Arizona republican., 1921-12-17

portation. The interests of the state or community through which rail- road operates are just as much the railroads as they are the public's in- l terests, because development of in- dustries along it's line means in creased tonnage. Industry cannot develop unless it can ship it's prod
 ucts to market and this cannot be | accomplished if freight rate are too high. Therefore a railroad failing to make rates that will enable a state or community to market it's products, l if you please, will diminish it's ton mage correspondingly or to a point where it becomes less profitable. The greater the volume of traffic, the less, other things being equal. is the cost of transportation. and the amount of tonnage rate will produce becomes an important factor to be considered l in making a rate. 1 A railroad is a business enterprise and it must be operated as such. It | has only one product to sell, trans portation. With its private capital 1 invested the public must recognize that this capital has a right to fair and liberal earnings for both main tenance and extension. For some years prior to the war indications pointed to the fact that the net earn | irgs of the railroads in many in stances were too low. Receiverships were common. New additions in trackage, equipment and terminals were slowing up. During 1907 and
 more recently during the war period | beginning with 1914 it was an evil denced fact our transportation facili-
 ties were inadequate, on account of
 numerous embargoes and general
 railrol- cong-si on The present
 transportation rituation is not one
 wherein the downward revision of
 rates has been a burden upon the
 railroads. If this were the case that feature would have been balanced by increased earnings due to increased growth of business in this country. The railroads have had their costs materially increased by other factors,
 such as strikes which they were un- able to fight and needs must settle by increased wages to their employees. Mandatory legislation, such as full
 crew laws, hours of service and other l legislative requirements have been detrimental to the public interests.
 It is true that the railroads have spent
 in recent years large sums of money in the development of roads already | in existence, such as double tracks,
 relaying rails for heavier traffic, in creasing of terminals and new equip ment and cars. However, this ex- penditure was one made in an at-
 tempt more to profit out of existing I investment and not one of construct 1 ing new transportation lines.
 | In conclusion, it seems to me that the first step necessarily taken be one | to accomplish public understanding.
 Railroad cooperation must also be given in the solution of the trans portation problem, and some care 1 fully considered plan to achieve this desired result must be followed. All l that the public wants is right and l right will only be obtained when | everyone comes to clear under
 standing of this vital problem.
 George H. Maxwell, representing | the National Reclamation associa- ton, then made a few remarks in 1 which he urged the railroads to SUD- port reclamation, and Sen. H. E. l Wilkinson also spoke briefly.
 The session of the livestock indus
 stry then opened. The chairman was | A. A. Johns of Prescott, member of 1 the executive committee of the Ari- l zona Wool Growers association. His
 remarks appear below in part:
 l Address by A. A. Johns
 All the statistics and values of to-
 day date from the 20th day of May,
 1920. In ordinary parlance the wool l RTOWeT ROI nC NdlQCo of today are approximately 50 per 1 cent less than at that time. No | matter what happened. whether it 1 was the outlaw strike, or Wall Street, | or the freight congestion. or all or
 them. the panic in wool came first
 Perhaps in a general way the value 1 of the sheep industry may be stated
 as follows:
 There are today in Arizona about one million sheep. The assessed val | uation is $500 per head. It may be stated that perhaps the amount of invested capital in the sheep business in Arizona, including lands. reser- l voirs, improvements of all kinds. and I equipment necessary and and re- l quired in the operation of the busi- 1 ness is about 15,000.000.
 The production of wool in the state
 this year was about 8,0e0,000 pounds, l representing at present values. s2,- | GOO, ,000.
 I Add to this the value of about 500. 900 lambs at a value of S2.50O,OO0
 and you have the worth of the crop
 to Arizona, $4,500.0oo.
 What the industry means to the Salt River valley may be stated in another way. Some days ago a state I ment was made in one of your daily l papers from Dr. Mason Harp. Of the I United States bureau, who stated Il that there were now on the. desert Il and adjacent hills all tributary to Il Phoenix, 5O0,000 sheep brought here
 from the north for 1ambing and
 shearing. The value of this may be
 stated thus: For every eve brought l. into the Salt River valley, there will
 be an expenditure of $2 50 per head.
 This money is spent for supplies,
 wages, shearing and other lncldentals, ! and means an expenditure of one and
 quarter million dollars. all cash , There will be approximately four [ million pounds of wool shorn here, l having a value of s1,00e,000.
 Taking a lambing of 75 per cent, which is not at all an average one, [ it means that there will be either } traiIed or shipped from valley points 375,OO0 lambs, with value of $1.S15,- : 900, which makes a total Of wool and lambs produced in this vicinity of
 $2,S75.000.
 From these figures. you will readily f understand the importance of the in I dustry to this vicinity; for, in addi- , ton to the above. large sums of money are spent on the trail and a ? large railroad tonnage is created. 2 It also may be stated that the cost
 of running ewes is now between Si . and S5 per head. so that, if an indi- Il (Continued on Page EighD