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Rate Decision — Chicago Territory 



If the annouDcemeiits whicli are being made on ivhat is declared 

 to be good autliority shall prove correet, the territory surrounding 

 Cliicago will be allowed a greater advance in railroad rates by the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission than any other part of the country. 

 It sliould be borne iu mind, however, that the commission has not yet 

 announced its decision, and those who are prophesying what the de- 

 cision will be, may be wholly wrong in their conclusion. Dates have 

 been fixed several times for the announcement of the decision ; but 

 such dates were not made by authority of the commission, and thus 

 far they have all proved wrong. 



Those who are acquainted with the work required by the rate in- 

 vestigation are not surprised that the end is a long time coming. The 

 roads involved include 300 companies with gross earning of $800,000,- 

 000 a yeai-. 



(Jlass and Commodity Rates 



All freight that is handled by the railroads takes either a com- 

 luodity or a class rate. Coal, ore, lumber, grain, sand, brick, cement, 

 flour, live stock, dressed beef, and all freight that can bo moved in 

 great volume takes a commodity rate. Dry goods, boots, shoes, gro- 

 ceries and all general merchandise freight takes a class rate, to be 

 billed under one of six classes. Class 1 calls for 75 cents a hundred 

 pounds; class 2 c^ for 65 cents a Inmdred; class 3, 50 cents; class 4, 

 35 ; class 5, 30 ; class 6, 25. -In asking for a 5 per cent increase in 

 freiglit rates the railroads had to file with the commission 22,000 dif- 

 ferent schedules, each separate schedule covering from one to three 

 hundred paf;es. 



After the 22,000 new schedules were filed, announcement was made 

 that the day upon which they were to become effective was postponed 

 by the commission. Then a supplemental schedule of the thousands 

 of rates had to be compiled and printed. 



A second postponement was ordered and it became necessary to 

 prepare other supplemental sheets. Those now on file were prepared on 

 the theory that the commission would grant a general 5 per cent 

 increase in rates. It is now believed the commission will decide that 

 only part of the increases asked shall be granteil. This will make 

 it nei'pssary to prepare and print new schedules. 

 How Changes Are Made 



Comparatively few people have the slightest idea what a change 

 iu a freight rate means. A merchant in New York, who is shipping 

 freight in, say, class 4, gets an idea that his freight rate is too high, 

 and that he could do more business if he could get a class 5 rate. 

 He calls in, or on, the freight agent of the railroad over which he 

 ships his goods. If the request for a lower rate strikes the freight 

 agent favorably the merchant is told, probably by letter, that liis 

 case will be considered. 



It is not the freight agent who does the considering. He only turns 

 the request over the official classification committee, which repre- 

 sents all of the railroads operating in the territory north of the 

 Ohio and east of the Mississippi. That committee then prints on a 

 docket that is sent to all parties concerned, the nature of the change 

 asked for. and at the appointed time witnesses are heai-d, pro and 

 con, and arguments are offered. After the hearing the committee 

 considers the evidence and makes its ruling, which is final unless an 

 appeal is taken to the Interstate Commerce Commission. 

 Forecast of Decision 



Persons in Washington who are closely watching the progress of 

 the rate case, and who are in a position to obtain inside information, 

 if any is to be had, have made a forecast of what the decision will be, 

 as far as it affects the Chicago territory. That forecast has been 

 summarized in the following six statements: 



1. That tin iiirir.i^rd int. i wlii. li will I., applied will lie upon freiglit 

 moving in \vli:ii i- l>ii"« ,i :i- i .nn.il I'l.i^lii Association territory. 



1'. This triiii.iiv roiiipri-. - :iii ih:it -.■ 1 Iviug tietweeu Chlcago and 



St. Louis on tlir wr-i ,111.1 i;uiT.il.. :in.l Tin -i.iirgh on the east. 



a. Thac the commission will order a ."■ per cent increase in class rates 

 iu this territor.v. 



4. That the commission also will order a ii per cent increase in com- 



modity rates, including grain, and not coal and coke and one or two others. 



5. That no increase whatever will be granted by the commission in 

 Grand Trunk territoi'y runaing from Buffalo and Pittsburgh to the Hudson 

 river. 



6. That no increase whatever will be granted by the commission on 

 through rates from Central Freight Association territory to Grand Trunk 

 and New England territories. 



Reasons for Increase 



It is said that the facts which influenced the commission to favor 

 an increase of rates in the Central Freight Association territory, 

 rather than in all territories, were these: 



The investigation disclosed that the freight rates in that territory were 

 abnormally low — lower, in fact, than the general level in other parts of 

 the country. 



Moreover, taking the twenty-seven systems in Central Freight Association 

 territory, and including taxes with operating expenses, the ratio to revenue 

 is 83.12 per cent for the year ended .Tune 30, 1913, as compared with 7G.74 

 per cent for the ten-year period ended June 30, 1912, and 76.43 per cent 

 for the year ended June .30, 1910. 



The burden of these increased operating costs is, however, very unequally 

 distributed among the several roads. Taking the whole eastern territory, 

 it appears that on some roads the operating ratio has decreased, on others 

 it is practically the same, and on still others the increase is very large. 



In general it has been found that the coal roads'have suffered less from 

 increased operating cost, some actually reducing the operating ratio. On 

 the other hand, those roads which have a large volume of passenger busi- 

 ness are among the greatest sufferers. 



No Raise Probable 



It is not believed that the commission is disposed to favor any in- 

 crease in rates where they are not needed. Loss on account of finan- 

 cial mismanagement will not be considered a valid reason for grant- 

 ing rate increase. Some roads will be excluded because they have 

 not wisely used the resources at their disposal. 



Coal, coke, and ore carriers have not proved their need of increased 

 rates, according to some persons who are posing as prophets; and it 

 is declared they will get no raise. 



It is the confident expectation of the members of the commission 

 that their decision will strengthen the credit of' the railroads and 

 thereby facilitate the return of general prosperity. 



Moreover, the action of the commission in pointing out the way by 

 which the carriers can increase their receipts, both through the lop- 

 ping off of allowances and free service and the adoption of business 

 methods of economy and efficiency, opens the door to the collection of 

 revenue by every road in the country. 



If the advice of the commission is adopted the roads in official 

 classification territory will be able to gather in something like $25,- 

 000,000 annuallv. 



Willow Flooring 



In England certain kinds of floors are made of willow in prefer- 

 ence to other woods. The United States has more willow than 

 England and might use some of it for the same kind of floors. It 

 finds its place in warehouses, stores, factories, and in other places 

 where trucks are trundled over the floors and wear is great. It is 

 tough, though not very hard, and it does not splinter or split. All 

 parts of the surface wear evenly, and it acts like a cushion under the 

 jolting of wheels. That is the chief quality in its favor. It causes 

 less noise than floors of harder wood. Its behavior is much like that 

 of black gum when used for flooring. Willow is cheap, and at present 

 its most important use in this country is as box material. Some of 

 the best is made into side boards of farm wagon bodies. 



All other lines of the mercantile business may shape the channels 

 of trade through the hands of the resident retailer, but when the 

 lumber trade does it then it becomes restraint of trade and an 

 infraction of the Sherman antitrust law. 



With a total of over 153,000,000 cubic feet of limiber and timber 

 treated, 1913 was a record year in timber preservation. The indica- 

 tions, though, are that it but marks the beginning of a growing era 

 in the practice of treating wood in this countiy. 



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