FARM KRS' I N STITUTES. 



329 



Local J idle Higher Than Through Rate. 



1{().VI)S. 



Detroit and Milwaukee... 



jMichigan Central 



Flint and Pere Marquette 



20 to 50 Miles. 



8.2 times. 



G.7 times. 



9 times. 



00 to 100 MilfH. 



5.4 times. 

 5.3 times. 

 G.3 times. 



Lfiigth 

 Main Line 

 Mi lea. 



189 

 270 

 253 



From this table it is seen that the Michigan Central makes the least differ- 

 ence with through and local freight and tiie Flint and Pere Marquette the most 

 difference. From this it is shown on the F. & P. M. Railway that the producer 

 16 miles from Toledo (or end of road toward Toledo), must pay as much per 

 car load as tlie producer at the otlier end of the road 253 miles off. That is so 

 far as shipping rates are concerned the two localities, one 16 miles, the 

 other 353 miles, are on an equality. 



If we count the 60 miles of water route to Manitowoc in with the Flint and 

 Pere Marquette Railroad its length is 313 miles, and the shipper from that 

 point in Wisconsin is given equally good rates on grain with the shipper at a 

 non-competing point 20 miles from the terminus of the road. Thus according 

 to the story told by the rates they can carry grain just as cheap 313 miles as 

 20 miles. 



What remedy is there for this state of things, is a question of a great deal of 

 importance both as regards the welfare of the public and the railroad. Charles 

 F. Adams, Albert Fink and various railroad managers believe it the province 

 of the law to settle this question. C. F. Adams claims that the railroad legis- 

 lation in Iowa was productive of mucli good, thougli he calls the members of 

 the Iowa legislature grangers, and intimates that they were not possessed of 

 much sense. (See " note A" for opinion of Mr. Fink). What we are suffer- 

 ing from is not so much extortion as unjust discrimination, which is building 

 up other States at the expense of our own. It might be unjust to the railroads 

 to prevent them from carrying through freiglit for just about one-half the 

 actual cost. It may be unjust to the people of Michigan to be prevented from 

 assisting their Wisconsin brethren in marketing their wheat. That question 

 is not for me to decide, but if our railroads are to be kept out of bankruptcy, 

 if our State is to receive her portion of the emigration, then some action must 

 be taken that will give her all the benefits to which she is entitled by her posi- 

 tion. This action probably should be in the form of a law, but I am not 

 prepared to say what form it should take. To be just to the railroads it should 

 not establish a pro rata rate, for transportation for a short distance costs per 

 mile more than for a long distance. Neither would it be just to contino its 

 operations to our own State, as railroad competition is not confined to limited 

 areas. It is the duty and province of Congress to regulate commerce between 

 the States. 



Cost of Freiiiht Traijic. 



It would hardly be right to establish an arbitrary freight rate for the whole 

 State, as the cost of operating the different roads varies between wide limits. 

 The following table computed from data given in the Railroad Commission- 



42 



