The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-04-06
BJ1RLESON CALLED
By RALPH PETERS
For Making Statement That the
Railroad Are Insincere in
Mail Carrying Matter.

BURLEsCN CALLED S. 20 Is
NEW YORK, April &. RALPH Peters,
president OF the Long Island railroad
and chairman OF the committee on
railway mail pay, on behalf of the
railroads o. the country, has issued
this statement:
Postmaster General Burleson has
publicly accused the railroads of be-
ing insincere in claiming that they
are underpaid for carrying the mails.
he says that in reality they arc over
PAID and to sustain this charge says
that they are receiving from the gov
ernment amounts which, for hauls Of
any considerable length, exceed by
about two to one the amounts they re-
ceiyc from the express companies for.
Ike and similar service
Hearing Assured.
The dignity and prestige of the
cabinet Office Of Wiiicli Mr. BurIeson
Inc present incumbent assures him
nearing before the public and a
large degree of credence. because OF
the natural assumption that judicial
attitude will be retained by sworn
public official, and that the rcsponsi-
nlllty he assumes in making any pirf1-
nc assertion will be appreciated at
least by himself.
MI Burleson bases his assertion
regarding the mail and express earn
ID IS OF the railroads upon number OF
comparisons OF which this is typical
lie says that from New York to
Cnlcago, railway mail pay amounts
10 $.nS per 100 pounds, while the rail-
roads proportion OF the first class ex-
press rate between those cities is APP
S1.20J per 100 pounds.
Not an Average.
Not one citizen in a thousand
would ever suspect that this meant
anything except that the railroads
carry express matter from New York.
to Chicago for an average rate of only
sl.20 per 100 pounds. The fact is;
however, that the express rate Mr..
BuTleSOn names is not an average. or
in any way representative rate, but
is the railroads share of the express.
company's charge for single 100
pound package. on which the very
lowest Wholesale rate per pound. is
given to the shipper The railroads
are paid approximately half the ex-
press companY's charge.
Enc railroads receipts from the
smaller express packages. which make
up the great bulk of the actual BUSH
nessr-and hence their average. re-
ceiPts per 100 pounds Of exprcss-are
far higher than the figure Mr.. Burle.
son quotes, 4 fact OF which il Is
scarcely conceivable he could be I'M
aware.
Comparison Misleading.
For instance, for carrying loo one
pound express packages from New
York to Chicago, the express company
would receive twenty-tllrce cents
apiece. or a total of $23. OF this
amount, the railroads share for its
portion of the service would be about
half, or $11.50, which is nearly four
and one half times the rate for carry
lnS 100 pounds of mail. Such COM
parison, if offered as representative
of average conditions, would be no
more misleading than the one goins
70 the opposite extreme which Mr.
Burleson has used The truth. Of
course, lies bctwcentlle two extremes.
The railroads earned from express.
in the latest year for which figures
are available t1913l. $4,000 900. The
rate OF mail pay to the rail-
roads on j une 80, 1a1:', was S51 .466, 900
Fhe growth of the revenue may be 1
compared from the fact that the earn
lugs from express traffic in 1897 were
So 100000. while the annual rate of
pay for mail on June so. 1907. was
5 al.G0S,000. 1t. therefore,, appears
that the mail pay TO the railroads i'm
creased less tina oncsper cent during
the six year term. specified, while the
returns to the railroads from express
traffic increased thirty seven per cent.
Thoroughly Investigated.
This entire question Of mail and
express receipts was thoroughly Tn
vestigatcd by the Joint Congressional
committee on railway mail pay which
fled lis report last August. The COM
finding on the general sub
ject vas this: s.
Suffice it to say that We arc con-
vinced, that the abroad earnings from
mail swereHin 1909 decidedly lower than
from express on, a car-nrile basis.
which is the best basis fol. COMPARE
son we have Certainly there is no: