OCR Text |
Show M TRANSPORTING MAIL. H The railroads have sent out a cleverly worded circular to the H newspapers of the country, asking the question, "Does Uncle Sam H demand rebates?" and answering as follows: M ""Whether or not Uncle Sam. is in one sense, at least, much in H the same position as shippers who used to demand rebates is an in- M tcrestiug point which has been raised as a result of the investiga- Hf tion of the question of railway mail pay. At any rate it has been H brought to light that the railroads receive a far smaller return from H the government for space devoted to the carrying of the mails than H the charges sanctioned by the government for similar spoce de- H voted to passenger carrying. Eleven percent of all passenger trains H fire devoted to the carrying of the mails and yet the return which H the carriers receive from Uncle Sam for this space fails by nearly H 50 per cent being in a proportion equal to that which the govern- H ment allows them to earn for carrying passengers. Since in many H cases the same car is used for both purposes, the condition, it is H pointed out, is anomalous as it costs just as much to build, haul and Hj maintain one-half of the car as the other. Moreover Uncle Sam H demands and gets about $12,000,000 worth of free transportation an- j nually from the railroads, since they are forced to cany the mail HJ tlerks free. H "JVTany of these inequalities, however, may be eliminated in H part at least by the proposed annual weighing of mails instead of the j present four-year system under which the railroads must carry the H whole increase during each four-year period for nothing. In each H of the last two such periods this increase has exceeded thirtv per HI cent." H The cost of carrying a passenger docs not include the cost of M tdvertising and the other expenses incident to obtaining passenger H traffic, including agencies in all parts of the country. H While mail clerks are carried without charge, so are Pullman M conductors and porters and other employes whose services are de- H roted to the accommodation of passengers. j The railroads should receive reasonable compensation for car- M rying the mails, but they should present better arguments than the H foregoing if they expect to win converts to their cause. H |