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Show THE B ELATION OF RAILROAD RATES TO GENERAL BUSINESS. T the Business Man: No mat-Hof bow objectionable an advance In Sftelxbt rates may be to us personally, w must recognise that an Improve-- , mast In general business is dependent ra a betterment ot operating and financial conditions of the railroads. That the operating results are most m satisfactory is readily seen by ATE COMMERCE tetes t COS! MISSION reports, which show ithaA for the nine months ended April 1st, 1910, eleven railroad systems, all West and North of a line drawn from Chicago to St. Louis, compared with the same roads for the same period in INTER-S- he previous year, had their gross arnlngs increased about $50,000,000.00, while their net earnings showed a of $3,500,000.00, and for the iwcwtth of March, on the same comparison. they show an Increase of $7,000,-9060 In gross and a decrease of JDfij.COO.OO in net earuings. Attention is called to the fact that the wage Increases, (except a small amount,) were not in force during this period, and from now on these will greatly increase the operating cost. These same railroads had their taxes to creased over the previous year and have to pay higher rates of Interest on their loans. These roads covering the most prosperous part of the country may be considered representative of general railroad conditions. During the past three years of poor railroad expenditures for business, maintulnance were necessarily at the lowest point, and in consequence their motive power equipment and tracks now demand a greater proportion of operating expense. No provision has (burn or is being made for the growing demands of the country, and as transportation is the backbone of business, its weakness or inefficiency cripples every other condition ; because all products are valuable In the ratio with which their accessibility to the con- suming market It Is most Important to the shipper, that railroads at all times are fully equipped to take care of an increase of his business. The first eight months of .1967 demonstrated that the railroads could not handle the business then -- with any degree of satisfaction. The financial conditions since have not permitted them to even maintain their rall-voa- way be. 'With all the increasing cost weof d of supplemented by ever and burdensome legislative Restrictions concerning their earnings, in tare of the fact that the average dividend rate on railroads was less ehan 3(4 per cent for the past six Tears, and the United States Supreme Court in the case of the Consolidated f3s Company stated that 6 per cent was a fair return on money invested Jn public utilities, with the average of freight rate in i909 of per ton per mile, the lowest in vaine years, the average passenger rate -- three-quarter- three-fourth- s ULtpjst. s 3?or saTe, one and cents, "he Vswest ever reached, is it any won- nine-tenth- iw that the investor holds back and Hankers demand high Interest '.cafes from the railroads? The railroads tae-e$2,050,000,000.00 to put their lines proper condition, and to increase rtftfc&r terminal facilities at all points .&&? are even now a necessity, and :lS)tlO,OtK),W0.00 more for modern new n stock-holder- s anti-railroa- d Woman Builds Flying Machine. Incorrect Pnraseology. An Irish woman. Miss Lillian E. Speaking of the comet as a "eeles-Kiatenderer," when its orbit is fixed Bland, has designed and built for heratMl'Iwtwn and its place in the heav-- s self a biplane glider 28 feet wide. tl determined at any time, is about aw norreet as speaking of a dash to tlw .pole when the dasher is doing xwet tfce make ten miles a day. New Several satisfactory glides have been accomplished with the machine, controlled from the ground by ropes. The engine and propellers will be fitted later. Leisure Essential. 'Trees, fields, sunsets, rivers, breezes tsnd the like, must all be enjoyed at leisure. If at all. There is not the .slightest use in a mans paying a hur-tievisit to the country. He may as well go there blindfolded as go in a ?3rarry. He will never see the coun- a perception, no try. He doubt, of hedgerows and grass, of green lanes and silent cottages, perhaps of great hills and rocks, of vari-ou- s Items which go toward making ftbe country; but the country Itself he will never see. Country Parscn. Whos the Boss? (York Trtouue. will-hav- j A Boston professional man went out recently and on his return found this note from his stenographer, who had evidently been house cleaning: If Im not in by nine, it's because I am at the dentist, probably, but It may be that Im at home, sick with ail kinds of diseases that one catches from dirt germs. If thats the reason, you have no kick coming at all, because your ,old desk was a mess. You can be fixing up that pile of letters and we will answer them right off. Thems my orders." A. - 0. Changing Ideas About the Fourth of to-da- Khan position. If the then volume of ifcuainess were to come back supplemented by the three years growth of i the country in the interval, transporta-Cfor- . would be paralyzed; and what WHVtitfi that cost the shipper compared a reasonable advance In freight rtes now? Such an advance would provide the means for avoiding this : Impending disaster. The iron horse taneds to be kept in good condition for 7 the name reason as the living horse sr-for transportation. The