Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1921-12-19
National Rivers and Harbors
Congress

Congress
| Washington D. c., Dec. "
Tomorrow morning the Interstate
Commerce Commission will begin a
general investigation into 1reighs
rates and the financial SITUATION OF
the railroads. The increase IN rates
ordered under Elk :Parte IA was eS-
1ected and intended to give the foaos
The 6 per cent return authorized by
the TRANSPORTATION Act of 1920, but
nothing of the kind resulted, the net
revenues of the roads, during the year
that these increased rates have oeen
in effect having been only trl1le
more than half the, amount named
The present rates are, IN general
tor;ce as. much as. those IN force IN
i914, and the claim has been maze oy
shippers in all parts of the country
| that these rates are the cause Oh tile
decrease in railway revenues because
thew are so high that they have pre-
venfed the movement of: traffic. Fol' a
time This was strenuously denied By
snokesmen for the railways but OF
late their position has been somewhat
modified. as is indicated by the pend
ing application for Il ten per cent re-
duction in rates or agricultural pro-
ducts.
Taking the wording of the, order for
the hearing and the list, of Auestloaiis
+ constituting the program, IT IS .evl,
dent that: the Commission iast9pensc
| the way for the considerations OF any
thing and everything. relating. TO
T freight rates and their effect not 'onfy
mon the revenues of the railroads but
mon the business of the country. 4.
bulletin lust issued by the Nationai
Rivers and Harbors Congress contains
an interesting and Instructive sener-
alization which gives a good lndlca-
ton of the effect of freight rates upon
business. A quotation from this Dull
let IAN 1G EDslish wrteS. has said, It is
not mileage, but cost Of t,apspogtaT
t;on HAT constitutes the tr1e CONS
merrial measure of Edisance.'. -ahe
statement of the English writer is
true, and it therefore becomes OF IN
terest to compare. the cost of trans
portation by different methods. IL
must be understood that the hgures
which follow relaIe'to the. perlod be-
fore the Great War
Comparative Transportation. costs !
"The experts of the Agricultural
Department estimate the cost OF
TRANSPORTING ton Of freight a dis
tance Of l nile BY horse and wagon
on the average road in the United
Statesgat 23'ccnts. In England, where
the soadssafe much better Than mPst
81; those III this country and wife e
nrsreh attention has. beenEgiVehf no the
development OF what the TEngllsa can
a steam lorry and we would cal'
steam truck, it is SAID that goods can
be carried for $ cents per ton per hliie;
sThe average rate OH all the rail-
roads in;the United States for a Eun-
bel. of wears was about I IL mills
Der ton per mile, but special group
of roads can be- selected upon which
the average was about Is miles.
"On the Erie Canal in recent years
The ton-mile rate has been about .
mills, while on certain canals in hu-
rope (notably the Telto" Canal, near
Berlin), which are deeper and wider
and on which electric on other me-
'chanical systems of haulage aroused,
the rate is two mills.
''Thc official records kent at the
500 show that the average rate on
freight carried into and out. Of Lake
Superior in 1913 was two-thirds of
mile per ton mile, while coal was
habitually carried from Buffalo to
Duluth, and was often carried from
Pittsburgh to. New Orleans. for one
third of mill per ton per mile.
These are microscopic figures; 1t
will be well, therefore, to translate
them into something with which the
average business man is more faml-
liar. Suppose you have d ton Of
freight to ship and a dollar TO spend
in shipping it. How far will the dol
lar carry the ton by these different
methods and at these different rates
of transportation.
..Bv horse and wagon, a little over
i miles; by English steam truck, 20
miles; by rail, at the average rate for
United States railways, 1873 miles, at
the rate on the group of selected rail-,
ways, 200 miles; on the Erie Canal.
S:3333 miles; OH the European canals,
500 miles; by lake, at the average
rate through the 500 Canal in 1913,
1900 miles; while at the rate at which
:oal is carried both on the Great Lakes
and on the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers, the ton of freight can be ship.
ped so miles for cent, 800 miles for
Il dime, 5000 miles for dollar.
1T must already be apparent that
the difference in the cost of trans
portation by different methods is
sufficiently great to be worthy of ser
Gus consideration, but it is worth
while to carry the argument step
further. Taking any point as CEN
ter, over how great a territory will
a dollar carry ton by these different
methods and at these various rates
OF transportation?
by horse and wagon, over circle
{; little more than miles in diameter;
41n :-h ~