New Britain herald., 1915-03-04
FAIR RATE OF RETURN
 NOT EARNED BY ROADS
Declares Western Railroads C0us-
 Sea at Freight Rate heaTlrg

Chicago, March 4.-The hearing of 1 the application of the western rail roads to the Interstate Commerce i Commission for an increase in freight ! rates, designed, it is said, to equa lize i certain rates on 9S,000 miles of road,
 and which, if allowed, will net the | roads involved s10,000,000 a year,
 was begun here today before Commis-
 sioner w. M. Daniels.
 c. c. Wright, general solicitor of l the Chicago Northwestern Railway 1 company, appeared as chief of coun sel for the railroads. Clifford Thorne, | chairman of the Iowa State Railway 1 Commission, who opposed the roads in the eastern rate case, appeared in
 similar capacity here, representing
 eighteen state railway commissions
 which oppose the advance. The op-
 position includes also individual ship 1 pers. Their side is to be given a
 hearing on March 30.
 Slight Increase in Revenue. MT. Wright, in opening the case for the forty-one railroads interested, said that the carriers in the territory in volved had been called upon during the last seven years to invest more than $100, 900, 900 a year in additions and betterments, but that there had been only a slight increase in their revenues. During these years, he l asserted the roads had not earned what the courts have held to be fair rate of return upon their proper ties. The ratio of return upon in- vestment had been decreasing and the operating ratio increasing. MT. Wright called attention to the fact that in 1910 the Interstate | Commerce Commission, in denying advances at that time, had said 1 that if the then fears of the carriers l should be subsequently, realized, the commission will not hesitate to give it's sanction to increases which will be 1 reasonable These fears, MT. Wright said had been more than realized" Pertains to All Roads. The case would not be presented, he explained, as the application of | any single road, as the question did l not depend either upon the prosperity of the strongest road or the needs of | the weakest, but upon the return
 of the prosperity of all the roads,"
 Grain. grain products. live stock,
 fresh meats and packing house pro- | ducts, coal hay, fruits, vegetables | and cotton piece goods were named by l the attorney as the principal com l modities upon which the advance was
 sought. These, he said, had been i treated separately with a view of es-
 tablishing a more equitable relation
 of rates by advancing those which
 were too low"
 Rates Too Low.
 | After describing the nature of each 1 advance and stating that figures de- lnonstrating the needs of the carriers 1 would be submitted, the attorney said 1 in part:
 The evidence in relation to the l specific rates on the commodities ad- l vances will, we believe, show that the advances have been made upon rates
 which were both actually and rela- lively too low.
 ''It will be recalled that in denying the advances asked by the carriers in 1910, the commission had before it the returns of one of the most favor able years for the carriers, but that the commission made this statement: IT the time does come, when, through changed conditions, it may be shown mat tnelr fears are realized or ap- rfoach realization, and from a survey of the whole field of operations, there Is evidence of movement which makes against the security and lasting value of legitimate investment and an adequate return upon the values of these properties, this commission will rot hesitate to give it's sanction to in-
 creases which will be reasonable.
 Fears More Than Realized. We believe that it will be demon- strated that the carriers position is not as favorable as was anticipated bv
 the commission in 1910, and by no means as favorable as it actually was then, and that the fears of the car riers have been more than realized
 Back of these advances is the con-
 Elctlon of the carriers that they need
 increased revenue, but in accomplish
 ing that increase in revenues, the
 carriers have exercised their best
 judgment to the comm odities on
 which the rates should be advanced,
 ard have attempted, by the advances
 proposed, to establish a fairer rela-
 tion of the rates as between different
 commodities.
 Revenues and Expenses.
 "The comparison of revenues and
 expenses will be made, covering two periods, one, the seven years, 1901 to
 1907, inclusive, and the other period from 1908 to 1914, inclusive The latter period commences with the re- vised, uniform system of railroad ac- counts as prescribed by the Interstate Commerce commission, and covers substantially the period during which this commission has had the power to uthoritatively fix maximum rates The results of the operation of each