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Show Long Walt. "Why don't you wait on a sport like mo?" demanded tho patron who had made tho tenth unsuccessful attempt at-tempt to give ills order for "ham and': "Sport!" laughed tho sarcastic waiter, "you look like a sport. Why, you need a shavo!" "Well, that's your fault if I do. 1 didn't need it when I came in." -T-- . Z.- dend paying stock. For a clearer dcfl- ' nltlon, tho average earnings should bo based upon the entlro stock, nnd not upon tho best paying portion of It, unless un-less there la some reason why the-$2,500,000,000 the-$2,500,000,000 representing the 34 per cent should not have received any dividends divi-dends nt all. In tho flnnl paragraph of tho editorial edito-rial It Is stated that I should not bo allowed to poso as a business man, "Having no Interest in common with the shippers." Inasmuch as my concern con-cern shipped nn average of 350,000 tons of finished product during 190G and 1907, nnd wo wero obliged to receive more than 350,000 tans of Iron to furnish fur-nish this, plus enormous quantities of coke, coal and other supplies, I can safely claim to havo shipped in and out 750,000 tons a year, and as there are no railroads who can nfford to haul this material, or any part or It, without hnving n revonuo from it, nn Increaso ' of 10 cents n ton on my hauling charge would amount to $75,000 and, therefore, there-fore, I have "business" Interests In common com-mon with other shippers." The 350,000 tons of finished product shipped represented repre-sented In the neighborhood of $10,000,-000. $10,000,-000. This $10,000,000 represented mostly most-ly lnbor, with the exception or tho cost or the ore and coal In tho mines. All the balance was made up or wages and profit on the. different conditions or tho raw mntoiial until It was finished fin-ished product. My Illinois plnnts produced GO per cent of this amount, or $0,000,000 a year. For three years our Chicago plants have not run more than half capacity. Therefore, there was $3,000,-000 $3,000,-000 a year le3S in distribution because of n corresponding shrinkage In sales. As most of our Iron nnd coal comes from Illinois, this $3,000,000 u year wns not distributed In Chicago, ns would have been the case had wo worked on the same output that wo did In 190G and 1907. And n great deal of that $3,000,000 which was not pnld was taken out of the business firms situated situ-ated lu or near Chicago by the non-purchnaes non-purchnaes from their vnrled business on the part of tho community thnt would havo received the $3,000,000 a year for three years. That Is tho reason rea-son why I have a right, as a business man, to deprecate any unfair or uncalled-for obstacles that aro placed In the way of my business nnd tho hundred hun-dred other varieties of business In this country that nre affected by tho money put Into circulation by tho rnllroads. When It Is rurthor considered that my business constitutes but 10 per cent or tho cost or a car and that thero were nine other units similarly affected, affect-ed, moat of which would have been tributary to Chicago, anyone can seo how Important it is to his Individual Interests that tho railroad companies should have ample funds to mako theso Improvements nnd purchases, and will realize how comparatively easy it will m bo to stand a reasonable advance on the freight for any material ho will need, If he Is receiving Increased orders. Chicago. T. A. GRIFFIN. (Advertisement.) |