The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-10-24
.END0F|.C. c. HEARINGS
QAlNCREAsE IN RATES.
Arguments Will Begin Next Thurs.
day, With Every Indication Of
EARLY Decision.
sHIPPERs OPPOSE ADVANCE
Presentation Of Their Case Occupies
Loss Than Two Hours. as Against
Five Days Occupied by Witnesses
for Carriers.

WASHINGTON, October 23.-Hear-
ings were concluded to-day before the
Interstate Commerce Commission on
+ the application Of the Eastern railroads
Tor general increase In freight rates
Arguments. will begin next. Thursdny
with every indication of an early do
cisIon 8 - 80 = :,
Presentation of tile case of opposInp
shippers occupied less than two hours
as against the Sf1vc days occupied Fby
witnesses for the carriers. II con-
sisted only OF statement by Cliff
ford Thorne. counsel for several West
ern state railway commissions and
shippers associations, who took the no.
sition no business depression had been
shown by the carriers that did not
equally AFFECT shippers and that the in
crease would be unjust. Counsel for
All other shippers reported Joined In
the statement fT
The carriers closed their case with
the testimony of Samuel Rea. presi-
dent Yf the Pennsylvania system His
statement followed closely the lines OF
previous evidence offered. and his cross
examination was brief.
Louis Brandeis. special counsel for
the commission asked Mr.. Rea IL any
thing had occurred since the commits
ston's original per cent decision, " hicl,
In his opinion Justified its modifca-
ton.
Nothing that I know off, admitted
MIR. Rea.
HAS there been an increase in your
labor charges in this period%
Not that recall" -
Have the prices OF railway supplies
advanced to your knowledge"
TIIORNE'S STATEMENT
ON BEHALF OF SHIPPERS
Air. Thorne's statement for the ship
pers was in part as follows
This is the third time American
railroads have fought to force n gem
eral advance In freight rates. In 1910
they claimed n CRISIS existed. Instead
OF crisis, the commission found that
to be the most prosperous year In the
whole history of American railroads
In the original per cent case, basins
their claim on the year 1913, the claim
of Il crisis was again mndc. and You
concluded that there is no crisis in the
condition of the railroads in Official
classification territory. taken as "A
whole Now, for tho third time, the
railroads claim there is n crisis. To-
day they have some foundation for
their claim. But this emergency upon
which the carriers are relying to-day
affects practically all OF us In the same
manner. F'e
1T is Just as hard for the manu-
thS-,ldTIIicT,.t TIC inc
telephone company or the beef trust to
borrow money rs it is for the rail-
roads TO do so. 5
RAILROADS ASKING
= FOR SORT OF WAR TAX
THE railroads are asking for Il sort
OF war tax; they are asking the gov
eminent to lift the burden OF n part
or tho community and shift II over on
the shoulders OF others. They ask the
wage Garner who has lost his Job or
mad his wages reduced. the cotton
planter who cannot sell his cotton, nd
the manufacturer who has been COM
PEELED TO close his shop or reduce his
fcrce-they ask these men to carry the
burden Of the railroad in addition to
their own.
Freight rates arc not the cause Of
the present trouble. The railroads have
advanced freight rates on the brain
Whatever ails them, financial Difficult
ties. overcapitalization, general depres-
sion In business, oversupply OF gold
whatever the cause. they have just one
rtmedy-advanced freight rates, a sort
of cure-oil or panacqa.
You can advance freight rates TO
YOUR hearts content. it will still be
hard to borrow money. That will prob-
ably~continue until the war stops.
The present emergency can be met
iii either one OF two ways:
FIRST, by the use of accumulate
surplus. or,
Second, by slight reduction In dlyi-
dend rates"