Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-12-18
SPECULATION As TO
EFFECT Of RATE
RULING
February II, No Inter-
mediate Rate Can Be Higher
Than Thatto Terminal Points,
Albuquerque viii Be Affected

on the 18th Of February next there
wnl 20 into effect on the Santa re
system the ruling OF the Interstate
commerce commission, whereby. un-
less specifically permitted. no railroad
may charge higher rates 70 intermedl-
late points than 20 terminal points,
That the effect Of the ruling VIII
he felt in New Mexico IL NJ once eVl-
dent. but what VIII be h exact ma
ture Of the result Is hard to foreteil
and Is n matter OF much speculation.
.Tbe railroad men say that 1t viii be q
that cuts both ways; viii re-
omen the whole question OF rates. y
the l~iYciiest argument yet held
tive the government and the rail-
roads. IL will mean that Albuquerque
viii get the same rate from eastern
notnts that FL Paso does, which VIII
be- a considerable reduction. the ran
road men, however, point out that II
win give eastern jobbers the best OF
IT: and with all intermediate polnta on
the same basis, will give a black eye
10 local competitive business.
with every town. fer instance. be-
tween Denver and El Paso enjoying
the same rate, Il is pointed out, the
New Mexico jobbing house in a COM
merciaI center, paying a higher rate
its neiRhbor a few miles east,
Will have some difficulty doing busl-
ness when the town up the line can
get It's stuff direct from the east more
cheaply.
The main argument Of the railroad
men is that they have to fix the ter
minal rates lower In order to do busi-
ness in any certain territory at all
The haul 10 the terminal point may
- tw4F.n "a - laVfr uu that aT a n0mDHt-
Ing line, but the rate must go down
to meet the competition IL the railroad
with the longer haul expects to enter
the territory. II Is presumed that
therefore the long haul line must
make expenses at the intermediate
points. for without It's low terminal
rate IL could not do business with the
intermediate own at all. There are
a number of instances. such as be-
Deming and Eel Paso, the
Southern Pacific having a bee line,
where the Santa Re has TO go around
sides Of a triangle and yet meet
the rate of the competitive at the ter
minal point.
The Santa re business between
Kansas city and III paso is cited as
another example where rival roads
"A much shorter haul across one
side OF the Triangle yet the Santa Fe
with It's longer haul. make the
rate TO the competitive point.
1T is the same old difficulty of the
long and the short haul" said a Santa
Fe official In this city yesterday.
This ruling Of the commission Will
IN another endless argument. II
the Santa Re wants to charge a higher
rate to the non-competitive point, IL
show cause and get specific
permission II all the intermediate
rates are brought down TO the ter
minai rate. the whole theory of rail-
road competition Is upset. You can
see that IL is bound to shake things
clear from the bottom. What the
VIII be or what the course OF
the railroads viii be rs hard TO say at
time. Here Ia the west especially
Il Is bound TO make endless trouble.
In many cases the small towns along
the line would have no transportation
facilities " he could not bid for the
business OF the section by meeting
the terminal rate az q center further
along. ! tell you, the people OF this
part of the country need to under
"A lot OF things about railroad
rates. The mistake of the railroads
In the past, in my opinion. has been
the failure TO take the public into
their confidence. and now II IS hard
TO make the public believe them,
Nowadays a railroad company
must actually spend more time max
ing explanations 20 the public than
Il spends in doing business. when
you 20 20 dcive into the thing YOU are
quite likely 60 find that Albuquerque
business men viii be worse off with
the same rate as El Paso than with a
higher rate. The adjusting OF rail-
road rates o. one Of the most com
plicated and delicate things In the
industrial world today. Yet the ordi-
NARY man thinks he Is solving the
problem whom he demands the rate
to his town be made as low as to n
town further along the line.
THE popular cry nowadays is TO
force the railroads 20 recognize public
sentiment biggest mistake In the
world n there Is anything on which
a railroad depends for its business and