Arizona republican., 1921-05-19
Old rate New rate
Aoreed on Rate


 Phoenix -4O .40
 Agreed on Rate
 At the time of beginning work on the program an agreement was made with the Arizona Eastern and Santa Fe for a rate applicable to rock, sand and gravel. substantially the same as that ordered, and that rate prevailed until after the surrender of the roads by the government, aft CT which new rates were put in un- der a general order of the interstate commerce commission which the state corporation commission de- clined to accept but which, by the way. are made effective by an order of the I. c. C., announced yester- day. However, rock, sand and gravel are made exceptions, so that if the state corporation commissions order of yesterday is not appealed from. the order of the I. c. c. will not affect it.
 The corporation commissions or der contains a historical review of the rates in question. It further shows that the revenue that the car riers would have derived from the rates against which complaint was made on S35, ,403 tons, the estimated volume of material to be used in the construction of the county highways would De S4l2,SlS.lU.
 Objections Are Met
 Several facts were offered by the Arizona Eastern in defense of the rates. One was the difficulty of removing the rock, sand and gravel from the pit. But the commission met that with the reminder that a special plant had been constructed by the contractors eliminating an ob- lection that might have obtained be- fore. Another defense of the rates was that the transportation of the material required a special service, necessitating the calling of crews in the night time. But the commission found that the evidence disclosed that the instances of night service were so rare as to be negligible.
 The objection of enc railway com pany that the service required spe- cial cars was met by the showing that the cars were rented from the Southern Pacific of Mexico. whose relation to the Southern Pacific was the same as that of the Arizona East ern-that both are owned by the Southern Pacific.
 The complainant had instituted a comparison of the ore rates of the roads with the rock, sand and gravel rates. The ore rate between Ray and Hayden, 21 miles, is 25 cents. Int l railroads countered with the state ment of a greater volume of traffic l between those two points and it was | further shown that the ore was weighed on automatic scales. obvi- ating the delay of weighing the cars separately, as had to be done in the case of the rock sand and grave cars. The roads also called attention ! fo fyxyn line haI1l north nf Phna- nix
 Rules Against Roads ! The commission found in the eyi- | dence on the part of the carrier: | nothing convincing of the reason. | ableness of the existing rates.
 The opinion states: We believe that the most convincing fact tha' the rates under attack are unjust and unreasonably high is the main tenance. of a rate of 20 cents a tor from Tempe to Phoenix from Sep. tember, 1910, to February, 1920. Tn, I commercial movement all this time was from the pit, which it is repre scented has a most difficult grade tt negotiate This rate was increas se( under General Order No. 2S to 4 cents per ton, or 100 per cent. Ger. tainly an increase of 100 per cen should be sufficient, even under th' most adverse conditions. It is tn, rate which the representatives of tn, Arizona Eastern agreed to establish for the movement of the Maricops county road program and, we believe was made by these representative! after mature deliberation and ad judged by them to be a req asona bl, rate. We are of the opinion tha this rate should be established be | %k,.1 the rates to the other points in volved in this complaint should b, on the same basis or, in other words 10 cents less per ton than the ex isting rates"
 Replying to the contention of tn railroads that there VIII be a de cided decrease of traffic after tn | present program has peen completed the opinion advises that if the traf fife should fall to such an extent a to leave the rates unremunerative the carriers may present themselve to the commission and ask for sucl a modification of the order as tn conditions at that time may warrant
 Ordered to Refund
 The order was then made, aloni with an order to the carriers. to re fund to the complainant collection in excess of the new rates from tn time the agreement between tn county highway commission and tn representatives of the railways wa abrogated by the latter. It is esti mated that the new rates will effec a saving to the county of about s20O. 900.
 It was after the filing of this de cision that an Associated Press dis patch was received stating that tn rate adjustments authorized by tn I. C. C. some months ago and whic the state commission had resisted should become effective. It was a first thought that this order haC nullified practically all that the high way commission had gained in it attack upon the rock. sand and gray el rates.
 But later a telegram was receive by the state corporation connn,issin