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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (March 9, 1905)
I Vol. XVI. LINCOLN, NEB., MARCH 9, 1905. No. 42 EXPLOITING EMPIRE he Railroads Divide up the Conti nent and Levy Upon Each Part All the People Can Pay TRUST SPHERES OF INFLUENCE Havemeyer and Spreckles, Morgan " and Rockefeller Decide What the People Shall Contibute In our last letter we shipped a car of stoves illustrating fifth class rates and one stove to show thirdclass rates, to the coast and to intermediate cities northwest and west through the St. (Paul, Minn., "gateway." We will now ship a car of stoves, weighing 24,000 pounds, and one stove weighing 500 pound3, as before, to the southwest and west to coast points, via the Kansas City, Mo., "gateway." Taking the Santa Fe road out of Chi- caeo 182 miles to . Galesburg, 111., a coint 100 miles northeast of Quincy, 111., the freight is $40.80. If to Quincy we are shipping, a special rate lower than class rate, is made and the freight bill is $36. The rate to Galesburg per 100 pounds is twenty-eight and seven tenths mills on the one stove, making the freight bill (500 pounds) $1.43. To Quincy, 100 miles further, it is $1.45, without fractional rate. This fractional rate is because or the wisdom (?) and zeal of the Illi nois state board. They are so efficient and hair-SDlittins in rate making that they evidently set up nights with the railroad men tfr get rates exact. " By having-fractlonal rates "the dear peo ple" learn how to figure cjose and it makes work for the railroads to get expense bills correct. It also gives 4V. n t4-AVl1" nlfltr CA milill Tl AnH luy giauu oiauu jjiaj, ov iuuw uttu ed by, expert politicians on state boards that carry passes and serve twQ rnas ters. You have heard of "racket" stores marking goods flown from .75 penny in change instead of a nickel. Well, that is what fractional rates mean for Illinois. ' Peoria, 111., is a point 53 miles east of Galesburg, and the freight on. the car of stoves from Chicago is $33.60 If the car is shipped from Buffalo, N. ,Y.," 720 miles to Galesburg, 111., the freight is $61.20.' If to Peoria from Buffalo via C, R. I. &XP. Ry. it is $49.20 although but 20 miles shorter haul to Galesburg via Santa Fe in densely pop iili-t Arl T 11 i n ri a This is a fairly good example of ton per mile rate making by railway ex perts in their efforts to reconcile con- 1 Jl 1 nicting interests unaer a pooi or agree ment where cross lines from the east meet western lines from Chicago. The net result is the consumer pays '$12 more per minimum weight car for a 720 mile haul on stoves from Buffalo, N. Y., via Chicago over the Santa Fe it Ti..Hiiivii i-a n.iAMi1...M ur uvtu cue uumugLuii iu vxeuesuurg than doe3 the consumer at Peoria on a 700 mile haul via Chicago over the C, R. I. & P. Ry. At Fort Madison, la., we cross the Mississippi river 238 miles from Chi cago and 'the rate is $36, same1 as to Quincy or any other Mississippi river "gateway.".- To Carrollton, 15 miles west in Missouri our stoves get no special but take the fifth class rate, making the freight bill $64.80 on the car and third class on the one stove, $2.20. That rate holds good until we get beyond the Missouri river at Kan sas City, 458 miles from Chicago,' the rate being $64.80, same as to Omaha and other Missouri river "gateways." ' To Topeka, Kan., 525 miles from Chi cago, the rate is $88.80, which means that $24 additional charge Is exacted for the 67 miles additional haul from Kansas City. Sugar is a commodity that is noted in-rate sheets as fifth class in car lots, same as are stoves. But the freight on a car (24,000 pounds) of sugar Chicago to Topeka Is $91.80 being $3 more than on ; the stoves. This is because the sugar takes a speoial rate higher than the class rate in order to divide up the empire of trade satisfactorily, between the su gar kiags Mr. Sprectal of San Fran cisco and Mr. Havemeyer of New York. ifth class rate, Chicago, 587 miles, to Emporia, Kan. (and 130 miles from Kansas City) is 51 cents per 100 pounds, and the freight on our car of stoves is $122.40 and on tne one stove t is $4. But the special rate lower than class rates is made on sugar and the freight on same weight car of sugar, Chicago to Emporia, is $91.80 same as to Topeka. If sugar and stoves belong in same class In car lots there is an overcharge of $33.80 per car on stoves at Emporia. Iron pipe in car lots takes fifth class same as do stoves and sugar. But ship a 24,000 pound car each of stoves, iron pipe and sugar from Chicago to Em poria, Kan., and the freight is $122.40 on the stoves, $98.40 on the Iron pipe and $91.80 on the sugar. They tell us none but railway experts can maice rate3. uney are rignt n rates are to be made on the theory of what the traffic will bear or what, will tear down one city and build up an other or divide empire of trade between rival sugar refineries. To Newton. Kan., 660 miles from Chicago or 200 miles west of Kansas City the stove car rate is $139.20 and the one stove $4.50. At Newton we will leave the main line west and go south. We stop a car at Wichita, 687 miles from Chicago and tlie rate is $144 and on the one stove $4.55. The 230 mile haul west of Kansas City to Wich ita takes an additional charge of $79.20 on the car above the 457 miles haul, Chicago to Kansas City. They tell us rates are reasonable and wonder why Kansas is restless as a dog with fleas. Railway managers tell