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Show Fuomr Babcock Replies to Railroad Man's Critidsm Ufll6 WZ Tribtinc-Tho Inst Sunday odi-rJiTiic odi-rJiTiic Tribune contained a con- jlrllclo wri 1,10 eaJ,nB "'Rl111-Wft "'Rl111-Wft 1 of Western Rain Controvei-sy.' object of which. apparently. f t lcat an attcnipL to discredit " S " Sf n proper IhwIs In the crea-$ crea-$ &5 .iiw-ix' rates of freight transpor-wI!m:Ii1j transpor-wI!m:Ii1j rll- as advanced in tlio Alu orfinl Huh Tniflli: bu- 2 ron.nl--slon fur decision. . i iL-iit very reasonably have V "Lufe lo rest awaltliiR the uc- IVtft rflmm!wloii thereon without H PSfffi niayo said of the W fern " is "nt- il comprised a , 9, f,nf words, the somewhat noisy i Prft o which was doubtless Bwlth much satisfaction by the iSr'ltlon wii'I complaint of the bu-jSMrtuh bu-jSMrtuh it" appended statements, as i in tic commission, sets forth, r aiifl specifically, all mica upon .iniMiion was asked that no ftSff&to d us ooiiltl possibly arise S ffl ra im cxlstlns and those dc-Ml dc-Ml 8m A ft),,ther "Hicfit that ( all-'if! all-'if! H-.7'ininnl freight rates operating ft nnl. Should generally be made i 'construction or lhronch rates ' "ftasi" of mllcAK Uii I mitation frtmc distance and U.e llxlnp of Til :0IwK b3Insr rates must necessarily ' Si to f consider the cstabllsh- f&a i rhollv unrestricted basis any- t liMi would compulaorlly riulrc H n'lon of rate? to the point of 3 tl or commercial prohibition, or ; SSSr io h decree not approaching i n of operation. fc' ctt of the bureau before lb- LVjftir the l'lan of mileage sucRcst-i sucRcst-i fSS ns"d In Uie determiualfon of ?J toiKUBli ratr for I'tal, was 5 5bII? very obnoxious to the railway t2S S concerned, and was accord nc-,i,o nc-,i,o object of persistent attack 'Si ifr SuiiP'1. This alone mlsht be S Lriojicluflvo of the desirability of nS PLhM for lie people of Ibis rt Lm Vcrheen accorded a deilnlt-5? deilnlt-5? Star the coiifcinielloii or lis through itf Sf ircipbt- Iranportation to and !tl cast, and it appears quite, mani-4 mani-4 n foat it Is not desired by tho car-4 car-4 rtut H aliould bo. Whethnr the 5i Siut Cnnunerco commission pos-3 pos-3 iiithorlty to determine and etal -Jl 5; bals or iryslem of ral inakimr. 5 rbcot'know We have never claimed L it dM. !"' It is believed unttues-13 unttues-13 Llv to posscsr. the risht of cslab-0 cslab-0 te i.onablc rale. ,Whll a ibeed if S Rfthroueh rate making f-M- T tab lMfml very desirable, tbo tatrs ! fCVJ?l'a ns P'aycd for In the petition hi.U Ir"r?u. nl-c 11,0 vllully essential objects of attainment, and It was deemed J' w ,l0,,sllw that tho.e i-ates were pro-.lltflUn, pro-.lltflUn, ,,roi;hilhe PPl'eatlon of some definite, method, and did not proceed riom mere chance or guusswork. Tho Mileage Basis. rj10Mb!Vs,s .of ml'eace in the buildiiif: of both Soeal and lhrouSh fntipht nili-S c. .lvon"nKh "nlvciyal in the United laiew; tho most extensive exception theiv.to. questionably as to wheth'-r riht or wi'oner. be iir found In tranaeonl.inenuil titles where i) i1Hl fs commonly known as blanket, or sysloni of uniform tales tor vast I'-rnlorlca Involving Kieat dlB-tances. dlB-tances. largely prcv:iil. By far lh most important traffic territory ter-ritory In the ITnltcd SLiies. and in which the competition of rn triors is likewise the most comprehensive. Is that of the lesion lylnp botwe-en the Atlantic sea- !0in:-1.-'nl lhu Mississippi river, north of the Ohio. Many yeavs ago. the ino.-st vulnout; and commercially demoralizing i-jte ware between be-tween -the numerous ie.it carriers were of frequent occurrence, while incessant and bitter .strife for trade advantages among tho vnrJouM lai-ge eiti.s In that supremely Important territory existed. After greatly prolonged antl "most exhaustive ex-haustive consitlevalloti of the subject by the ablst and most thoroughly experienced experi-enced railroad men of the connlrv. ac ting In conjunction with the representatives of ihc principal business Interests concerned, con-cerned, a ncT,- system of rate making was developed smd adopted. 'Hi Is system provided thai the rates having tirst been fixed between New York and Chicago, the short lino mileage lwitwcen those cities was made lo represent 100 per cent, and lh- lluougli rates between all .oilier Atlantic, seaboard points and tlu Wf'jit, not. farther ihan to the Mississippi river, to proportionately Increase or diminish di-minish as the mileage was greater or less than that between the basing points. Commodity rates foi any reason requiring requir-ing special consideration, as. for example, exam-ple, upon food products from various producing districts seeking common markets mar-kets of consumptloni were icasonably deult with according lo the conditions and Influences surrounding each particular particu-lar case; lust iho factor Of mileage was and Is unfailingly present and Invariably regarded to tho oxtc-nt that i!k greater distance, within the defined territory. Is always; given a higher throunh rate than the lesser. Notwithstanding the enormous enor-mous Increase, in tho traffic' Incident to tho general great growl h of the. wide territory Involved, and the construction