Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1913-06-05
RATE ADVANCE IS UP
RAILROADS AGAIN SEEK TO
RAISE TARIFFS ON FREIGHT
FIVE PER CENT.
MEANS SAC, 100000 A YEAR
Interstate Commerce Commission to
Decide Matter Affecting Country
East of the Mississippi and North
of the Ohio and Potomac.
sy GEORGE CLINTON

BY GEORGE CLINTON
Washington.-It has become the
present duty of the interstate COM
merce commission to determine wheth-
er the railroads east of the Mississippi
river and north of the Ohio and Po-
tomac river shall be allowed to in
crease their freight rates five per cent.
from what one hears from all quar-
tiers, II seems to be the pretty gen.
eral admission that the interstate COM
merce commission Is a fair and eff
cient government board. Judging from
the past 1t can be said the impression
is that the commission can be depend
ed upon to do the square thing by the
railroads and by the public.
The duty of the commissioners will
be to determine whether or not the
FIVE per cent. increase is reasonable"
II they SO find it. the railroads affect
ed will add about SAC, 900 900 to their
annual revenue. In letter which
Samuel Rea, president of the Pennsyl-
Yania Railroad company, has written
for publication, and sent in printed
form to all the newspaper correspond
ents IN Washington, this is said: THE
annual revenue from freight in the
territory concerned is about s800,000,-
600. Five per cent. of this is $780,
100000. There are about 100000
people in this portion of the country.
The proposed increase, therefore,
means an average of one dollar per
head OF Die population-eig cents
month"
Plenty of Facts and Figures.
The Interstate commerce commits
sion has everything which has been
written in behalf of the reasonable
ness Of the proposed rate increase.
It will get much more in printed form
and by word of mouth before it is
ready to make its decision 1t also
will be given the other side of the
question, for the increase will affect
the shippers and the public generally
Once before the commissioners de-
cided against the reasonableness Of
the advance in the rates which the
railroads now ask. The question
which the commission must answer in
the near future is: Have conditions
changed enough to warrant the adj
vance in rates which did not seem to
be warranted three years ago?
In the year 1910 the railroads which
are now seeking to advance their rates
filed with the commission a table of
increases upon all classes of rates and
upon one-half of the commodity rates
within the eastern territory. Follow
ing this action the railroads west to
Chicag0 filed similar tables increas-
ing their rates upon many commodi-
ties.
The public showed Indignation over
this action, and under the direction
of President Taft the department of
justice was told to bring suit on the
ground that the increase of rates was
the result Of a conspiracy restraining
trade and violating the Sherman anti
trust law. An injunction was forth
coming, and then the railroad repre-
sentatiVes appealed to the president,
saying that they would suspend The
rates until the interstate commerce
commission definitely could determine
whether or not they were reasonable
The commission determined that they
were unreasonable, and so the roads
continued their former rates.
This advanced rate problem, the an
swer to which it is for the interstate
commerce commission to give, helps
to outline sharply the course and the
progress Of governmental control in
corporation matters. Once upon
time the big corporations of the coun-
try were either law unto themselves |
or were subject to the laws Of states |
whose legislators in the main part al |
ways showed friendliness toward men |
and corporations Of big affairs. Today |
the railroads are going to small body |
Of men, representing in one capacity |
the people Of the United States, to ask |
whether or not the freight rate ad-
vance is reasonable.
There are men in congress utterly |
opposed to government ownership |
who say that the increased power Of |
the government over the corporations |
is the shortest means of avoiding gov
ownership, and they add that
most CT the thinkers in the great in
terstate corporations believe as they |
do.
Uncle Sam, Railroad Builder
Within II months the United |
States government will begin the
of a railroad on its
own account and will embark the sea
Of railroad ownership and, probably,
operation. Following legislation by
the present congress, the federal gov
eminent in all human probability will
construct and own railroads in Alas
ka. Twenty years ago such an an
nouncement would have set certain
ones by the ears. It
would have been no more astonishing
q report 20 years ago, however, than
IS the the assertion today that Alaska
railroad legislation has been proposed
N form which has the support of
oyal conservationists and lis not OPP
posed by the interests"
President Wilson, Secretary of the
Interior Lane and Senator Pittman,
chairman of the senate committee on
have given close attention
20 the many legislative proposals for
The development of Alaska and it is
now seemingly assured that the Cham
oerlain-Wickersham bill providing for
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