The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1921-04-16
RAILROADS KILLING
THEsG0LDEN GOOSE

The mar who travels by railroad
from Elko to Reno to-day must pay
the railroad s2.72 more than yester-
day; and II he takes a Pullman 1t will
cost him s4.05 additional; and on
top Of all this you will have to pay
the Government tax, which amounts
to considerable. This is because this
is the day when the increased rail-
road rates go into effect, as ordered
by the Interstate Railroad Commits
sion, says the Elko Free Press.
The railroads are now complaining
that their income has fallen off since
last Fall. They should know the rea-
son why by this time, and the chances
are that in six months from now their
business will be less than 1t Is to-day.
The public will stand to be held up
to a certain point, and 1t then rebels,
and this point has been reached.
Nevada, in point of population. is
the smallest State in the Union, and
pays the highest passenger and
freight rates of all the States. There
can be but one explanation and that
is that the influence from within the
State is not as strong as without. The
railroads are taking advantage of this
fact, and have persuaded the mem
bers of the railroad commission that
it is right to charge more within the
Nevada State lines, because there is
less business, and consequently it
costs the railroads more to haul their
trains. They overlook the fact that
the trains are not run for the con-
venience of the inhabitants of the
State or to handle the business de-
veloped in Nevada, but must run to
take care of their interstate business,
and that IL there was not a single
passenger picked up in Nevada, the
trains would run just the same.
The people of Nevada would have
no complaint nor would they COM
plain, provided they were given the
and were charged the same rates.
But Nevada to-day is charged SO per
cent more in some cases than some
of the other States, that is on freight
and passenger business produced
within the State. People can travel
from Odgen to San Francisco and
cross Nevada at the same rate charg-
ed within the State of Utah and Cali
fornia. But people starting from
Elko to Odgen must paythe increased
rate to the Nevada-Utah line, and
then the other rate applies. On com
ing to Elko from San Francisco they
are allowed the regular rate In Cali
fornia until they strike the Nevada
line, when the increased rate is put
into effect and collected. In other
words the railroads are throttling the
business of Nevada by bleeding 1t
white. Freight is charged more here
than outside of the State, and thus
no farm products can be raised and
shipped; factories cannot be estab-
lished within the confines of Nevada
as the freight rates are so prohibi-
tive that the outputs cannon compete
with factories in other States.
The railroads are setting up a
great howl about the loss of business
in passenger travel and in the
amount of freight shipments, but
they themselves are to blame for the
conditions, and are pushing the pub
lie as fast as possible to adopt other
modes of travel. 1t will not be long
before practically all the passenger
traffic will be by airplanes, and al
ready all the short freight hauls are
being made by motor trucks. With
the roads put in good condition, long
hauls will be made and the public
can then sit back and see the rail-
road trains pass by empty. \