teamster knows that if his horse is not well shod, well groomed and well fed, and his harness and wagon kept In fgood repair, that all he will save on '.such economy, will be many times wasted In the efficiency ot his transportation, and also add great expense to the shipper. It Is exactly the same with the railroads: the shipper has a vt!ht to demand that transportation i be ample and efficient; the success of 'his business and the development of the country are dependent on it. The Investor: To do this, the must show adequate returns to 'maintain proper borrowing credit and present a promising source of investment to procure the necessary funds to improve and develop the property as needed. It is neither the railroad president nor the shipper that controls the situation; it is the investor alone 'Who holds the key; without his un Invested dollar the railroad cannot ex- tend rr improve, no matter how great the needs of the shipper or the country GRIFFIN REPLIES TO dend paying stock. Fbr a clearer definition, the average earnings should be DAILY NEWS EDITORIAL ON based upon the entire stock, and not FREIGHT RATE ADVANCES upon the best paying portion of tt, unless there is some reason why the (From Chicago Daily News.)-Mr$2,500,000,000 representing the 34 per Griffin Replies. cent should not have received any diviI desire to call attention to an- edito- dends at all. rial printed In The Daily News, May In the final paragraph of the edito21, headed Back Fire on the Shippers, rial It is stated that I should not be in- which you make the following state- allowed to pose as a business man, ments: First, that my representation having no Interest In common with of the case is not candid; second, that the shippers. Inasmuch as my conwhat I did have to say was based upon cern shipped an average of 350,000 tons the action of the shippers conference, of finished product during 1906 and and, thirl, that I had no- right 'to pose 1907, and we were obliged to receive as a business man having Interests la more than 350,000 tons of iron to furcommon with the shippers. nish this, plus enormous quantities of The circulation for signatures of a coke, coal and other supplies, I can Itatement relating to freight rates was, safely claim to have shipped in and as far as I was concerned, confined to out 750,000 tons a year, and as there fellow members of the Railway Busi- are no railroads who can afford to haul ness association, and no reference was this material, or any part of it, without I having a revenue from It, an increase made to the shippers conference. personally attended this conference of 10 cents a ton on my hauling charge and have no criticism to- make on any- would amount to $75,000 and, therething that was done there and none fore, I have business interests in comThe 350,000 was made or Intended by me, but what mon with other shippers. deprecated was contained in an ar- tons of finished product shipped repreticle sent out by the Illinois Manufac- sented in the neighborhood of $10,000,-00This $10,000,000 represented most-l- y turers Association, dated May 7, and, as a member of that Association, I labor, with the exception of the personally wrote a letter to each of its cost of the ore and coal In the mines. Individual members, dated May 17. In Ail the balance was made up of wages this I referred to the misleading and and profit on the different conditions unfair statements contained in the of the raw material until it was fincircular of May 7 mentioned above, and ished product. I said In doing so I was candid. My Illinois plants produced 60 per that the statement that railroads are cent of this amount, or $6,000,000 a year. For three years our Chicago rapidly increasing their net earnings was not true and as to the correctness plants have not run more than half of my statement I beg to refer to the capacity. Therefore, there was $3,000,-00- 0 a year less in distribution because following: comof a corresponding shrinkage in sales. The latest interstate-commerc- e mission reports show that during the As most of our iron and coal comes month of March eleven systems, repre- from Illinois, this $3,000,000 a year was senting every railroad north and west not distributed in Chicago, as would on a line drawn through Chicago and have been the case had we worked on SL Louis, show an increase in gross the same output that we did in 1906 earnings for the month of March, of and 1907. And a great deal of that nearly $7,000,000 compared with March, $3,000,000 which was not paid was 1909, while the net earnings for the taken out of the business firms situtame roads in the same period show ated in or near Chicago by the non1 decrease of $965,000; and the interpurchases from their varied business state commerce commission figures for on the part of the community that the ten months, July to March 31, In would have received the $3,000,000 a 1910, as compared with 1909, show an year for three years. That Is the reaIncrease in gross of over $50,000,000, son why 1 have a right, as a business while the net earnings of these same man, to deprecate any unfair or uncobstacles that are placed In systems in the same period of compari- alled-for son, show a falling off of over $3,500,-00- the way of my business and the hunAnd, as comparatively little of dred otter varieties of business In thla the increases in wages had even