Seward daily gateway., 1924-11-18

$2.5U per ton while retaining lne Oiu rate of $15O at Seward; also by eliminating at Seward the quantity requirement for absorption of wharf age on outbound coal shipments and retaining the requirement at Anchor age. Other tariff rates, to be referred to later, were made to favor the rail haul. These things constituted direct discrimination by the railroad, prac- tice which the government would not | tolerate in the case of private cor poration.
 AS to this diversion of tonnage from ocean to rail between these points, this is fundamentally and eco- nomically wrong because of the physi- cal conditions. If rail rates are named even to yield cost of the ser vice, it would mean heavy increase in costs to the consumers, with a conse- quent effect of retarding the develop ment of the entire railroad belt. On the other hand, if rates are made as low as the steamship rates, there would be heavy loss to the railroad | in operations, directly affecting the success of the road and throwing an unnecessary loss on the government This loss would be far greater than any which might be sustained thru the operation of the Anchorage dock and could never be overcome. The greater the tonnage handled, the greater the loss, either to the consum- l CT or to the railroad. Why should such an unnecessary loss be placed on either?
 Another source of additional loss on the diverted shipments arises through two full and complete extra functions of handling, sorting and checking all freight consigned to An chorage involving an extra cost of not less than $2.25 per ton.
 Further, the equipment and physi- cal conditions of the line between Seward and Anchorage precludes the satisfactory, economical and prompt handling of freight between these two | points, on even the comparatively small tonnage of the present year | Ordinary weekly cargoes of 200 to | 300 tons via Seward are from two to seven days reaching Anchorage, as against A hours via steamer. As recent instance of these delays, a shipment of two cars of feed was de- liyered by steamer to rail at Seward on Oct 26th; one of the cars was de- liyered to the consignee in Anchor age on October 30th and the other on l October 31. This is only typical of regular delays and affects all points on the line from Anchorage north. From Oct 26 to Nov. 10, 1923, 4100 tons of freight moved over the Anchorage dock without delay. Had it been necessary to handle this car go by rail between Seward and An chorage, when would the shippers have received their freight?
 Such forced diversion of traffic would surely result in defeating one of the principal purposes of the build ing of the railroad, viz, the opening of the coal fields. Rates on coal from the Matanuska field to Anchorage are s1.00 per ton and to Seward $2.0O per ton. Ocean rates to Alaskan and Puget Sound ports are the same from Anchorage as from Seward. There fore, shipments by rail for delivery to ship at Seward produces an addi- tional cost at destination of Si00 per ton and penalizes the Alaska coal in- duslry to that extent. A constant and determined effort is being made by the Alaskan mines to supply all of the coal used in Alaska. To do this involves direct competition with Brit ish Columbia and Australian coal Inc above penalty of $1.00 per ton would certainly result in decreased ship ments of Alaska coal, with a direct effect on the railroad of decreased tonnage and general retdrdatio of the EiaslaE coal fields.
 Touching further on the matter oi disc im'nation against the Anchor, ,, age dock ill efforts to create tonnage (l0t r':vanue) fer the rail haul, ;t may b. noted that in addition to .he nela'ty Laced on coal ohiDmr3 ;s a.; Lr' viou3ly referred to, the rairGad has existing tariffs on shipments O ore and concentrates naIni"g .qlal 7. cs outbound through Seward ana Anchorage; the same applies to in bound shipments of certain commodi- ties, such as mining machinery, agri cultural implements and fertilizer. In other words, the railroad offers to haul these commodities the 114 miles between Seward and Anchorage fo1 nothing simply to get additional ton mage. Certain ore shipments in 1924 Nenana, Alaska, to Selby, California under this equalized tariff, were de liberately hauled by the railroad through to Seward when the steam ship company had prepared and was ready to take delivery at Anchorage