The daily sentinel., 1910-06-14
ANOTHER JOKER PUT
OVER ON THE PUBLIC
Especial to The Sentinel.l
(By c. II. Tavenner.)

W dSnlHSlOH, June IL score du-
other joker on the public. The peo-
pie have been made to believe that
the Taft administration has enjoined
most of the railroads of the country
from putting into effect increased
rates. This was bald misrepresen-
tation.
If all of the announced increases
of rates that the government has
ignored, go into effect, an unGodee-
able annual tax of S200,0G0,000 will
have been saddled upon the American
people to still further increase the
cost of living.
1t develops that the injunction ask
ed for and obtained by Attorney Cen
eral Wickersham against the roads
forming the Western Trunk Line as
sociation is an injunction very cir
cumscribed in effect.
1t does not apply in any way to
the reasonableness of the rates, but
merely to the manner in which they
were made The particular schedule
enjoined is known as interstate com
merce schedule A l15. There were
other schedules filed by the same
trunk line association on days pre-
ceding the filing of this particular
schedule and upon the same day made
in the same manner by the same
roads. and there have been others
since. 1t is, therefore, untrue that
the government has enjoined the in
creases of rates in western trunk line
territory. 1t has enjoined only few
of those increases, and the great
number of the advances have gone
into effect without any effort by the
government to stop them.
The attorney general has evaded
any explanation of why this is true,
while statements from the depart
ment of justice have all created the
impression that the action of the
government was broad, sweeping and
complete.
As a fact the rates affected by the
injunction do not constitute, in the
language of rate expert of the
interstate commerce commission, a
drop in the bucket compared with
the great number of increases that
have already gone into effect or are
to become operative within the next
three or four weeks.
The interstate commerce commits
sion is still overwhelmed with the
number of increased rate schedules
filed 1t has not had a chance to
examine more than a small percent
age of them. Neither the public nor
any officials of the government
knows exactly just what average the
increases have reached,
The true meaning of the general
advances in freight rates by all the
railroads of the United States is that
the roads have declared war on the
public. It is not against the govern
ment, for the government is known to
be in sympathy with the railroads.
nor against congress. for congress has
shown that the majority in both
houses is anxious to serve the rail-
roads. II is a declaration to the pub
lie that II must submit TO railroad
eXactions until it can control the gov
ernment and congress and force legis-
lation and governmental action for
its own protection. When 1t is re-
called that Hartman donated $780,
900 to the republican campaign fund
on behalf of the railroads, it became
less difficult to understand why the
public is continually getting the
worst of it.
Increased freight rates reach into
the pockets of the people with as di-
rect a touch as does the Payne-Ald-
rich tariff law. The shippers pay the
increases first. Then they saddle
them on the retailer. who can do
nothing but pass the extra cost on to
the consumer.
The railroads say they need more
money to reimburse them for increas-
ing the wages of employees. The in
surgents among the railroads declare
the extra funds are wanted to pay
divid ends of watered stock.
The proposed increases, ranging
from 10 to 33 per cent on the neces-
saries of life. will bring into the
treasures of the railroads more than
S276, 100000 without necessitating
the expenditure of an additional
penny for operating service or rolling
stock The highest estimate of ex-
pense for granting the wage demands
of the employees on all railroads is
100.000,000. The railroad stock
holders. and not the employees get the
other SIG. 100000. The people pay
it.
Greed alone explains the reason
for increased rates. The dividends
for 1908 were more than twice those
of 500. as the following table shows:
Year. Earnings p NJ Dividend
/ S96 S1.S4O 100.
1899 2.2T2 125.
1901 2.66s 1920
1904 1889 2l7.76
1906 3.135 215.13