The Detroit times., 1911-02-15
ROAD EARNS ONLY
$1,000 PER MILE
Three Cent Rate Would Be Hard
ship, Pleads Agent of
U. p. Line.

LANSING, Mich, Feb. 15.-Al-
though he admitted that the pas
senger earnings OF his road were over
s., 800 a mile last year, e. w. Mac
Pherran, land commissioners OF the
Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic rail
road, told the members of the railroad
OF the house and senate
at the public hearing on railroad
i'm the senate chambers
last night, that II the state forced the
road to reduce its fares to fiat two
cent rate. the earning OF the railroad
would be reduced one-third.
The railroad which MacPherran
10 one of the three run
ming through the upper peninsula
which will be affected by the propos-
ed law to force railroads in the upper
peninsula where passeger earning are
not less than $1,000 a mile. to carry
at two cents a mile, az the
roads in the lower Michigan do.
"Our road is the only one which
passed." said MacPherran. You must
remember that We have never paid q
cent In dividends. All the earnings
OF the road are paid out as interest
on bonds and for improvements. Be-
sides we are up against great difficult
ties in Observation-Disclosures which
the lower peninsula roads do not ex-
perience. Six months of the year,
our trains can not run without snow
plows. We must literally dig our
traffic out Of the ice. In the upper
peninsula We have 100000 people,
while In the lower there are Ave
times that many. Our average rate OF
expense per mile Is 80 cents, while
over average earning IL $1.27. Take
away one-third of that, and where do
we get OF at?
MacPherran's recitation followed a
speech by Rep. Symonds. who had an
compilation Of figures
tending to show that the upper PENN
sula lines earned more than those OPP
Grating in the lower peninsula.
For instance" said Symonds, the
Northwestern, an upper peninsula
road, according to figures complied in
the railroad commissions office, had
net earnings OF $2.274.62 per mile last
year, while the Pere Marquette, op-
Grating in the lower peninsula, had
net earnings of $1,603.36. The st.
Paups net earnings per mile In the
upper peninsula were $2,9S9.74, and
the net earnings of the Grand Rapids
and Indiana were s1,995.77. These
roads operate in Minnesota and Wis
consin at two cents a mile and as
soon as they cross the boundary into
into Michigan they charge three
cents"
Representative Oppenborn, declared
that similar conditions existed in the
upper part OF the lower peninsula. III.
r. Harris, representing the Lake
Superior & Ispheming, and the Mum
lsing roads, and G.. 8. Fales, rep
resenting the Cooper Range railroad.
protested vigorously against the bill
forcing railroads to equip all trains
with full crews. The roads represent
ed are below the class earning $l,2OO
Der mile, and Harris and Fales de-
clared that expense OF carrying extra
crews, when in most cases they were
would be so great that IL
would wreck the roads.
Senator Guy Miller, did some more
OF his original cross examining. this
time selecting MacPherran as his VIC
tim. He asked IL two and half
cents would be acceptable. Where
upon MacPherran replied.
Wed take that without saying q
word. We wouldn't grumble bit. No
sir. we wouldn't complain" A final
hearing on all proposed railroad legis-
lation will take place on Feb. 20.