrim- |
nation in their favor by the long haul, |
hey are violently opposed to losing |
his advantage by bringing the rates |
IS Dallas, Fort Worth, Ell Paso and |
Denver are strongly opposed to this al |
GRAFTON, and their OPPOSITION will be one |