The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-26
FIGURES JUGGLED
 LIKE LIGHTNING Baltimore Man Tangles Up the Commerce Commission PROFITS OF RAILROADS Witnesses in Rate Hearing Try to Show How Profitable Freight Rates Are at Present Without the
 Proposed Raise
PROFITS OF RAILROADS

Washington November 25.-Discussing millions of dollars as though the amounts were bagatelles, a 19-year-old Baltimore economist tangled up the commission and the galaxy of railroad counsel represent mass of figures designed to show how wonderfully profitable is the freight traf- fic nowadays, were among the features of the days sessions of the rate increase hearing before the interstate commerce commission.
 H. c. Barlow of Chicago director of the Association of Commerce, formerly president of the Evansville and Terre Haute railroad and allied lines. and traf- fic manager of the Wisconsin Central; Ezra E. Williams of Cincinnati, commis- sioner of the Receivers and Shippers as- sociation of that city, and for Is years associated with the Queen and Crescent Route, and !. B. Burgunder of Balti- more, not yet out of his teens, whose command of railroad stocks statistics headed off any attacks on his testimony by cross-examinations, were the day s witnesses.
 Mr. Burgunder was put on the stand to testify to his own statistical computa- tions regarding the rights of stockhold- CTS" Within a minute he had the mem bers of the commission pouring over copies of his tables and all the counsel listening to his analytical interpretations and reductions of his figures. The rapid fire calculations made by the witness in response to two or three inquiries were sufficient to let him and his tables pass by unchallenged.
 MT. Barlow believed in horizontal in- crease in rates in the event any was needed, which he was not willing to con cede. He thought iron and steel and cof- fee and sugar should help bear the bur den the carriers purposed to place on the public.
 Cross-examined by MT. Butterfeld for the New York Central. MT Barlow denied he had taken the position that failure to increase the rates coffee and sugar was one of the reasons why the railroads should not be permitted to put the pro- posed increased tariffs into effect.
 Mir Barlow said his position was that the shippers felt the increases were unjust and unreasonable; that they were discriminating and that the shippers of those articles affected by the increases had already paid their pound of flesh.
 He arraigned the commodity rate system and discussed the old rebate system now under legislative ban. He said his direct connection with rebate ravlr.ents Wfine he Msls ir the rail- road business extended from the At lanfic to the Pacific and that his pol icy was then to pay the largest ship pers the largest rebates and to gradu- ate the amounts of rebates down to the smallest shippers.
 MT. Williamson filed mass of mem oranda replete with figures intended el,<, ba i'm strides the rail- roads have made in the direction of filling the pocketbooks of those con- trolling them. He referred particu- larly to two arms of the Pennsylvania system, the Pittsb,rg, Fort Wayne and Chicago and the Pittsburg, Cincin- natl, Chicago and St. Louis.
 He cited figures which he said sh owed the excessive earnings of the Fort Wayne road and said both roads revealed splendid condition Of credit quite up to the per cent standard fixed by Presidents McCrea of the Pennsylvania and Willard of the Bal timore and Ohio. Mir. Williamson de- clared the railroads did not need any advance in rates. He showed how the Fort Wayne line. according to his statements, had built up $20.000,000 property to $60,000,o00 property; how after taking care of fixed charges the Pennsylvania company, guaranteeing per cent for virtually 1000 years the Pennsylvania railroad had s4S,o0o.- 900 of guaranteed stock of the Fort Wayne which was velvet. as the wit ness suggested.
 The final showing of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis, he said, was not as favorable as the other because the Pennsylvania saw fit to send more tonnage over the Fort Wayne on which the profit per ton hauled was a little larger.
 The hearing will be resumed tomor row with MT. Williams on the witness stand The heads of the Railroad Bus mess association have advised the com mission they will appear next week.