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1 f» Tv "Ct I- I' 1 II \J k-h \:l I .V. fv ajjjfg 0 W\ 1*^/ *V HW .-"v '•. -ij ^COMPARING EASTERN WESTERN RAILWAY RATES -1 It is a strange fact, but neverthe less true, that in times past the peo pie of the average state have npt re garded their railroads as an "Indus try"—and yet there is hardly a state in the Union in which the railroads J" do not pay out more money for labor, fuel and supplies than does any other feingle enterprise, however large. We brag about our fertile farm lands and rejoice that our cities are filled with big factories with big payrolls which create a market for farm products— but we forget that more working men's families depend upon the rail roads for a living than upon any oth er one industry in either the average state or the nation, and that their welfare is therefore closely linked to that of the farmer, manufacturer and merchant—not merely because they furnish freight and passenger service, but because the millions they disburse in one way and another con tribute tremendously to the prosper ity of the state in which we live. Thus, next to real estate, the rail roads are the largest tax payers in the state of Iowa—their taxes for 1914 having aggregated $ 3,138, 504.27—and this tidy sum did its full share toward the support of ev ery public school, public highway and other revenue expenses of the state. In round figures, the railroads of Iow,a are valued at $313,969,2^8— money which in years gone by was in vested in these great arteries of com merce by thousands of men and wom en who live all over the United States and in Europe, and without whose assistance the wonderful progress of .our great state would have been im possible. If, thirty or forty years ago, these people had invested their mon ey in Iowa farm lands instead of Iowa railroads—^would not the Invest ment have proven infinitely more profitable to them? On the other hand, if somebody had not furnished the money with which to build the frailroads what would be the present Rvalue of Iowa farm lands? Is it not ^therefore apparent that the people of (this and every other Corn Bert state love much to those from the outside 'who furnished the millions necessary to industrial and agricultural devel opment and without which their re markable progress would have been 'impossible? According to the last report of the Iowa State Railway "Commission the railroads of Iowa employed 46,476 men during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, and paid out to them in salaries the sum Of $31,922,523.22 —and these millions did their full share to create a profitable market for Iowa farm products and to up hold the volume of business of Iowa igrocers, clothiers, dry goods men, and others who depend upon the pat ,ronage of the public. Sinpe the above report was made public, forced economy has compelled the railroads to discharge several thousand em ployees in this state—but the fact 'remains that even at this time they are scattering iqpre tlian $30,000,000 per year throughout Iowa in salaries to their employees, as well,«as paying millions of dollars for Iowa coal, of which they are the heaviest purchas ers in the Btate. Thus when the people look at the other side of the ledger—when they think of the millions which the rail roads disburse to their thousands of workingmen and the millions they pay out for taxes, coal and other sup plies, it can readily be seen that they ^v^constitute an industry which deserves ^Sthe friendship and consideration of W^every thoughtful citizen in the state, fj THE BRANCH LINES OF IOWA. ki.'l IOWA RAILROADS PAY OUT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ANNUALLY FOR LABOR. FUEL, SUPPLIES AND TAXES. It is a well known fact that it is vU*' ordinarily much more expensive to ^operate branch linens than main lines, /and this is true because of the heavier .^•jlj^olume of business and Sjhauls on the latter. the longer The tota} rail- :^|road mileage of Iowa is 9,998.45 vfeaniles. Of this mileage, the four larg .-•ri^er companies, the Chicago, Burling ^g§t°n- & Quincy Railroad, the Chicago, r| Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, the o^.Chicago & Northwestern Railway* ^,^%|and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. IjPaul Railway own and operate 7,037 Smiles, of whicft 5,502 miles—or prac tically 63 per Cent—is what would be termed branch lines and which, upon the basis of present freight and ,passenger r$tes in this state it is .impossible to operate prdfitably, iwhile in many instances they are be ihg operated at "a big. loss and yet, all of these 6,002 miles "of branch lijaes which belong to only four of the ^larger Sterna are vitally essential to ad agrlcuHuraland commercial in terevis of the hundreds «{, commoii- ities which they serve. Surely a rail road has just as much right to expect a iair return upon the money it has invested in a branch line as upon that which it has invested in its main lines which is largely supported by inter state business—and when existing rates render this impossible, it means that it cannot give to the people the adequate and efficient