Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-06-18
.0LD RATES N0T
 EFFECTIVE iIE1. Probable fsyailroa6.s Will Sc cure Some Months Grace rough 4E8- Hearings.
| | I. T 4 .E'I TIES 5 To BE HEAVY
i-He3y 0ne@ Nho Saved Coupons Ire No@ Doin@ Nuch Re
 joicHe.

"Ilayo yon saved your railroad re- bate coupons2@ has succeeded the sil- Y Gaestio5. "Ea it hot enough for soa?' IS the most popular salutation of tIe day.
 l. has bocome very interesting aacstion at this tiIae. nov that the 2=1eat passenger rate act of 907 has heaa sustainad by the supreme court of the United States. Many have say ed them, and some have made quite ex- tensiYe collections of coupons that oth- CTS have thrown away, but for the most part passengers have thrown them away. believing that nothing would ever come Of them. Now thrifty Pullman porters, station agents and traEeliDg men are announcing that -HpE have accumulated more or less ill She way oG a fortune they expect to collect from the railroads in the l. eent-per-mile rebate.
 The Rock Island has been giving the rebate coupons all the time, but it was abandoned by the Missouri Paci- lie, and an interesting question has arisen as to the manner in which that company will make restitution for the excess passenger rates charged dur ing the last four years. The Missouri Pacific abandoned the issuance of the refund coupons following the last or der of tue United States circuit court about a year ago.
 Freight Rebates Heavy.
 But the refund on passenger rates will be negligible as compared with the refunds that must be made on freight. It is impossible to make even a rough approximation of the amounts involved, but if enforced the freight refund will be tremendous.
 The establishment of the old legis- latiye passenger rate and commission freight rate means a reduction of B 1-3 per cent in each from the rates that have prevailed during the pend ency Of the litigation. The rates which have been sustained cannot be- come effective immediately, as some have supposed. The mandate must be received, which will require two or three weeks, and it, is probable that the railroad companies will file motion for rehearing, which may give them additional grace of several months.
 It is not possible to approximate the reduction in the passenger and freight receipts of Arkansas roads without a tedious compilation of statistics from the annual reports of the railroad commission, but it must necessarily be very large, when it is considered that it means the refund of one-third of the amounts paid in since the court tariff became effective June 1, 1909, must be refunded through due course of law as may be provided by the courts.
 Expenses and Receipts.
 The brief filed in the case with the supreme court of the United States shows that for the six months ending December 31, 1907, the total intrastate business of the Iron Mountain system was $196,641.29 freight and $192,49954 passenger receipts, a total of $3S9,- 140.S3; the total interstate business for the same period was S1,047, ,356.40 in freight receipts and $52,S49.4S in passenger receipts, total of $1,100,- 20'SS, and $10,428.64 in mail and ex- press business. The brief on behalf of counsel for the state was one of the largest ever prepared here, con taining 408 printed pages. The whole question of rates and valuations was very exhaustively analysed.