Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-04-04
[By Ora Williams.]

| way as to an increase in rail rates in
the United States may be cleaned from
what is appearing in some OF the pa
pers.
| That the issue involved is one of the
greatest before the American people
| today rs gradually dawning upon few
people. though there has been some
| effort to obscure 1t and beliitie the
contest. That it is of vast Importance
to Iowa, even though the present rate
case affects only eastern railroads. has
| not yet come to the attention OF good
many of those who assume to reflect
public sentiment and to keep abreast of
the times. 1t has been shown that the
| increase in the eastern territory pro-
posed would cost Iowa people several
millions a year. and as this would
merely be a toreruner. if approved. or
! a general increase in western and
southern territory the cost would be-
come enormous
| Now tina, the whole matter has been
.hreshed OUT before the interstate COM
merce commission it appears that the
! attitude of the eastern railroad presl-
dents handling the case is that regard
! less OF the question of any possible in
! crease of revenues other than by
| horizontal raise Of ; per cent in freight
rates. the interstate commerce COM
/ mission should Immediately permit the
raise, and later consider these col
lateral questions President Daniel
/ Willard. of the 3. & o. who heads the
committee making the fight for the In
| crease, in a recent interview. said ne
had no criticism of the commission
considering together the question Of the
! advance in rates and the question OF
| a charge for sporting" cars and other
| ways OF increasing revenue. but the
big shippers were so much opposed to
/! the latter that it would not be &C.
sirabie ever if feasible to carry out
| the plan at once: and he therefore
contended that if the commission is
| convinced the eastern railroads really
ireed more net revenue. the increase
! in rates should be granted now and in
vestigation then be made IS 10 the
| other question. He pointed out that II
| it was found the commission MADE
mistake and that increase of rates were
/, possible In other ways the rates could
! be reduced.
! Tina. this position is the one that will
finally be taken is indicated by the
fact that the Railway Age Gazette in
! OOrSeS II as 1oIIo"s
THE view expressed by Mr. Willard
appears to be in the circumstances the
| only sensible one that can be taken
and probably is shared not only by
most railway. men but also by most
shippers who have considered the mat
ter. AS Mr. Willard points out, the
need OF railways for additional revenue
I, is immediate and pressing, they can
not afford to wait indefinitely for re-
lief On the other hand there is great
merit in the contention Of the shippers
that no action such as that advocated
by Mr.. Brandeis should be taken with
out the business interests Of the 7ari-
Gus communities being given oppor-
,unitv for .,iIl hearing. Manifeetiy the
only way To- give the railways what
they are entis1Ad TO and at the same
time give the, shippers what they are
entitled to is to give the railways now
such rate advances as they need and
then subsequently give the shippers
full opportunity to be heard on the
question of the charge for spotting OF
cars and othen related matters. 1t liz to
be hoped the commission will perceive
the logic If the situation as clearly as
both the railway men and the shippers
do and take prompt action according
~" 49,
In other words take chances on COM
mitting one wrong now. and seeing
later if it cannot be corrected by COM
hitting another Anyway. what mat
tens it as to the ultimate consumer,
who pays ali the bills?
The reference to the BranGeis pro-
posals is in relation to the incidental
leaks in the railroad business MIR
Brandeis was employed by the COM
mission 10 see that there was fair
presentation of some phases Of the de-
Tense He made special study OF the
accounting and operating expenses ,.
the companies. Among other things
he turned up the question as to allow
ances for terminal and industrial roads
and followed with consideration of free
service rendered by the railroads. suca
as free storage, free warehousing, free
loading and unloading, free lighterage
free elevation Of grain and various
other terminal charges. The other day
| he asserted that the cost 10 the ral!-
roads Of these free services was sc
great that it absorbed from % to %
per cent Of the freight receipts ano
in certain instances more than the en-
J tire receipts were thus ABSORBED. re-
suiting in cash loss &c the raiiroao
company. For instance, ne stated tha'
in Philadelphia shippers VINO choose
to patronize certain warehouses de-
: signated by the Pennsylvania railroad
have their freight unloaded from thf
? ships. stored for days and then car
: T;sa to the wagon free of expense Il
the shipper, the expense OF the opera.
ton being borne by the railroad com
: pany. The free service cost the Penn
sylvania at Philadelphia thru three o.
| the four subsidized warehouse com
panies. s2s2,2s1 in the7year ended Jun'
t 90 1913" He declared the free ser
vice to the Erie at New York 1arbor
: as applied to 1888 cars investis ated
amounted to at least s24 car, o.
s435,672.
Another very interesting phase o
the case of the advanced rates is IL
, relation to the attitude OF Presiden
: Wilson toward the rate raise. AS bear
: ing on this subject a statement In
: Philadelphia newspaper, In its WASH
) ington correspondence, is to the e1
i feet that wiiiie dc ha: 10 fhonght
: the improperly of interfering IN Tn
3 affairs Of the commission lit Is vel
, established that personally he favor
8 the granting Of the increase. TN
: article in the Record goes on: