Show nsinn REPORT ON THE RAILROAD LAW Views of Minority Presented in the Senate ty Elkins of West Virginia Figures Covering a Period of Thirty seven Years Show a Big Reduction Reduc-tion In RatesService Much More Efficiently Organized Washington Senator IClklns of West Virginia fins just completed and filed < < 1 In the senate his minority report on Uic railroad rate law It presents a comprehensive history of the economic development of American railroads together with exhaustive tables which tenll to show a constantly constant-ly decreasing freight rand passenger rate and the relation between such rates and tho price of commodities and cost ot labor Tho average passenger rate says tto report advanced slightly from 1870 to 1880 During tho next twenty four years there was n decline amounting to 1785 per cent of tho average for 1880 Tho not decline from 1870 to 1890 averaged 1C14 percent per-cent During tho years from 1870 to 1004 the rate for the earlier year bo ing about two and n half times of the latter and tho not savings to the shippers ship-pers averaged 1109 mills per ton mile I The report says that tho cost ol transportation In 1904 was nearly two billion dollars loss than It would havo been had tho rates for 1870 still prevailed pre-vailed I Tho passenger business of 1904 exceeded ex-ceeded that of 1890 by moro than 25 per cent while the freight rato was 1320 per cent In comparison with the Incrcaso In wages of railroad em ployes from an average wage ot f 50725 In 1900 to 03080 In 1901 Tho report says that the service In 1901 i was so much moro efficiently organIzed I I organ-Ized that tho labor contributed by tho average employe accomplished 23 per cent moro In tho movement of passengers and 74 per cent more in the movement of freight than In 1880 Tho report gives tho total railway capitalization Juno 30 1901 I as 10 I 711791078 and says this amount Is I I i 474 per cent loss than tho commercial commer-cial value of tho railways as estimated I esti-mated by tho census bureau |