us that the In terstate commerce commission is not capable of fixing rates nor in their opinion is any other governmental body able to make just rates. They tell U3 none but railway experts can do that. It is a fact not generally known that the railways have "rate committees" located at various points over the United States with a small army of clerks whose duty it is to spy out the land and learn what industry, and when, is started at any point, and what relation it bears to a like enter prise in which directora of their roads may be interested, what manner of crop is grown, what market any com modity seeks and gather industrial sta tistics for their own private use, more accurate and complete than compiled by any government in its tax gather ing. This is done first that the traffic manager may know from the rate mak ers that he is getting all the freight revenue on his line the traffic will bear, Second, that natural growth of agri culture, stock raising, mining and man ufactures may not catch one road nap ping and cause another road to issue a "midnight" tariff starting a rate war. Third, that years of compiled data and study of conditions affecting cost of production on every conceivable article of commerce may be had so as to know how touch the traffic will bear. Fourth, that the rivers of commerce may not overleap the bounds placed upon them and cut or create new channels. This' is illustrated by the late grain rate wars from Missouri river grain fields between lines east to Atlantic coast and south to the gulf. When transcontinental roads come to blows, the fight is in its nature the same as that between two thick skinned beasts from the jungles o Africa. There is no spilling of brains but much noise and loss of blood and corruption, and with no more regard for public peace industry or equity Grain makes less than nine per cent of the nation s totai tonnage. "Ex port" grain but a fraction of that nine per cent. Yet the. noise made in the late "midnight" tariff and grain rate war would lead one rooking out into the moonlight of railroading, to think a cat fight was in progress on every fence post and square foot of the na tion. Soon as it is fixed up by a com bine in direct conflict with the Sher man anti-trust act, as it will be, we will get reports on how necessary it is to cut labor and other expense ac counts. The freight rate made by the railway expert is whimsical, unjust and unreliable instead of being stable, just and reliable as is the postage rate.' 1 Let us ship a car (24,000 pounds) of such staple articles as are stoves, iron pipe and sugar from Chicago, III., 728 miles to Arkansas City, Kan. These goods all being fifth class according to the standard set by classification sheets and going to the same point, we would think the freight bill would be alike for each car. But we find the car of Moves to be $148.80, the Iron pipe $108 andthe sugar $96. And to make confusion more confounding In exam- ning the sugar tariffs we find sugar Is hauled 1,800 miles and more for a much ess rate than is this 700 mile haul, all owing to agreements made between Mr. Spreckles of California and Mr. Have meyer of New York in collusion with the "expert" railway rate makers. Both these captains of industry pay two cents for a postage stamp as well as doe3 the tramp private in the rear ranks of industry. In like manner should , the freight stamp be paid for at uniform and exact rate by the high and low. We will show before we fin- sh that a 5-cent freight stamp will move every iuu pounus oi any com modity any distance in our nation, al- owing the roads all the gross revenue and a greater net revenue than they now get. But we will now continue our car of stoves. The rate, Chicago to Fonca, O. T., is $156, and on the one stove, $5. To Pery, (X T., it 13 $172.80 and that rate becomes a "blanket on down the line through Stillwater, Mulhall, Guth rie, Oklahoma City and 890 miles, Chi cago to Percell. To Ardmore and Mar ietta, O. T., the rate is $180. Soon as we cross the Red river into Texas, we find the "blanket" rate on interstate commerce, is extensively used. They have what are called "Texas common points" located over a territory ex ceeding 400 miles by , 500 miles In ex tent, large or small town3 taking the same rate. In other words, the iroads find that the "blanket" or smothered postal rate is the only practical rate to produce revenue, and at the same time avoid rate war. The wholesale or distributing points also find that they can do business in competition with each other with the same rate In force to them as that which is in force to their competitor 500 miles further from their source of supply. i Did the roads have the wisdom and conception of duty due the public un der their exercise of delegated rights of eminent domain they would put In a national postal rate, each locality sharing in the general average, which would reduce freight charges to a rea sonable basis, putting the business of rail transportation on the high plain to which It belongs. Texarkana, Paris, Honey Grove, Sherman, Gainesville, West to Quanah, in north Texas, take a rate of $196.80 on our car of stoves and in tne one stove, $5.80. These" same rate3 govern if we ship to Marshall, Long View, Dallas, Fort Worth, Weatherford, and west to Big Springs, in north central Texas, and that is true also with Luf- kin, Palestine, Millano, Temple to San- Angelo, also Austin, and all rail to Huston, Galveston and