Show WIE VIE RELATION OF RAILROAD RATES TO GENERAL BUSINESS to the h business man no mat ater rr how hew objectionable ObJection abe an advance in rates may be to us personally wa must recognize that an improvement in general business Is dependent ra ah a betterment ot of operating and frantia ft antia conditions of the railroads that the che operating results are ara most moat nat sAtIsfactory la Is readily soon seen by the biti latest INTER statia COMMERCE COMI commission MISSION reports which show tettat for the nine months ended april alst 1st 1310 1910 eleven railroad rall ruid systems By atema all west and north of a line drawn from chicago to st louis compared with the immo hamo roads loads for the same period in the previous year had their gross earnings ea increased inci eased about 00 their not earnings showed a do de erase erf Ms of and for or the of march on tho the same baina compari son oti they show an increase of in gross and a decrease of ISOZ in net earnings attention Is called to the fact that the wage increases except a small amount awo were not in force during thia arid and from now on those will arf abuy increase luci easo thi operating coit these same railroads had their taxed Tn creasM over the previous year or 14 and have to pay hugher rates of 0 interest on their loans imam talmae roads covering the moat prosperous part of tho the country may be considered representative of general railroad condl conditions lons during diring the past three years or of poor railroad expenditures for n were vere necessarily at the lowest point and in consequence conie quence their collve power equipment and tracks now mow demand a greater proportion of 0 expense no provision has ilam or li is being made for the growing of tho the country nuil and as transportation por tation Is tho the back backbone bove of business its weakness or inefficiency cripples ever epry other condition because all prod nets ne ts are valuable in the ratio with which their heir accessibility to the con burning market it la Is most important to the shipper that railroads at all times are fully equipped to take care of an increase of bis business tho the first drat eight months of demonstrated that the railroads could not handle toe the business then of with any degree of satisfaction the financial conditions since havo have not them to even maintain maln talu their ahon position it tho the then volume of gilness mil ness were to como come back supple vuen ted ty the three years growth of the country in the interval transports xkan bo be paralyzed and what niall u isit cost the shipper compared v th A reasonable advance in freight r stirs avs now such an advance would P avile the means tor for avoiding this impending disaster the iron horse borso atla to bo be kept in good condition for tha same ame reason oa as the living horse borao oved tor for transportation the teamster knows that it if his horse borso la is not well weh khod hod well groomed and well fed wis and nin bia harness and wagon kept in boxi repair that all he will save on cc economy onomy will be many times d in the efficiency of his trans lw tation and also add great expense to the shipper it la Is exactly the same with the railroads the shipper has a tufit to demand that transportation be ample and efficient the success of hla his business and the tha development of the auntry are dependent on it the investor to do this the rall mid must show adequate returns to maintain proper propel borrowing credit and present a promising source of investment to procure the necessary funds to improve and develop tile the property us as needed it la Is neither the railroad Dres president ident nor the shipper that controls jhc be situation it Is the investor alone who holds the key without w hla his dollar the railroad canno cannot t extend or improve no matter how great tae neoda of the shipper or the country vi tay be all the increasing cost of op ratton ration supplemented by beyor ln in tr easing and burdensome legislative restrictions concerning their earnings in n tare of tho the fact that tho the average dividend rite rate on railroads ralli oads was less lesa ghazi 3 per cent for the past six years tears and the united states supreme court in the case of tho the consolidated arts company stated that 6 per cent was a fair return on money invested jn in public utilities with the average freight rate in of three quarters of i cc at per ton per mile tho the lowest in sifoa years tho the average passenger rate wr we babp one and nine tenths cents ac ever reached la Is it uny any won ler JET tant the investor holds back and th ibm 11 ankers demand high interest at eafrom the railroads Therall tha railroads roads kiei 11 2 00 to put their lines jn aft proper condition and to increase lull lir terminal facilities at all points pointe bal ute even now a necessity and more for modern now new power and equipment to move mora their freight with promptness prompt nesa and economy where can they get the money T only by increased earnings from advanced rates and by so doing better their credit by attracting the un invest ed dollars that are now going to other more attractive attract lre but less leas productive investments what will the advance cost the tha ultimate consumer poors manual gay the average haul of all freight in 1908 1903 was miles the average rate in 1309 1909 was three fourtha fourth of 0 a cent pet pel ton per mile the average total rate for the average total haul assuming it to bo be the th same as 1903 1908 would be per ton an advance of 10 on this rato rate would increase the cost 10 cents per ton or 1200 1 of a cent per pound an ad vance of 10 on an the present specific rates would increase the cost coat of pounds dressed beef in new york shipped from chicago 4 aa cents pounds conned canned flab in st louis shipped from maine 1 8 10 cents pounds flour in new york from min nea inca polls 2 cents a suit of clothes in chicago from boston cent the same for n womans comans suit on a niang mans outfit outdo cot coat trousers shoes and hat new to mississippi valley not cot to exceed I 1 cent the ultimate consumer can multiply these illustrations indefinitely the manufacturer jobber an and retailer could easily absorb this slight advance because if his business increased but one unit that would more than pay the increased cost on oil one hundred units railroad not net earnings thus increased the railroads would have a ready market for their securities and with the money thus obtained again start all tho the business end and industries now comparatively ively vely idle that are directly or indirectly dependent on their property the working men would bi be 3 fill fully ay e employed their families would again purchase freely and that means good business for everyone thero there are railroad employees plo it takes men to supply what the railroads need arid and a vast number of men are employed in supplying the personal needs of the above men and their families representing people every kind of business Is dependent la in some borne measure on railroad pros prosperity P erity H high agh cost of living if it had not been for the encouragement given railroad investors in the past whore where would we have been today to day for our food supply they opened up tip thousands of miles of undeveloped and unproductive land and yet our food Is high because of lack of supply our consumption la in creasing taster faster than our food production it the railroad investor stops as he now has there will bo be an advance la in food rates soon boon that will lie be far greater than increased freight rates high food means high labor and high labor means high everything therefore the ultimate consumer and the state and national governments should be interested in developing land that will produce bountiful foad products half of the country berof besof the mississippi sis sippi is not used and will not bo be until covered with railroads who would want to build roads in unproductive lands when those in cultivated country will barely pay the lowest rate of interest and the owners and managers are being harassed and maligned as in no other business this condition will only improve when the business man mail realizes that the investor does not provide the th source of his own investments lie he waits for you to do that in some de form hy by your individually let ting things drift and doing nothing your legislator with no business ex per lence hearing no advice and ing no direct information which h gladly would from you quite likely you do not even know his big name its tens to tho the only voices heard the aal or the aggressive shipper whose views of the business world are ob tallied by looking out of the small hole of a tunnel funnel directed at hla his own plant unconscious of other conditions of for far more importance to his own business than the freight rates such men as these by bv their vociferous vigor have stirred popular anil corpora tion agitation that has awed all par ties and they are so scared of being charged as owned or bought that nil all questions of principle equity or the general good are snored ignored the rall rail road man draws his salary whether the road pays or not ho he does not own it if he does doea say anything he la Is sat upon the stockholders stock holders as a body me are defenseless you anro the r iti ferer and the only one who would be listener listened to will you not study your own interests find out your legislators name and tell him the real situation otherwise we must wait until grim naces sity starves out the present anti rail road fever june 6 1910 T A GRIFFIN Ci advertisement |