The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-13
CUMMINS WARNS SENATORS OF ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE l. 6. 6.
 FOR HIGHER FREIGHT RATES
Declares That Five Percent Being Urged by Campaign to Misead Public and Legisla ors-SpeaLer Says Companies Themselves Set Prac tcaIly 95 Percent of Charges.

that should be increased and sor1s which should be decreased.
 Senator Gumnnins recalled that sub- stantfa1ly ali the raiIroad rates nov prevailing were made by the railroaf1 Themselves and added that. ir his opinion, 95 per cent of the freimNl revenues of the railroadg are deriVrl from interstate freight fates made ral1 published without any fntcrheTe-rrl upon the part of the governne lIr added that he believed that the u1T- sical condition of the raflFoad8 is bel ter now than ever before in their hls- tory.
 DECAY CALLED NONsEEsE.
 Tt follows, of course." he went or. that the railroad property devote1 to the public service fs more valuable s-t this moment than at any oCner mo- ment since railroads began We ousllE to understand that we are dsa1irr with the most perfect and complsll railroad system that this world han ever seens prepared to render more rendred before and all fhe decIan-r.- tions about railroads paaw3ng into e. cay and becoming l4nsafe or insunrl- ent is the rankests ba1dest nonsemsH.
 It is beyond doubt that the ruII- roads are now expefienciuE a come what severe depression, the volume cf traffic is greatly dimfnishsd as com pared with that two or three vs1rl ago, The depression began with E1e first of October last and has erylln more serious each month s5nce trs4 time.
 Tt is sumcient to gay that peoris are not buying as much as Lher dffs that nhanufacturers are not pro6ucIlr as much as they did and 7conlseo11arl there is not much to haul lro1r one part of the country to another. hope and may add that Itsis rny bellrr that dfnfresrtcfrsr~ be temporary and that speedily b4fs1- ness will resume dte u6rToa1 condi- tlons-''
 NOT ONLY sUEETaE
 Senator cunn1fns ea1d fhaf ofas- industries are suffering as well as enc railroads and this passing fuctusil1r in trade cannot be given as a reaeor why railroad rates should be 1ncraar- ed He then took up what rate of 11- turn on an investment is Renera1fv sc- cepted as fair. He said that betuela 1890 and 1900 representative gover1- nnent bonds paid an average return ct between t2.43 and z.5z per ceuts in f11 United States, between 2.Sg and q l1 in Great Britain and between g. f5 a1r 3,34 in Germany Typical raflr1aT bonds in 1909, he said. paid an a.ser- age of from 5.s7 to 4.14 on tine inveFt- srnetit.s
 POINTS TO DTvTDEV6s. Discussing the net reyenues af thr railroad, the Senator eaid they amount ed to $S2s.576, ,790 in 1890 and Bs1f.- S31,s42 in 1913. a net Increaae or 147.SO per cent over 1880. He added that the railroads have earned enough to pay seven per ceUE upon all their capital stock but generally pay no more than five per cent
 "It is almost unbeiievable that. ir the face of these facts. he went or. .'intellieent men will con6nue to le- nounce the attitude of. the goFer1n1erl toward the railroads as shostile sor. un- just
 He concluded by reading -ahlrs showing the quotations or rafr1ar stocks in recent years to defnongirztr the industrial stocks or any other rs- curities."