service so nec essary to agricultural and commer cial growth and development. No oth er central state is so well supplied with railroad facilities as is Iowa— Uere being few points Jn the fctate which are more than a dozen miles removed fro^i eteam ro»!i1 iacilii.es— snd that .t iv of the impor tance to the people that this net work of railroads be given sufficient in come so they may be maintained in a high state of efficiency should be ap parent to every thinking man. As to whether the railroads of Iowa are justified in asking for some substantial increase in freight and patssenger rates, we wish to cite the recent decision of the Inter-state Commerce Commission in granting a 5 per cent increase in freight rates to eastern lines—a fact with which'the reader is doubtless already familiar. In rendering this decision, the Com mission took occasion to point out the precarious financial conditions which have been brought about by the great foreign war, and which have added enormously to the former troubles of American railroads. So, too, the Commission pointed out the unremunerative passenger incomes which obtain almost upon every hand, and especially upon the local traffic within, the different states. If the Commission was correct in its view that the eastern lines were en titled to an increase of 5 per cent in freight rates—and the decision' has been applauded in business circles throughout the nation—then how much more are the western lines en titled to an increase? The population per square mile of Massachusetts is 441, of New York 204, of Pennsyl vania 181, of Ohio 122, while in Iowa it is onlfir 40. In view .of these facts, can thele be any doubt of the justice of the plea made by the railroads of Iowa at this time. NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA. Four years ago, as Governor of New York, Justice Hughes of the United State Supreme Court, vetoed a two-cent passenger rate law enact ed by the legislature on the ground that it was an arbitrary procedure which did not take into consideration a fair return upon' the railroal prop erties of that state—and few men stand higher in the esteem of the American people than this great jur ist who did perhaps as much as any other one man in the country to break up illegal and unfair practices on the part of large corporations. So, too, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that a two-cent passenger fare was unconstitutional in that state because it was essential ly confiscatory. This high court took the position that capital invest ed in railroads is entitled to earn six per cent on a fair capitalization and that the arbitrary enactment of a two-cent fare rendered impossible such a return upon the lines in Penn sylvania. It also took the position that railroads not only have the right to insist upon a fair return upon both local freight and passenger business, but that it is their duty to. do so in order that one class of patrons may not be compelled to pay an inequit able rate to make up the losses sus tained in another department. If the arbitrary enactment of a two-c^it passenger rate is unfair to the railroads of New York and Penn sylvania, where there are large cen ters of population and where the na tion's greatest density of freight ton nage naturally exists, how much more unfair is such a rate in a pure ly agricultural state like Iowa? As a result of the action of Gover nor Hughes in vetoing a two-cent passenger fare bill, in New York and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania declaring it confiscatory in that state, £he railroads of both New York and Pennsylvania are today operating un der- a two and one-half cent passen ger fare, while in Iowa they are com pelled to content themselves with ,two cents-per mile. In the, meantime, in ftirtlier confirmation of the popu lation figures cited above, the total population of New Ydrk state is 9, 712,9^54, in Pennsylvania it hj 8,10.7, 942, While in Jowa itis only.2,222, 472. Surely if the great Pennsyl-r vatiia, system can.establish the fact' «ha£ ft is justly entitled to two and a frV^SWf.'Ct'W -, one-half cents per mile for carrying passengers, the Iowa roads with their thousands of miles of expensive branch lines in a territory almost purely agricultural and with no large cities or manufacturing centers should have little difficulty in estab lishing the justice of their plea? All the railroads of Iowa asK is that the local traffic shall bear its just proportion of the expenses of operation, taxes and maintenance— and in asking this they are pleading not merely for simple justice, but upon this depends the character of service which they will be able to furnish the public from this time forward. There is no magic art by which railroads can perform the im possible—and in the final analysis the people get the kind of railroad service they pay for, just as they do in other realms of merchandising. CONDITIONS MUST BE FACED. In his opinion given in the Eastern Rate Advance Case, Commissioner Daniels of the Interstate Commerce Commission referred to the fact that the maximum freight and passenger rates established in many states