Salt Lake Telegram | 1907-06-17 | Page 10 | Money and Railroad Charges.

MONEY AND RAILROAD CHARGES A great commotion is being raised in the Eastern States because some of the States have by statute li lh limited railroad fares to two cents per mile and the roads in ill retaliation have haye given notice that no more commutation on ti tickets will be sold One correspondent of the Sun gives out the statement statement state state- statement ment that h he twenty-five twenty y years ars ago traveled on commutation tickets commutation tickets s at less tess than two cents per per mile and asks why with the greatly increased traffic the railroads cannot carry cannot carry passengers as cheaply now as they did then They rhey probably could if they had to o but there is isa isa s sa a difference nevertheless s. s Twenty Twenty- Twenty five ve years ago I railroad men received much less wages wages' than at pres pres- pres ent Then six fifty-six pound rails were were called heavy rails now anything less than eighty pounds is called light then locomotives cost only ha half f what they now cost so did Pul Pullman man cars since cars since then the expense of railroading has increased quite 30 and in many cases 50 per cent more than now It is a commercial traveler that writes to the Sun Ask him Mm why the goods he s sells are 30 per percent percent percent cent higher than they were tw twenty five five nty-five years rears ago and he would promptly answer r that t the 1 material and the making up of the gO goods ds have advanced quite 30 per cent But he cannot see why railroads sho should ld increase their charges s. s His letter in truth merely gives voice to the hate which with some men men is chron chronic against capital and he does doe not know that there is an inviolable inviolable inviolable able law which causes causes al all kinds of property to advance advance advance ad ad- vance and recede in price just as the volume of money in a country increases s and decreases The he railroads are controlled not owned by y a few men If this Sun correspondent owned 2000 shares in Pennsylvania or Rock Island or any other road he would want the managers to pay him the regular dividends if they could I