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Show RAILROAD FREIGHTS. Since tho beginning of railroading in Utah, the H matter of freights has been the sorest question H that has been presented to business men. The, I H old vicious plea that Salt Lake is not a comngti,- I H tive point has always been urged and freightl adj H justments have been made with that fact ruling H in the minds of railroad men. Today there are H many classes of freight on eastern goods that are so high, when laid down in this city, that mer i, t H chants importing the goods might better have ' H ordered the goods sent through to Portland and H then paid the local freight back to this point. Og- den has several canneries. But the freight on the H tin used in making the cans costs 48 per cent more than the freight to Portland. The resuk H is that the Portland product is sold low down into eastern Idaho, our canneries not being able to t compete. There is good coal at Coalville, but . I the freight from there to this city is just the same that it is from Rock Springs in the center fl of Wyoming. We have not noticed that any local I merchants who deal, in h?a.vy goods like hard- .'I H': ; ware or groceries have declared dividends of late. H jjjj' j We do not wonder at it. Their trade is pre- Hj ' ''I scribed. When they push a little out of this city Hjl ill north, east or west, they are met by cheaper Hjh v goods, in that way our merchants are handi- Bj fj capped and through them the city. Men from Hl ffl abroad come here and wonder that this Is not a H ( more pretentious city, with more trade and more H ! people. The reason is that the trade of the city By kr' is directly limited to a small area. In a short dis- B p tance in either direction, except to the south, H tj" our traders are met by the cheaper goods that H j' come from competitive points. To the south there H H I' is only the mining and a small agricultural com- H ' j " munity to supply. H j Then where in the south mining men are try- H l frig to build up great enterprises the rule seems Ht k to be changed and as much tariff is laid on as the H !pf traffic can possibly stand. The freight on supplies H ' ) to the mines is very heavy and the freight on ores H j'l' and base bullion is four or flvo times what any HjjH eastern road would think of charging. A carload H i j, of cement came here from Kansas City recently, jir" The freight was $160.00 for 1,200 miles. The H, jj j carload was pushed on to Milford, 225 miles, ana H' t the freight was ?160.00 more. It costs about half H fj f ( as much to bring base bullion and mat from Mil- B il ' ford to this city as to send it from this city to B ' ,j' Chicago. B';i And there seems to be no remedy. Governor H Wells has tried to make each of the last two H , Legislatures give the people relief in vain. An H , annual pass is supplied the gentlemen from San B n i Juan or San Pete before he leaves home; he looks K , 5j ' at It, says to himself: "I am fixed for life," and m r I that, with him at least, closes the debate. W! Ih 1 The Tribune dare not say a word. The Her- Bfl f ( aid is in the same boat, and the News is just as jff ft I badly involved. We noticed the other day that Vf! several eastern roads had combined and issued a Jlff good many tickets; to be used or transferred at fll : the will of the buyer. A struggle was made eighteen years ago in the West, to make that a compulsory rule on all roads. It should be the rule everywhere. If A buys a ticket over a road, that ticket is his property and he has as much right to sell it as he has to sell his horse or dog. Such a rule should apply to freights. There should be a rate for loading and unloading a car, and then a certain sum per mile for transporting transport-ing that car. That would make a railroad a common com-mon carrier in fact, and place every patron of the road on a common basis. That will have to come after a while or the ciy for government ownership own-ership will soon swell into an irresistible demand. |