gone country that are affected by the money Into effect during March, the railroads put Into circulation by the railroads. must provide some means to increase When It Is further considered that my a revenue that Is already decreasing business constitutes but 10 per cent on an increased amount of business, of the cost of a car and that them and there is no way for railroads to were nine other units similarly affectprovide this except by increasing their ed, most of which would have been rates, and surely there is reason for tributary to Chicago, anyone can sen how Important it is to his Individual the need of It." In the third paragraph on the sec- Interests that the railroad companlea should have ample funds to make these ond page ot this Illinois Manufacturers Association circular of May 7 Improvements and purchases, and will It Is stated that 7.99 per cent was realize how comparatively easy It will earned on the dividend-payin- g stock, be to stand a reasonable advance on making no allowance for the 34 per the freight for any material he will cent, of stock on which no dividends need, if be Is receiving increased were paid. I might, with equal propri- orders. T. A. GRIFFIN. Chicago. ety, make the statement that there was no dividend paid on the non-div- i (Advertisement.) T. 0 0 $2,500,000.00, or 14 motive power end equipment to move their freight with promptness end economy. Where can they get the money? Only by increased earnings from advanced rates, and by so doing better their credit by attracting the uninvested dollars that are now going to other more attractive but leas productive Investments. What will the advance cost the Ultimate Consumer? Poors Manual eayi the average haul of all freight in 190$ was 142 miles. The average rate in s 1909 was of a cent pet ton per mile. The average total rate for the average total haul, assuming It to be the same as 1908, would be $1.06 per ton. An advance of 10 on this rate would Increase the cost 10 cents per ton, or of a cent per pound. An advance of 10' on the present specific rates would increase the cost of 100 pounds dressed beef In New York, shipped from Chicago, 4(4 cents; 100 pounds canned fish In St. Louis, cents; 100 shipped from Maine, 1 pounds flour in New York, from Minneapolis, 2 cents; a suit of clothes in Chicago, from Boston, (4 cent; the same for a woman's suit. On a man's outfit, coat, trousers, shoes and hat. New England to Mississippi Valley, not to exceed 1 cent. The Ultimate Consumer can multiply these illustrations indefinitely. The manufacturer Jobber and retai'er could easily absorb this slight advance, because, if his business Increased but one unit, that would more than pay the increased cost on one hundred units. Railroad net earnings thus Increased, the railroads would have a ready market for their securities, and with the money thus obtained again start all the business and industries now comparatively idle that are directly or Indirectly dependent on their property. The working men would be fully employed, their families would again purchase freely, and that means good business for everyone. There are 1,600,000 railroad employees. It takes 2,500,000 men to supply what the railroads need, and a vast number of men are employed In supplying the personal needs of the above 4,000,000 men and their families, representing 16,000,000 people. Every kind of business Is dependent in some measure on railroad prosperity. High cost of living: If it had not been for the encouragement given railroad investors In the past, where would we have been y for our food supply? They opened up thousands of miles of undeveloped and unproductive land and yet our food Is high, because of lack of supply; our consumption Is increasing faster than our food production. If the railroad Investor stops as he now has, there will be an advance In food rates soon that will be far greater than Increased freight rates. High food means high labor, and high Therelabor means high everything. fore the Ultimate Consumer and the State and National Governments should be Interested In developing land that will produce bountiful foqd products. Half of the country the Mississippi is not used, and will not be until covered with railroads. Who would want to build roads in unproductive lands when those in cultivated country will barely pay the lowest rate of Interest, and the owners and managers are being harassed and maligned as In no other business? This condition will only Improve when the business man realizes that the Investor does not provide the He source of his own investments. waits for you to do that in some desirable form. By your individually letting things drift, and doing nothing, your legislator, with no business experience, hearing no advice and receiving no direct information, which h$ gladly would from you (quite likely you do not even know his name), listens to the only voices heard; the agitator or the aggressive shipper whose views of the business world are obtained by looking out of the small hole of a funnel directed at his own plant, unconscious of other conditions of far more Importance to his own business than the freight rates. Such men as these by their vociferous ylgor, have stirred ufs popular agitation that has eftwed all parties, and they fere so scared of being charged as owned or bought that all questions of principle, equity or the