Salt Lake Tribune | 1915-03-28 | Page 5 | Railroad Men Cite Maintenance Costs

RAILROAD MEN CITE limiCE COSTS Deny Charges That Roads Have Beenjdenerally Reconstructed CHICAGO March 0 Efforts to show that the forty one wostern ra 1 roads in spite of the r pet t ons for higher fre ght rates had spent great sums for improvements in recent years vere made on behalf of the sh ppers In the interstate commerce eomm ssion hearing of the ase today Clifford Thome cha rman of tha Iowa ra lway comn ttee referred to the tes t mony of S M Felton pres dent of the Chicago Great Western road Mr Fel toi sad his road had greatly improved its system i st as they are all do ng L E Wettl ng 6tat stlcian for all the roads was cross exam ned Do you agreo with Mr lolton that all the roads ha e gone through a pe nod of reconstruct ont asked Mr Thome Not to the extent that the roads ha e been reconstructed repl od the witness They have been required to bear heavy expenses for r aintenance They havo had to pay high rates for monev But they have not spent vst sums for reconstruct on Isn t it true that industrials have had to pay h gh rates, tool hot so h gh as railroads. ' Has the Northwestern or the Bur-1 Bur-1 ngton or the Milwaukee road paid h gher rates than have industrials T Mr Wettlmg replied that they had but these roads had not bad to pay aa h gh as other roads He said last year the Northwestern and the Burl ngton had borrowed money at 4 4 per cent on goia oonas matur ng in 1H37 but some publ o service corporations had gotten money cheaper As to the Union Pacific Northern Pacific and Great Northern the witness said ha had no figi res Mr WettUng test fied that while snch roads as the Burlington were able to borrow noney at relatively low rates the leas prosperous roads such as the Missouri Pacific, -have to pay high rates and the general average of all the roads showed that they paid much higher rates than mdustr als Adjournment was taken at noon until Monday