The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1928-09-20
State Commission Fights
Proposed Stock Rate Raise
Warning of Extended Truck Ser
vice Given in Brief to Com
merce Commission


livestock rate increases in western
trunk line territory sought by rail
roads were vigorously protested
Friday by the Minnesota railroad
and warehouse commission in a
brief filed with the interstate COM
merce commission.
In addition to a barrage of ar
guments and statistics asserting
that the increases are unjustified,
the. brief warns that further rate
increases will mean an extension
of Minnesota's elaborate motor
freight service and loss of rail
traffic. s,
The railroads proposal calls for
a three fold division of the west
ern territory, which would divide
minnesota into two sections. Ter
ritory No. 1 would include Illinois,
Wisconsin, Iowa, a portion of Mis-
souri,, Nebraska and Kansas, and
that section of Minnesota living
south and east of line drawn thru
Duluth, the Twin Cities, Mankato
to the southwestern tip of the state.
Here the general level of rates
would be increased approximately
rs per cent, according to the Min
|nesota commissions estimate.
Territory No. 2 would include
the remainder of Minnesota, the
Dakotas and portions of Nebraska
and Kansas. Here the scale would
he 10 per cent of the scale for
territory No. 1, making the increase
about 35 per cent over the general
rate level in effect today.
The western portion of the trunk
line territory would comprise ter
ritory No. 3, where the general lev
ell of rates would be 115 per cent
of the scale for territory No. 1.
fsMotor truck carriers are in
Icreasing their operations to an ex-
tent which materially decreases
the revenues of the railroad car
riers on any short haul traffic, in
Guiding livestock" the commission
warns.
"The freight truck is new form
of transportation coming into use
with the advent of an extensive
highway improvement program.
Its operating limitations, local or
through, with interchange facilities
for such through transportation,
will be governed solely by highway
conditions between the state or in
terstate points involved.
can increase in livestock freight
rates is but an invitation to truck
operators to extend and enlarge
their facilities.
In its brief the Minnesota COM
mission maintains that both the
carriers proposed territorial di-
vision and comparative rate scales
are unjustifed and improper; that
rate scale territories and rate lev
els must of necessity conform with
prevailing operating conditions and
service costs; that service costs re-
fleet and give due and full con-
sideration to operating costs and
to traffic density and constitute the
most representative and reliable
measure or yardstick available. 1t
points to evidence submitted by L.
r. Bitney, statistician for the COM
missions as furnishing conclusive
proof that operating results in the
state of Minnesota, North Dakota
and Montana in proposed scale 2
and 8 territories, are distinctly and
decidedly more favorable than are
operating results in all the states
comprising proposed scale / ter
ritory. The commission holds that
the carriers have resented no con-
sequential contrary evidence.