general good are ignored. The railroad man draws his salary, whether the road pays or not; he does not own it. If he does say anything he is sat as a body are upon. The defenseless. You are the sufferer and the only one who would be listened to. Will you not study your own Interests, find out your legislators name, and tell him the real situation? Otherwise we must wait until grim necessity starves out the present fever. June 6, 1910. T. A. GRIFFIN. (Advertisement.) HE legislatures of seven states and the city councils of scores of cities have passed laws prohibiting the use of fireworks on the Fourth of July. This adverse legislation, which began as early as 1901, has so wept over the country that the Fourth of July celebration this year will be a radical departure e methods of honorfrom the ing this auspicious day. The terrible loss of life that has accompanied every Fourth of July celebration in recent years Is the cause of this legislation. The present generation does not remember that during the latter part of the eighteenth century, and even during the greater part of the nineteenth, there were no such fireworks and explosives as are used today in celebrating the anniversary of independence. Our forefathers in knee breeches and powdered hair celebrated the day chiefly by patriotic speeches and dinners. Every club, every society and organization met around the festive board and honored the day In song and story. The nature of the speeches and dinners varied with the locality, but In one respect all were the same. They agreed absolutely in the number of toasts. It was the custom to have toasts representing, of thirteen course, the thirteen original states. With the admission of new states this custom died out, probably because the banqueters were unable to drink so much. Parades in the larger towns were features of the celebration during the early years of the republic, but the principal part of the celebration was the banquet and Its oratory. In recent years, however, there has been a great falling off in the exuberant qualities of patriotic oratory end the day has been celebrated with mere noise. The prophecy of John Adams has The day Is celebrated come true: with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and Illuminations from one end of the country to the other. Oratory, prayer and praise are forgotten and the old time decorous celebration of the day has seemingly passed away forever. It should not be taken from this that there was no noise connected with the early celebrations. Quite the contrary. Salutes of guns were fired, bells were rung, and in the evening tar barrels were burned, but there was not the continuous succession of noises which mark the celebration today. Nor was there any list of dead and Injured on the day following. Nearly every resident of a city who can do so goes out of town to avoid the noise of the Fourth. Just the reverse was true of the early celebrations. The first big celebration was held In Boston in 1779. All the vessels In the harbor fired salutes in the morning, and the day was given up to oratory, prayer and praise. Societies and organizations held banquets at noon and In the evening, and the celebration was concluded with the burning of tar barrels and more salutes from the ships In the harbor. Early in the nineteenth century fire old-tim- works began to have place in the celebration. These were harmless and simple compared with the explosives which are put on the market today. Not only were they less dangerous and noisy, but their use was restricted to a comparatively small number of people. Those who were unable to get fireworks got out their muskets and shot them off. Others fired Improvised cannons. Even blacksmiths got out their anvils and by placing powder in little boles were able to touch it off so that it made a satisfactory amount of noise. With the Increase of the noise came the decrease In the patriotic orations and prayers. Before the fiftieth celebration of the day had been observed noise bad almost entirely supplanted oratory. The question today is, how should the Fourth of July be celebrated? The manner in which It Is celebrated, many declare, is not in entire keeping with the spirit of the day nor the comfort and pleasure of the majority of citizens. Those who would reform the manner of celebration say the day should be kept not so much in remembrance of the feats of American arms as for the spirit of liberty and progress. It should be a true festival without forgetting the claims of the young. There should be civic banquets, gatherings at which the progress made in all lines during the past year could be reviewed. There should be oratory and speeches In every community, with an effort to make the celebration more like the early observances. There should be processions, but they should be less military In character than formerly. And, quite as important, there should be no monster concerts and entertainments where nobody has a good time, but divers assemblages where every one can enjoy himself. The day should be ushered in with martial music and sufficient military display to be In keeping with the spirit of the occa-slobut orations, feasts and banquets, exercises for children and public gatherings should be the real features of the celebration. In the evening there should be fireworks, the less noisy and the more spectacular the