Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1914-06-05

s per cent out Of the consumers dol.
lar. Out Of the same dollar the farmer
averages q fraction over 80 cents. the
Intermediary channels Of distribution
about AN cents. and the railroads
about cents.
When we start looking for the cul.
prit who u to blame for the high cost
Of living we viii have to look further
than the railroad Offices or yards. He
b not hiding In . box car or behind
. big mahogany desk. His name IL
Legion. He Il not q man. He IL q
family. They constitute the unnum-
: bered army. Of middle men who can
take . bite out Of the biscuit ~ 1t
passes from the producer to the con-
sumner. They are warehousemen, the
brokers. the draymen and the retail
ers. In short, they are the agents
whom the producer and the consumer
must pay about Is per cent Of the
cost Of things for their services. The
railroads collect 8 per cent. Whether
this u too much or too little, Il GER
tainly il not oppressive and seems .
bagatelle in comparison with some Of
the other charges we pay without
grumbling. I heard, for instance, Of
. man who shipped four bundles Of
iron rods BY rail Q distance Of $50
miles. They had to be handled four
times BY railroad employees. changing
cars twice. They weighed 366 pounds
and cost for freight So cents. The
owner had them delivered to his home
BY truck, threefourths Of q mile from
the depot. and paid the carrier 50
cents and did not think Il too much.
though 1t was at the rate of IS cents
&, mile. while he had paid the railroad
50 cents for hauling the same ship
ment 366 miles. We farmers take q
notion to visit the annual stock show.
We pay 81 to ride 100 miles in .
steam-heated. upholstered coach, which
on European roads would be conaid-
cred too good for anybody except
grand dukes and imperial majesties.
We alight at the big granite walled
station and give our trunk check to
the taxi man. who whirls NJ across
town With our baggage, and pay e
for that Commute two-mile ride, and
don't holler. because we don't want
to look cheap. But II we have to pay
$3.50 head for shipping thousand
pound critter q thousand miles and
cell him for $50. we sic our legisla-
lures on the railroads and try to tie
them into bow-knots and threaten to
tear up their tracks. II IL mostly be-
cause we lend open ears to our long
haired. lop-eared politicians. who worm
their way into office many times on
the so-called railroad issue. They
win accept free rides from these same
roads while they are bsrating them
for overcharges. They don't tell u
that; neither do they tell NJ that the
railroads. Of England. where all other
living expenses are cheaper and where
labor 10 paid about one-half what It II
here and where population 10 about
ten times a. dense to the square mile,
charge for freight 2.32 cents per ton
Per mile. instead Of TAI mills, ~
here. and charge passengers 1.53 cents
Per mile to ride IN cars which run on
four wheels and look about a. much
ike . passenger coach 40 our better
live stock cars look like . Pullman.
The fact Il. We demand Of our rail-
roads services such % are given in
NO country Of the globe, and wherever
such service IS Appropriated the pre-
MUM charged II about 3 cents or I
cents . mile extra. The ordinary pas
senger wagon" - they still call 1t
on foreign roads, weighs about ~
much - . moving van. and string
Of them could be pulled. well loaded.
By . good pair Of Percheron horses.
Il requires only . so or S0-ton loco
motive to move these trains so miles
an hour. American coaches weigh
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