The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-01-18
THE RAILWAY
 QUESTION Reasons Why Transporta- tion Charges Should Be
 Increased
THE RAILWAY

|
 Chicago, Dec. 14.-W. l.. Ross Vice President of the Chicago 6 Al. ton Railroad Co.,, tells why the rail- roads should be permitted to increase their freight rates, in recent inter. view given out in Chicago, MT. Ross said:
 The claim of the railroads that they are entitled to advance theil charges for transportation is based upon the following considerations: | First: Increased revenue is neces- sary to meet the advancing cost o1
 operation due to higher wages and higher cost of supplies.
 Second: Increased revenue is nec-
 essary to restore the proper condi. ton, plant and equipment that were
 starved" during the financial de- pressiou beginning in 1907.
 Third: Increased revenue is nec-
 essary to pay interest on the cost of
 making additions and betterments to
 plant and equipment for which there
 progress may be made with the aboli-
 tion of grade crossings, the adoption
 of safety appliances. the provision of
 safeguards for the prevention of ac-
 cidents to their employees and to the
 public.
 Fourth. Increased revenue is nec-
 essary that preparation may be made for future depression. In it's recently issued Twenty-frst Annual Report on
 the Statistics of Railways, the Inter state Commerce Commission says: "It
 is suggestive of serious
 financial embarrassment that the op-
 erating revenue per train mile for
 1908 should be less than for 1907, | while the operating expenses per train mile are slightly greater. k The lesson suggested by such q 1 comparison is that every safely ad- ministered railroad should recognize
 the difficulty of bringing operating ex- penses under control, and in times of prosperity provide against the con- tingency of reduced traffic."
 Fifth: Increased revenue is neces- sary because the power of dollar
 has effected an actual reduction in
 nominal increase in receipts obtain ed from an augmented volume of
 traffic.
 Il Sixth: Increased revenue is neces-
 sary that railroad stocks and securi- ties may be made so attractive to in-
 vestors as to induce them to sub- scribe the enormous amount of new capital imperatively necessary to ex- tend the facilities of the railroads, that more than once during the past I breaking down under the pressure of the expanding traffic, and that as a
 whole are utterly inadequate to meet | the demands of the traffic which If the past be a criterion, will double every ten years in the future. II The justice of the claim of the rail- roads will be perceived if attention
 be given to the transportation record
 during the industrial era that began in 1898.
 Il The panic of 1893 was followed by a prolonged depression, during which
 rates of the railroad companies were forced down, their properties were :. inadequately maintained, their forces T imum; extensions of track. provision l of new cars and locomotives practi- cally ceased. One-third of the rail-
 road mileage of the country became
 bankrupt. Other companies main. | trimming of sails. Not only was cap- ital not obtainable for considerable extensions and improvements, but the 4 pessimism that pervaded the country would have drowned upon expendi- f ture in such directions. @t3 I In 1898 business began to revive at a tremendous pace. Traffic pour l ed upon the railroads. Because of
 advancing prices they endeavored to 1 because of vigorous protest of the ! shippers Traffic continued to in- crease until in 1901-02 the operation, I of many railroads had reached tho | point of diminishing return. That Is,
 the volume of traffic exceeded the | limit of economy of operation, the limit beyond which each increment
 of traffic not only made its movement more expensive, but retarded it's movement with resulting annoyance
 to the patrons of the railroads that found vent in violent outcry. The | situation was as that of man who l has eaten more food than his alimen- l tary tract can take care of; the in take of food beyond the limit of di- | gestive capacity impedes the working | is persisted in, finally breaks it down. 1 report to the Senate of the Unit l ed States that the railroads had re-
 ceived from the transportation of
 than they would have received if the rates of 1899 had continued in effect, in1amed the indignation caused by | the unsa tisfactory service of the rail- roads. The railroads, demonstrated that this amount was $S8.000,000 | cause of the increase in rates. and
 pointed out that the operating ex- penses had increased over $391,000,- | 900, an amount nearly six times as l great as that derived from the in crease in rates.
 | The return of prosperity led the railroads to enter vigorously upon the | extension of facilities with the re- | suit that car ana lOcOImOllV6 ldcCOr1eS were overwhelmed with orders, deliv-
 cry in many cases being delayed a 1 year and two years. By 1902-03 the equipment of the railroads had un- | dergone radical increase, as also had l yards and terminal facilities. With 1 but little advance in rates had come
 a radical advance in the prices of
 everything they had to buy and in | the wages of employees. Traffic
 rose in volume, but with increasing
 gross receipts was a higher ratio of | increase in operating expenses so
 that net earnings fell, and in many | cases, decreased.
 The railroads needed more capital. Although money was being poured 1 into mills and skyscrapers, and the Ivalue of both farms and urban real estate multiplied, the capital issues | of the railroads found a limited mar l ket. Although they needed new mon- | ey by many hundreds of millions. 1t i was with difficulty that they placed issues in tens of millions, and they were in some instances obliged to re- 1 sort to the sale of short time notes at | high rates of interest.
 l By 1904-05 the facilities of the | railroads had been brought fairly i abreast of the traffic, but mounting
 prices and mounting wages absorbed
 the greater portion of the larger rev. | enue obtained from the traffic that continued to rise in volume. Then
 was at high tide the political tur-
 moil, the nationwide denunciation I