HAREWOOD RECORD 



47 



them to furnish a list of stock of low-grade lum- 

 ber now on hand. The results indicate a some- 

 what lighter stock of low grade than at this 

 time a year ago. Altogether twenty-seven firms 

 report smaller stocks and seventeen firms report 

 an Increase in the amount of No. 3 hardwood on 

 hand. Thirty-one firms have a smaller supply 

 , of No. 3 hemlock and fourteen firms have larger 

 slocks on hand than a year ago. There is a more 

 noticeable diCFerence in the lowest grades of pine 

 and hardwoods, and six firms have the same 

 supply of low-grade hardwoods as they usually 

 carry. 



Apparent Victory for Shippers in Bate Con- 

 troversy 



For years with the gradual increase in cost of 

 production and of malerials in all lines the rail- 

 roads throughout the country have advanced 

 freight rates, stating that they merely followed 

 the general advance in operating expenses. In 

 reviewing the records it becomes immediately 

 apparent that these advances have always been 

 widespread, and have outdistanced the apparent 

 increase in other lines, thus netting at each ad- 

 vance a slight extra profit to the railroad over 

 tl;at which they formerly enjoyed. 



Up to this time there has been no concerted 

 action on the part of the shippers to combat the 

 frequent and material advances in railroad tar- 

 iffs. Not until the recent threat of the railroads 

 to make an increase in tariffs approximating 

 S;100,000,000 yearly were the shippers suHiciently 

 aroused to get together on the issue. This means 

 that the rates on various commodities affected 

 will be increased from eight to twenty-flve per 

 cent in Official Classification territory, a ma- 

 jority of the new tariffs to become effective 

 about the first of July. The position of the 

 shippers has been rather difficult, for after the 

 first announcement the roads have withheld the 

 specific increase, with a view to preventing ac- 

 tion in opposition. Toward the end of May 

 the exact percentages were filed, and at that 

 time a delegation representing the shippers of 

 the western territory, where the Western Trunk 

 Lines Committee controls the situation, journeyed 

 to Washington and placed the matter before At- 

 torney Wickersham. The result of this action 

 was the now famous injunction issued by Dis- 

 trict Judge David P. Dyer of Hannibal, Mo., as 

 a result of which the lines controlled by the 

 Western Trunk Lines Committee were enjoined 

 from putting the new rates into effect, pending 

 inquiry by the Interstate Commerce Commission. 

 This action signalizes a new line of procedure 

 on the part of the government in the regulation 

 of common carriers. Heretofore it has always 

 been the policy to withhold action until after 

 new rates were actually in force, and at that 

 time to place the burden of proof upon the gov- 

 ernment, who had to show cause why the new 

 rates were not reasonable and lawful. The 

 action of President Taft, however, took the 

 roads entirely off their guard, and places the 

 burden of proof exactly in the opposite direction. 

 The Investigation will continue along similar 

 lines in the various sections of the country and 

 will in the course of time undoubtedly cover the 

 whole transportation system. It will be attempt- 

 ed to prove that such combinations for tariff 

 agreements as the Western Trunk Lines Com- 

 mittee are illegal combinations in restraint of 

 trade, and as such are subject to prosecution 

 under the Sherman anti-trust law. Attorney- 

 General Wickersham will endeavor to compel the 

 roads to show cause why the temporary injunc- 

 tion shall not be made permanent. 



Shippers on the eastern lines have not so far 

 l>een so fortunate as the western contingent. Tae 

 roads have already filed new tariffs, action being 

 hastened by the western shippers' victory and 

 by prospective adverse legislation in the pending 

 railway bill. Upon the first intimation of the 

 raise in rates, a meeting was called in Chicago 

 on March 17, as recorded in the last issue of 



the Record. At this meeting resolutions were 

 passed with a view to arbitration, it being be- 

 lieved that this would be the must expeditious 

 and economic method of settling the controversy. 

 Provision was made, however, for a vigorous 

 opposition in the event of the roads refusing, as 

 they subsequently did, to arbitrate. It is rea- 

 sonable to suppose that action similar to that 

 in the western rate question will be taken re- 

 garding the situation in the territory east of 

 the Mississippi and north of the Ohio, where the 

 threatened increase will go into effect July 1. 

 As in the other cases, the roads will undoubtedly 

 !>•- enjoined indefinitely, pending investigation. 



The investigation as to the legality or ille- 

 gality of such combinations as the Western 

 Trunk Lines Committee, and the question of 

 their dissolution under the Sherman anti-trust 

 law, is probably of more far-reaching importance 

 than the actual injunction granted. It has been 

 shown that the western committee, composed of 

 the freight ofiicials of the various roads, had 

 regular meetings. At these meetings any propo- 

 sition advanced by one of the representatives 

 with a view to increasing or in any way regu- 

 lating tariffs was placed before the body for their 

 consideration. A caucus was not taken until 

 the next meeting, and only upon unanimous vote 

 was any measure passed. With the abolition of 

 such associations much of the power of the roads 

 for concerted action and the attending evils will 

 be eliminated. 



President Brown of the New York Central 

 Lines states in behalf of the roads that their 

 credit, already shattered by adverse legislation, 

 will be completely ruined by successful action oy 

 the government along the lines proposed. The 

 New York Central company has decided to re- 

 trench on the proposed ?5,000.000 improvements, 

 pending government action, and will endeavor lo 

 cancel its recent order for freight cars to the 

 value of $3,000,000. 