Beaumont and to San Antonio, 1383 miles from Chi cago. ' This uniformity of Interstate rates in Texas is brought about by compro mise and agreement between southwest lines from Chicago, St. Louis, Cincin nati and other Ohio river gateways, south lines from Kansas City and the cross lines from New York, from the east, and from New Orleans, La. There are about 275 towns in western Texas, that are known as "differential points'' laying outside the competitive condi tions, where the roads get higher than "common point" rate3. Amarillo and Dalhart are such differential points and the rate on our car of stoves to either point from Chicago is $211.20 and on the one stove, $6.20. The "dif ferential" runs from 2 cents to 37 cents per 100 pounds on first class in addition to common point rate, and grading down to. from 1 cent to 15 cents on D (the lowest cla3 rate) ac cording (o the location from common point territory. Pecas, Toxas, on e"d of the Wellington. Kansas, Santa Fe line, 1415 miles from Chicago, takes a rate of $288. To El Paso, 1,630 miles from Chicago, the rate is $:23.20. From Texa3 across the Rio Grande river there are three "gateways" into Old Mexico. El Paso, Eagle Pass and Laredo, which gateways take the same rate from Chicago and our car of stoves take $223.20 rate, and the one stove, $6.70. If we ship our car of stoves all rail from Chicago by way of EhPaso, Tex., to Mexico City over the Mexican Central railway, 2,855 miles of haul, the class rate Is $4,29.60 on the car and on the one atove it Is $11.65, but a special car rate is put in making the actual rate $264 or $24 less than to Pecos, Tex. Thus, the Santa Fe finds It can deliver to a foreign line and divide the rate on a 2,855 mile haul $24 cheaper than the same goods can be hauled a little over half the dis tance all on their own line. And Mr. Paul Morton tells us our rates are, of themselves, reasonable. But let ua go back to the main line at Newton, Kan., and continue our car west. To Hutchinson, 693 miles from Chicago the car rate is $144 and the one stove $4.55, while the rate on a car of sugar is $96. Compared with sugar the car of stoves has, according to their classification, an over-charge of $48 and that Is true of any merchandise to which they assign fifth class rates. To Great Bend, 744 miles from Chicago, the rate is $151.20, and out on the branch to Scott City, 120 miles further, the rate is $184.80, and a car of sugar begins to crawl back to its class rate for its rate to Scott City is $172.80. , The rate to Dodge City, 827 miles from Chicago, is same as the Scott City rate on stoves, but the sugar rate is $160.80. From Dodge City west through Cool idge on western edge of Kansas and to , Lajunta, Colo., 1,030 miles from Chi cago and on to Pueblo, Trinidad and Denver the rate is a "blanket" one, or the same rate, viz, $184.80. To Raton, N. M., 1,134 miles from Chicago the stove car rate is $223.20, the same as toxoid Mexico gateways. To Las Vegas, 1,245 miles from Chicago, the rate i3 $292.80, and the same to Santa Fe, Lamy or to Albuquerque, 1,377 miles of haul, and on the one stove it is $7.25. To Rincon, N. M., 1,554 miles, the car rate is $292.80, but on the one stove it is $9. To Demlng, 54 miles from Rincon on a Branch, the rate Is $336 or $72 more-than-4 hauled 2,855 miles to Mexico City in Old Mexico, or $36 more than If hauled from New York to San Francisco. From Rincon, 77 miles further to El Paso on the same line in the same direction, the rate is $223.20. Suppose an effort is made to ship stoves or to ship any fifth class commodity from El Paso as the point of origin for our shipment 77 miles to Rincon, N. M., the rate for 24,000 pounds would be $105.60. If we ship from El Paso less than 400 mile3 to Las Vegas, N. M., the rate Is $252, or within $12 of the rate from Chicago to Mexico' City over the same haul, more than 8 times the distance and without naming these facts to his read ers, Mr. Paul Morton . tells U3 rates (XL C, JJC OCf 1 COVUC Wit. J- J us they try to build up business oh their lines, locally, and invite us west. Let us again go back to the main line to Laguna, N. M., 1,443 miles from Chi cago, and the freight on our car of stoves is $360 and on the one stove $10,75. The rate to Laguna from the -ripnrpsf PaHflc CViast nnint 820. miles.- Is $12 more than though the car was hauled and division made with foreign lines from Harrisburg, Pa., over east ern roads via Chicago and the Santa Fe road to Los Angeles, 3,265 miles of haul, Gallup is on the west edge of New Mexico, 90 miles nearer the Pa cific coast, than is Laguna, but the rates are the same from the west as to Laguna. From Chicago to Gallup our car i3 $439.20 and on the one store $12.85. To Flagstaff, Ariz., 1,721 miles from Chicagoand to Ash Fork, 1,778 miles, the car stove rate Is $444. If we ship down the branch to Phoenix 1,835 miles from Chicago, the car stove rate is $487.20, and to Kelvin, 331 miles from Ash Fork the rate becomes $523.20, almost double the amount and 1,000 miles less haul than to the City of Mexico. Are these exactions as to rate made by the Santa Fe road to re imburse It for rebates to the Colo rado Fuel and Iron company and to the Morton brothers, salt dealers in Kansas? From Flagstaff west through S'elig man, Ariz., The Needles, and Barstow, Calif., the "blanket" rate on our car of stoves is $1.85 per hundred pounds, or tiii At San Rarnardinn Halif. ' GO miles east of Los Angeles, we can bill