The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-11-29
r., f. & P. Files Peti-
tion With Corpora
tion Commission.
LOSING MONEY ON
INTERSTATE FARE
Does Business of This Class at
Loss-supreme Court Likely
to Decide, but Commission
Will Give Formal Hear
ing-Prescrts Its
Figures.

Evidently with the intention of hay.
ing the Supreme Court of Appeals pass
upon the question of its passenger
rates. the Richmond, Fredericksburg
and Potomac Railroad Company yes
terday petiuoncd the State Corporation
Commission to be permitted to charge
a maximum intrastate rate of 3 cents
4 per mile. This is the same contention
! involved in the petition of the Wash.
ington Southern Railway Company. the
owners of which have q controlling in
| terest in the Richmond, Fredericksburg
and Potomac, the two roads forming
/ the Richmond Washington line.
I The case of The Washington South.
! ern was recently appealed to the SUI
preme Court and is nov pending await.
ing argument at the January tam.
Ite,tves Old Petition.
| Yesterdays proceeding took the form
| OF supplemental petition. revivih.e &
the old petition of April Il, 1908, when
! the road asked the Corporation Corr
| mission to review and rehear the or.
ders reducing the passenger rates to !:
cents mile on the leading railroads o..
! Virginia. At that time this road agreed
| TO continue the 2-cent rate In effect
| until final settlement by the Supreme
Court of the United States of the appeal
| taken by four ct the Virginia compa.
nies from the order of the commission.
| II was then ordered that the petition
for rehearing stand on the docket,
which 1t has been doing ever since.
The case In the Supreme Court was set
tied long ago, but this is the first move
made by the railroad since.
The only action taken yesterday in
,y,x he fecy of a mr.
der which read:
This day came again the Richmond
fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
Company, by its attorney, and on mo-
tion OF said company, by its attorney
leave is given II TO file Its supple
mental petition herein, asking for
rehearing and correction of the orderi
heretofore entered in these proceed
ings against IT: and thereupon the said
supplements! petition was accordingly
fled"
Losing Money.
Argument set forth in the petition
is much the same as that presented
by the Washington-South and Is
to the effect that the purely intra
state business of the company is done
at an actual loss. by reason of the
maximum rate being fixed at two cents
per mile The Alexandra situation
again forms a large part of the ar,
gument.
The petitioner has it says by ac-
tual experience and demonstration. be.
come satisfied and has demonstrated
the proposition that the two-cent in
trastate rate is unreasonable unfair
and confiscatory, and that the maxi.
mum rate should not be less than
three cents per mile, the same as
the interstate rate.
Four tables are filed, showing tho
net revenue and expenses of the road
for the fiscal year ending June 80
1909, the first full year after the new
rate went into effect The first two
of these are based on the passenger
miles. Table No. l shows that all
passengers carried numbered 691,503
and that the revenue from this traf.
fic was s6S3.12e.60. while the intra-
state passengers numbered 43s,9o3.
with a revenue of s1S6.97647.
Revenue Divided.
It is explained in this connection
that all revenue not directly assigna-
BILE was divided in the tables on the
basis Of passenger miles, includina
passengers at Alexandria, who arc
really interstate, but who buy tickets
to that point and pay cash from there
to Washington, and are counted as
intrastate. The Richmond, F'reder-
icksburg and Potomac Railroad does
not run to Washington, but only from
1clba Station, in Richmond. to Quanti-
co, distance of eighty miles, but it,
of course, carries passengers destined
for the North.
Counting these Alexandria passeng-
ers as interstate, there were 359.22a
in the year mentioned. with s104,914S?
revenue. Now. on the basis of pas.
senger miles, the intrastate revenue
interest amounting to $2S5,442.56. or
a deficit OH strictly intrastate bust
ness of s5,61109.
The other two tables are based on
the number of passengers hauled IN
stead OF on the passenger miles. No. |
5 would thus show a deficit of s176,-
159.o9, and NO. a deficit Of s194,33O. 81 =,
the figuring being on the same basis /
with the other two.
big Jump Made.
Showing the enormous number of |
people who take advantage of the
two-cent rate While really making an
interstate journey by buying tickets |
to and from Alexandria,. the increase |
OF such passengers Is given. In 1907 Il
the tickets to all Virginia points from /
We're worth $4,564.72, while !
in 1908 they had grown to s426246O. /
and in 1909 to s4542S.2s. The increase
was about 900 per cent, in 1905 and I
1000 per cent. in 1903. /
In making these figures, says the
petition, the road has been more lib I
eral against itself than 1t Is called /
upon to be, and that it has made it's
net income from intrastate business
as large as possible, Its method OF
igurlns lessons the gross revenue
rom intrastate passengers and bag. /
gage, and decreases proportionately
he expenses charged to this source
Violates Constitution,
In requiring It to maintain a maxi
mum rate OF 2 cents a mile, purs ues
he petition, the State Is acting in con-
.ravention of Section 10 of Article
and Article q of the Constitution Of
.he United States, and also Section 5S