dur ing thg last few years means that, with the ever-increasing cost of oper ation, the railroads of the country arc facing a condition which means that they can neither give adequate service to the public or make such a showing upon their properties as will enable them to borrow the millions necessary for future betterments and improvements. In conclusion, he says it is a situation which "must be fac ed, not trifled with." Once more we wish to impresslip on the reader that the railroads should not be confused with private enterprises which are able to advance their prices to meet the exigencies of the hour. The railroads are bound hand and foot and can charge no more than the law says. Suppose that through some statute the State of Iowa should say to the farmer, that regardless of the cost of produc tion or the volume of yield, he shall sell his corn at not to exceed 50 cents per bushel? Or suppose that through some similar mandate it should say to Iowa grocers that they shall sell 25 pounds of granulated sugar for one dollar? Of course, these suppo sitions arc radical—and yet, is this not in substance what the state of Iowa is forcing upon her railroads when it names the rates they may charge without taking the increased cost of labor, fuel, taxes, etc., into consideration? Is it not equally as unfair? Is there anything about a railroad which places it above the in exorable law of cause and effect? Well might they exclaim with Shy lock in his pathetic defense of the Jew, "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?" In this connection, we wish to di gress for a moment to quote some statistics which should have had a place in a former article. It cost an average of 7 mills per mile to haul a ton of freight in the United States, whereas in England it costs 2.33 cents, in Germany 1.42 cents, and in France 1.41 cents. In the United States the average wages paid to rail road employees are $2.23 per day, in England $1.15, and in Germany and France not over $ 1 per day. The Eng lish railroads are capitalized at 1265,000 per mile, in France at ?137,000 per mile, in Germany at 3114,185, while in the United States the stock and bond capitalization av ages only $65,000 per mile. In view of this remarkable comparison, do American railroads deserve the wholesale denunciation which has been heaped upon them? FACING GRAVE PROBLEMS. Unquestionably we are facing some of the gravest problems that ever confronted us as a nation—and these problems grow largely out of a war, which is without precedent in his tory. True, with a rapidly increas ing cost of operation on the one hand and reduced rates on the other, it was merely a matter of time until the railroad question was bound to become pressing—but the great tragedy across the seas has suddenly resolved into an acute crisis a prob lem which might otherwise have been solved gradually and without any far-reaching industrial distur bance. The United States is a heavy debtor nation. During the average year our balance of the trade against the rest of the world amounts to approximate ly $500,000,000, but on top of this we always owe approximately anoth er $500,000,000 which heretofore w£ have been able to stand off by selling Europe industrial securities to that amount. Now, however, the great warring countries have served notice that they not only expect us to pay our debts above our trade balances in gold, but that in addition. they look to us to buy back from them hun dreds of millions of dollars worth of American securities which are now held abroad. It was, to deliver this grim message that Sir George Paish, of the English. ..Exchequor, paid his recent visit to, the .United States, and 'TfjpTS^f" THE LEON REPORTER, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28,1915. when he got through making his statement to a group of New York bankers, an old veteran financier who has survived many a financial storm remarked to his profoundly silent auditors, "The sheriff, with a writ, is ou the doorstep." In the present instance, the railroad crisis is of tremendous im portance because in it is involved the still greater problem of the integrity and safety of the whole. superstruc ture of American business. That we cannot shove it aside by a broadside of demagogic platitudes or minimize it by employing the Strategy of an ostrich is apparent to every man who is seriously concerned in his own and his country's future welfare. UP TO PEOPLE OF IOWA. In few other states have the rail roads had a larger share in progress and development than in Iowa—a state which stands without a peer agriculturally and which has within its borders a greater diversified per capita wealth and less of poverty than any other state in the Union! Surely such a great commonwealth, the broadmindedness of whose peo ple is a byword throughout the na tion, cannot afford to treat unfairly the millions of outside capital which have been invested in her network of railroads and without which her position among the sisterhood of states would have been impossible? Splendid as has oeen our progress in the past, Iowa still stands merely upon the threshold of her true