This action is undoubtedly a bluff to endeavor 

 to adversely affect ' industry throughout the 

 country and to depress business in general, the 

 policy being to enlist popular sentiment against 

 government action adverse to the railroads. 

 There has already been a notable falling off in 

 railroad securities thrcughout the country. 



There is no doubt but that the railroads are 

 affected by the increased cost of material and 

 operation, but it is equally true that advances 

 have always been vastly out of keeping, both as 

 to frequency and proportion, with the general in- 

 crease in expenses. Figures recently compiled 

 by the New York Financial Chronicle give the 

 action of the roads a decidedly unjustifiable as- 

 pect : a reduction seems justified, rather than 

 an increase. It is shown in these figures that 

 739 railroad companies earned in March .f234,- 

 8S4,44n gross, which represents an increase of 

 S31..'583,854, or 15.4 per cent. The net earnings 

 of the same lines aggregated $76.85.?.n61. an in- 

 crease of 11.62 per cent. The following is a 

 summary of the consolidated account for March : 

 1910 1909 Increase 



Miles of road... 230,263 226.965 3.298 



Gross earnings. .$2.34.804,449 $203,220.,'-.95 $31,583,854 

 Oper. expenses . 157.945.488 134,361,862 23,583.626 



Net earnings. .$ 76.858.961 $ 68.858.733 $ 8,000,228 



Net earning.s in March for 1900, 1909 and 



3010 follow. 



Increase 



1900 $26.782.1.83 $ 2..8S6.403 



1009' 69,613,713 14,303,842 



1910'. ',.'. 76.858,961 8,000.228 



Secretary Glenn of the Illinois Manufactur- 

 ers' Association has recently issued a communi- 

 cation reviewing the situation and urgently rc- 

 Cjuestlng members to wire representatives in 

 Washington to urge Attorney-General Wickersham 

 to follow the same procedure in the eastern 

 situation as in the West. Quick and drastic 

 action is necessary to offset the action of the 

 roads, who, having filed the tariffs, are in a 

 rtrong position. 



Since the above was written a conference at 

 the White House between the President and 



representatives of the twenty-four railroads in 

 the Western Trunk Line Association has had 

 these results : 



1. The railroads have agreed to cancel al! 

 increases In rates which were to have gone into 

 effect on or after June 1. 



2. The railroads will file no furtuer increases 

 in rates until after Congress has acted upon the 

 pending railroad legislation. 



3. In consideration of this agreement the 

 I'resident has promised to cancel the injunction 

 suit restraining the increases in rates when the 

 pending railroad bill shall be enacted into law. 



4. The government has abandoned its attack 

 upon the traflSc committees and traffic associa- 

 tions. 



While this has no direct effect on the roads 

 in Official Classification territory, those roads 

 will without doubt be subjected to the same 

 ruling. A conference between the President and 

 the heads of the New Y'ork Central and Penn- 

 sylvania lines is scheduled for an early date, and 

 at that time the eastern controversy will be 

 settled. 



Dodge Water Softener 



To anyone interested in securing pure, clean, 

 soft water for boiler use in connection with 

 manufacturing plants, two panels recently issued 

 by the Dodge Manufacturing Company of Misha- 

 waka, Ind., illustrating its Eureka Water Soft- 

 ener, will be of more than usual interest. The 

 drawings are not only mechanically excellent, 

 but are truly artistic in coloring and general de- 

 sign. One shows the exterior of the plant, suit- 

 ably colored, each color indicating a certain part, 

 and the other shows a longitudinal section, the 

 same color scheme being emplo.ved to graphically 

 explain the workings of the various parts. 



Water must necessarily be treated to prevent 

 boiler scale and the Dodge company guarantees 

 that treatment with its softener will absolutely 

 prevent incrustation. The system is not new, 

 thousands of the softeners being now in opera- 

 tion. Two tanks are employed, one containing 

 a lime solution which fiows from it into the 

 other and larger tank, where it is mixed with 

 the r.iw water and a reagent. From there it goes 

 to the decanting chamber in which the circula- 

 tion is from the bottom up. In this way the 

 sludge is deposited and the water, ascending, 

 passes through a filter and then out in an abso- 

 lutely pure state. 



Miscellaneous Notes 



The Wisconsin Cabinet Company of Fond du 

 Lac recently dissolved. 



A new concern for Proctor. Ark., is the Pemis 

 cot Lumber Company, capitalized at $.50,000. 



The Plumbers Woodwork Company has re 

 cently increased its capital stock from $25,000 

 to $65,000. 



The Vehicle City Lumber Company of Flint, 

 Mich., reports having increased its capital stock 

 to $40,000. 



The John Fish Lumber Company has been 

 organized with $5,000 capital to operate at Sum- 

 merset, Ky. 



A new concern at Minneapolis, Minn., is the 

 Carpenter-Webster Company, which has a capital 

 of $200,000. 



Arcadia, Mich., Is the location of the new 

 Arcadia Lumber Company, which has a capital 

 stock of $30,000. 



T. M. Talcott, Jr., has been appointed receiver 

 for the P.arrett-Mitchell Lumber Company of 

 South Bend, Ind. 



G. F. Schneider and J. J. Moore have formed 

 a partnership and wi.. operate a hardwood saw- 

 n ill at Bradford. Ark. 



Texarkana. Ark., is the location of Turned 

 Woodenware Company, recently incorporated with 

 $100,000 capital stock. 