better. When the day la celebrated In tills way there will be no occasion for people of refined taste and sensitive nerves to leave the city to escape the noise and crowds, say the reformers. In fact, the celebration just proposed will attract rather than disperse them. And If Maxim's new noiseless gun Is adopted there is no reason why the problem of a safe and sane Fourth cannot be solved for all time. nerve-shatterin- g n, Punch for the Fourth. Plain lemonade may be metamor- BOYS TAKE A BACK SEAT Bpetling Contests Held in New Orleans Prove Girls Superior to Their Brothers. The result of the spelling contests in the New Orleans public schools again demonstrates the superior proficiency of, the girls, practically all of the victors being members of the gentler sex. Last year the same thing was true and the matter was quite generally commented on In the press and at gatherings where educational subjects were discussed. So far as our Information goes there have been no contests to determine the pupils In other branches of study, but it would he interesting to know If this feminine superiority is found to exist In all studies, or If they are confined only to particular branches. Doubtless this result Is due in part to the fact that the female mind ripens at an earlier age than Is the case with the masculine mind, although there is little doubt that the feminine intellect along .certain lines is more acute than th masculine, which would seen, to justify the conclusion that certain branches of study are more readily mastered by girls and women. In view of the growing number of young women that are going into positions as stenographers, typewritists and other positions requiring an accurate knowledge of spelling, this demonstrated proficiency is most gratifyThe public school administraing. tion is to be commended upon the efforts It has made to improve the spelling of the public school pupils and the triumphant girls to be congratulated upon their easy victory over the boys. ft The Outing Spirit. If you want to have a good time on your outings you must make up your mind to help along by acquiring the outing spirit This means: Learn to put up with whatever turns up. Dont grumble, fidget or expect impossibilities. Dont pose. That is, pretend you like roughing it and outdoor life when all you crave is a crowded board walk and the glitter of a summer hotel. Dont attempt more than you hava for. Be a good sport without being reck- strength less. Ixok after your health. Remember the workers outing must have rest and strength building for the undont derlying motive. Therefore, overtire yourself or trifle with bad water and messy foods. Make your outing come well within your means. It is foolish to blow in iu two weeks the savings of months. Season all with a determination to have a good time, keep happy and never let your temper run away with you. Pocket Wireless. The Italian savant. Mgr. Cerebotanl, papal nuncio at Munich, Is the Inventor of an Instrument like a large watch, which enables a person to receive messages transmitted from wireless stations. The apparatus Is merely a pocket receiver, and the only accessories are a bobbin of wire and a metallic encased cane. A person thus equipped can at a given moment receive communications from a station within a radius of twenty to thirty miles. Midas. Long Wait. Why dont you wait on Midas had come to that point in his a sport career where everything he touched like me? demanded the patron who turned to gold. had made the tenth unsuccessful atWhat shall you ever do with the ham stuff? asked his entourage in visible tempt to give his order for and alarm. Midas affected not to be uneasy. Sport!" laughed the sarcastic waiter, you look like a sport. Why, Just wait till the boys begin to touch me! quoth he, displaying an yen need a shave! Well, thats your fault If I do. I acquaintance with economic tendendidnt need it when I came in." cies far in advance of his age. Puck. Invitation Accepted. that a certain lady of a phosed Into lemon ginger punch by western Kansas town desired to show adding to each quart of lemonade an kindness to the captain of the local equal amount of ginger ale. Have state militia company and wrote the ready also a number of sprays of the following invitation: Mrs. fresh mint and bruise the lower leaves requests the pleasure of Captain s and stemB between the fingers so as company at a reception on Friday eveto bring out the mint flavor. Put ning." these into the punch a half hour beA prompt reply came: "With the This Is particularly fore serving. exception of three men who are sick at afternoon teas, piazza or with measles, Captain popular s company roof parties or any social function kind Invitation and will your accepts where men are represented. Emma come with pleasure to your reception Paddock Telford. Friday evening." It is told Truly Wonderful Climate. Hyperbole Gassaway went from here to a little town In southern California for his health. In two weeks he wrote home that he felt ten years younger. Some days later he wrote again that he felt 20 years younger. Then his family heard no more from him. They telegraphed the mayor of the California town for Information about their Hyperbole Gassaway and got I regret to Inform yon this answer: that your beloved husband and father, after a months residence here, died from cholera Infantum. A |