pos sibilities, and during the next twen ty-five years our farm and industrial wealth should be increased by many hundreds of millions of dollars. That we, however, still need millions of outside capital and that these mil lions will not be forthcoming unless we treat fairly every dollar which has been honestly invested in our indus tries should be apparent to every thoughtful citizen. In the end, all the people and the industries of the state, great or small, must rise or fall together—for in the iinal analysis we are all dependent upon each other. Thus, the welfare of the town and its surrounding farms depend upon a spirit of kind ly co-operation between those who live in town and those who live upon the farm. Without splendid inland towns we would have a rural atmosphere which would soon drive every bright country boy and girl to the cities—while without the farms the towns would wither and die. Even so it is with all the other 'interests of our great commonwealth which should contribute its full share toward the "New Day"—a day fraught with a broader understand ing and justice for every man and every interest whether large or small. At this moment there are a million idle men who stand in the "Bread Line" and depend upon "Soup Houses" in every city of size in the nation. A yfear ago the American Steel Corporation had 240,000 men on its payroll. Today the number has been reduced to 130,000—a state of affairs largely attributable to the impoverished condition of the rail roads. That this vast "army of un employed" is depressing the price of farm products and that it lays with a heavy hand upon every merchant and manufacturer in the land is so far apparent that comment is super fluous. It is indeed a time to think gravely and profoundly. It is because Iowa railroads be lieve that Iowa people will be gener ously fair-—once they knew the truth about this great question—that has persuaded them to make this appeal through the public press. In doing so they have tried to state their side of the story fairly. They have made no attack upon anyone or sought to appeal to prejudice—and that the reader may accord to them the same credit for sincerity which he claims for himself—that he may be willing to raise his voice in defense of their rights as he would expect others to do in his behalf under similar cir cumstances—this is all the railroads of Iowa ask. (Paid adv.) Notice of Appointment of Adminis trator. In the District Court of the State of Iowa, in and for Decatur County, In Probate. In the Matter of the Estate of G. H. McAlister, Deceased. To Whom It May Concern: Notice is hereby given that the un dersigned has been' appointed and has qualified as administrator of the estate of G. H. McAlister, late of Decatur county, Iowa, deceased to succeed J. Z. McAlister deceased. All persons in any manner indebted to said deceased or his estate will make payment to the undersigned and those having claims against said deceased or his estate- will present them in manner and form as by law required, for allowance and payment. Dated this 19th day of January, A. D., 1915. RAY McALISTER,« .Administrator of said Estate. 23-3t By E. E. Beck. For Sale—On the Stone farm, 6 miles northwest of Leon, 4 miles northeast of Decatur, native lumber of all kinds, fence posts, split_or sawed and stove wood. W. W. Ful ton. SURE—you JL of Decatur, on ROUND OAK CHIEF STEEL RANGE When A Comparison Is Made, it is instantly apparent what a big difference exists between a Round Oak Chief Range and others. This is due to the fact that the Round Oak folks make only this one steel range, in one quality, and that the highest possible. You'll never succeed in getting something for nothing when you buy a range—or anything else. But we will tell you one thing that is will get more for your money when you buy a Round Oak Chief than with any other range on the market. Let us show you just how good the Chief is. Farquhar & Sons 1 Leon Hardware Eowa CLOSING OUT Public Sale! I will sell at public sale at my farm 3^ miles southwest Wednesday, February 3,1915 Commencing at 10 o'clock sharp,the following property, to-wit 53 Head of Live Stock 53 8 Head of Horses and Mules 34 Head of Cattle II Head of Hogs Farm Machinery of all kinds N O N O N S TERMS—A credit of 9 months will be given on all sums over $10, purchaser giving note with approved security drawing 6 per cent interest from date if paid when due, otherwise to draw 8 per cent. 2 per cent discount on sums over $10 if paid in cash on day of sale. No property to be removed until settled for. T. 0. Andrews, J. GOODING "The Lfve Auctioneer." The man who will get you the most money for your stuff and who always makes a sale a success. He knows the value of stock. Has cried more sales than any auctioneer in this section. Write or phone for dates. Kellertofi, Iowa. Big Type Poland China Male Pigs for. Sale. Tullis Bros, and Lew Cassiday, Auctioneers. J. C. Uozad, Clerk. Sired by the following boarsi' King of Wonders Big Ben, Col ossal and A Big Orange. Will sell them worth the change less public sale expenses v.' -.. 6E0. 6BIFFIN, Pfe*s&riton loWra. jfm. •i 1^ Sf .111 !i At