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The Railroad Rate Decision 



The Interstate Commerce Commission has handed down its de- 

 cision in the railroad rate case, by granting an increase of five 

 per cent in Central Freight Association territorj', but with a num- 

 ber of exceptions. This territory lies between the Mississippi river 

 and Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Two commissioners, McChord and 

 Daniels, filed dissenting opinions. Tliey hold that the increase 

 should have extended to New England instead of stopping at 

 Buffalo and Pittsburgh. 



The commodity rates excluded from the five per cent increase 

 include coal, coke, brick, tile, clay, starch, cement, iron ore, and 

 plaster. It was considered that the rates on these were high 

 enough. 



About thirty-five per cent of the total commodities in Central 

 territory will receive no advance. It is estimated that the income 

 for the railroads in this territory will be increased about one and 

 one-half per cent, or something more than $10,000,000 a year. 



While the eastern and New England lines do not share directly 

 in the advance, they will indirectly profit by it because several 

 of the lines have large mileage in Central territory. 



It is believed that in some instances the advanced rates can be 



put into effect within a month, but in other cases several months 



will be needed to prepare schedules and put them in operation. 



Many complicated matters must first be worked out. 



Advice Freely Given 



The commission discussed many points other than a direct ad- 

 vance in freight rates. Along some lines a general overhauling 

 of business methods was advised, thereby to cut down expense, 

 or increase revenue, or both. In some instances passenger rates 

 need adjusting, in order that this service may be carried on at a 

 I>rofit. The commission expressed its strong disapproval of the 

 policy of increasing freight rates for the purpose of making up 

 the deficiency of passenger service. 



The commission recommends that the practice of granting free 

 transportation of passengers and private cars should be further 

 restricted by the carriers, and calls attention to the fact that dur- 

 ing the eleven months ending November 30, 1913, seventy-eight 

 roads in official classification territory issued 029,668 annual passes 

 and 408,848 passes for shorter terms, and, in addition thereto, in 

 the single month of June, 1913, issued passes for single trips to 

 the number of 482,709. The commission says ,lune is perhaps not a 

 representative mouth, but at that rate the number of trip passes 

 issued in the year would be approximately 5,792,.500, representing 

 over 1,000,000,000 passenger miles. The amount of travel on an- 

 •nual and term passes has not been determined. 



At the average rate per passenger mile in official classification 

 territory in 1913, the passenger miles represented by trip passes 

 alone would have yielded in passenger revenue $18,520,000. 



If to trip passes is added the travel on annual and term passes, 



it will perhaps be found that the travel on passes exceeds 10 per 



cent of the total passenger travel in official classification territory. 



Abuse op Pkivate Car Privilege 



It is pointed out that the private car privilege is greatly abused, 

 and if that extravagance were properly curbed, the roads would be 

 in less pressing need of revenue for other purposes. Eighty-eight 

 roads, for which statistics were compiled, hauled private cars at a 

 cost of nearly three-quarters of a million dollars a year. 



This subject is dealt with somewhat at length in the commis- 

 sion's report, and it appears that the wives of officials, and often 

 not very high officials at that, are exceedingly liberal patrons of 

 private cars which are hauled at the expense of the stockholders. 

 Free transportation which one lady and her daughter received in 

 private cars in one year, would have cost $3,577 if it had been paid 

 for at regular rates. 



The commission designates this abuse as a part of the transporta- 

 tion business which needs reforming in order to provide more 

 money from the road 's commercial business. If substantial re- 



trenchments are made in free transportation of passengers, there 

 will be less need for freight advance. 



The Fuel Bill 



The commission calls attention to the fact that fuel, next to 

 wages, is the largest item in operating expenses; that the rail- 

 roads in the United States report their aggregate fuel cost to 

 be about $250,000,000 a year, and that the cost of coal is increas- 

 ing, and adds: 



"Much has been done in recent years by means of mechanical 

 devices and otherwise to reduce fuel costs . . . but it has 

 been demonstrated clearly that by knowledge and care on the 

 part of employes and the management much greater saving can 

 be made." 



It is further recommended that all expiring sleeping car con- 

 tracts should be carefully examined before being renewed. 



The commission recommends a careful review of methods of 

 increasing freight car efficiency, saying: 



"Taking the average of all roads in official classification terri- 

 tory for the whole year, the time a car is moving in trains prob- 

 ably does not exceed three days out of thirty, and the car is 

 under load two out of those three days. Furthermore, the cars 

 under load are loaded on an average to only about fifty-eight per 

 cent of their capacity. The percentages of empty movement and 

 of waste capacity in moving cars have both grown. ' ' 



Influence of the Bungalow 



The bungalow has taken a pretty deep hold of American tastes 

 and apparently there is nothing temporary about it. One of the 

 innovations which is largely due to the bungalow is the more ex- 

 tensive use of furniture made of rattan, sea grass and other rustic 

 materials. A recent consular report states that the export of such 

 furniture from southern China to the United States was one hundred 

 per cent greater in 1913 than in 1912, and the growing popularity of 

 the bungalow style of house is credited with the increased demand 

 in this country for that kind of furniture. 



The bungalow seems to be one of the ideas which savages gave to 

 civilized man. It developed naturally in different tropical countries 

 which had no communication with one another. The black man of 

 Africa's jungles and the brovrn man of the cannibal islands built 

 bungalows so much alike that one might easily be mistaken for the 

 other. White men appropriated the idea and have made various im- 

 provements in plans, and in many parts of the civilized world the 

 bungalow has become a prominent and common style of residence. 



The idea is that the occupant must live as much as possible out of 

 doors, yet not actually exposed to the inclemencies of the weather. 

 The wide, open porch, the large window, the spacious haU, are part 

 of the plan. It is here that rustic furniture has its stronghold. Glued 

 joinings and polished wood do not stand well in the open air. The 

 mahogany porch rocker gives place to one of rattan, reed, grass, 

 willow, or some other kind that will not warp out of shape or blister 

 and peel if damp air strikes it in early morning or late at evening. 



The bungalow fosters notions of airy lightness, and those notions 

 find their interpretation in furniture which has much of its useful- 

 ness out of doors. The vine and the fig tree, speaking figuratively, 

 must have harmonious environment, such as the rustic bench, the 

 porch swing, the reed rocker, and the camp chair. 



It is said to cost as much to bring rattan and grass furniture from 

 China to America as it costs in China. More seagrass furniture 

 than that of rattan comes to this country from beyond the Pacific. 

 The reduction of twenty per cent ad valorem in the tariff rates on 

 imported furniture is counted on to greatly stimulate importations 

 from China. At the same time it will probably result in a decrease 

 of home manufactures of willow and other kinds of rustic furniture. 



Satisfied customers are first aids to holding trade through duU 

 times and good, and the only way for the millman to have these is 

 to ship just what he promises to ship. 



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