EFFECTS OF RAILROAD RATE- MAKING 1 95 



The best index of the industrial growth of Denver during the above 

 period is the census of manufactures. While the census figures for 1900 

 show an increase of 41 per cent, in the value of Denver manufactures over 

 the manufactures of 1890, these figures are entirely illusory. The 

 increase, is only apparent, as the figures for 1900 include the products of 

 smelting and refining ores, and these products were not included in the 

 census figures for manufactures in 1890. In that census these industries 

 are classed as mining. Excluding the products of these industries, the 

 value of Denver manufactures in 1900, as compared with their value in 

 1890, shows a decline of 5.6 per cent.^ 



The growth of the city, therefore, was not due to the increase in gen- 

 eral manufactures. With the development of mining, however, there has 

 been a great development along certain lines of manufacture, such as that 

 of mining machinery. The growth of the smelting and refining industry 

 has also had much to do with the present prosperity of the city. While 

 Denver is now a flourishing city, it is greatly to be regretted that its de- 

 velopment as a manufacturing and distributing center for the Rocky 

 Mountain region has been so greatly interfered with by discriminating 

 freight rates. 



In this way the railroads prevent the distribution of industries in this 

 country. They are in the hauling business, and therefore opposed to the 

 self-sufiiciency of the different sections of the United States. The logical 

 result of such a pohcy is to keep the East a manufacturing section with 

 great industrial cities, crowded tenement-house populations, sweat- 

 shop industries, contagious diseases, and high mortahty, while the West 

 is obhged to engage largely in industries which produce raw material. 



Such are some of the social and industrial possibilities of the rate-mak- 

 ing power. Whether or not the American people will decide to take this 

 power from the railroads and vest it in a pubhc supervisory tribunal, or 

 whether they will prefer to hope for the development of an enlightened 

 pubhc spirit on the part of the railroad managers, is a question whose 

 answer will be awaited with much interest by all thoughtful persons. 



» Twelfth Census, Manufactures, Part II, p. 65. 