of many additional lines of railroad therein, after tho uninterrupted tost of nearly forty yeisa. Ui.it mdeago basl? there still continues In generally successful suc-cessful and satlsfaetory operation. In suggesting to the commission a system sys-tem of through rate making for Utah. ''Iiieago was taken as the east.et n. and San Francisco aa the western boundary of the terrltoi-y to be considered: the current cur-rent class and commodity rales between Chicago, the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and San Francisco forming the respective basis, although treated in a somewhat different manner as to the two forms of rales, but with Iho view that a method essentially similar lo that so lone and successfully In use between the Atlantic tieaboard and the Mississippi liver might, find ai. least a beginning here. Jt is a broad proposition, but Is believed . to embrace the elements of greater hope for probable success than any other now discernible, if Its adoption adop-tion may not. or legally cannot, come now through the channel invoked, then despite any centi-allr.ing of ownerwhlp or control of the railway carriers, that basis, ba-sis, or some equitable' equivalent thereto, there-to, will ultimately appear under the mandate of the people, who always and irresistibly roinA into their own when nroperly aroused to Jlc accomplishment Milcago illustration. Should any doubts he existing with the public concerning the advantages f be derived from the application of a straight mileage system upon the products prod-ucts of Utah moving to eastern markets, tho following Illustrations, based upon the current rates from Ka'u Francisco upon the same commodities and moving to the same destinations, may be reassuring: Wheat. lo the Missouri river -Tho present rate of If. onto would bo reduced re-duced to SI cents per 100 pounds. Potatoes, to the Missouri rher The present, rale of SO cents would bo reduced lo 12 cents per 100 pounds. Seed, alfalfa, etc., to the Missouri river- The present rate of SI would bo re--due.'d to ."6 rents per inn pounds. Dry hides and sheep pells, to the Missouri Mis-souri river The present rate of ?1.4". would bo reduced to To cents per 100 pounds. . Sugar, lo the Missouri river 'the present pres-ent rale of r- cents would bo reduced to 31 cents per 100 pounds. Wool, to Boston, Mass. Tho present rate of iC.ir.. sacked, would be reduced to SI cents, baled. Tho people of Utah could doubtless endure with sublime complacency any Inflictions In-flictions of the foregoing character whk h might follow the adoption of a. mileage basis for the construction of their through rates of freight transportation, transpor-tation, but the railroads will employ every ev-ery possible means In prevention of Its being secured. Traffic Bureau Seasonable. The Commercial Club Traffic bureau has not demanded the reductions in full, s shown above, but willingly took tin-view tin-view that certain conditions existed worthv of consideration in the proposed readjustment of commodity rates, which were given reasonable recognition in the construction of Tts petition to the Interstate Inter-state Commerce commission. The enormous earnings of the T nluii I'pcltic svstetn and Us affiliated Irans-coiillnenlal Irans-coiillnenlal system, the southern Par I He company, the dominating forces in iho transportation affairs of this slate and region, havo heretofore been frequently and clearly shown as so grossly excessive per mile of road and for each ton oi freight handled, with their exceptionally low rates of operating expenses, that additional comment thoreon Is scarcely necesarv The people of Utah, however, mav be" interested In further knowing that, from July 1 to November t last, being the first four mouths of their current cur-rent fiscal vear. the freight ami passenger passen-ger earnings of the Union TaciUe system sys-tem INCREASED 33.70.17. and of tho Pacific system, which Includes the en-tral en-tral I'lclllc west of Ogden. of the faoulh-eni faoulh-eni racille company $1.7-13.271. above their overflowing similar earnings for the corresponding months of the jiruvlous CThe question may here very naturally nrNe ns to bow much longer th people will quletlv submit to having those eon-Manily eon-Manily increasing and outrageously excessive ex-cessive revenue;; unjustly and arbitrari-lv"v.rung arbitrari-lv"v.rung from them? Possibly the compiler com-piler of the article mentioned, tho structure struc-ture and diversity of statements of which might indicate his conscious possesion pos-sesion of an all-embracing stock of wisdom, wis-dom, mav be considerate enough to sup-plv sup-plv a satisfactory answer to thlti qnlle interesting proposition- . The people of 1 tab will rejoice If a reesonuble readjustment of transportation transporta-tion rates may result from the work of this bureau. They will also reji,k-e It nnv other sections of the country In the c-isl or the west, oppressed with .-umilar discriminative burdens through the united nnd arbitrary actions ol railway eyrpora lions, may be equally sueeessfnl In like undertaking. cry respeellully. i PF U - I'Al'Jt Ol K. , J" Commissioner or Traffic. .Januniy '-. lf- |