Morning Oregonian., May 15, 1905, Page 5, Image 5

5 4
BIILTI HMD FftGTS
1 He Tells Why Rates Stay High
; When Reason Is Gone.
LOW RATE GOES ON RECORD
Railroad President Argues That-i
Kates Should Vary and That
Discrimination Is Xeces
' gary for Traffic.
T3E MOBNXSa OREGQlfrAk, MOAY," MA3 15, 1905;
mm
1
. OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU. Wash
ington, May 14. Perhaps the raosr
important "witness who has so far
testlfled before the Senata committee on,
interstate commerce is James J. Hill.
The president of the Great Northern is
looted upon by the committee as one of
the best-versed and most practical men
in the transportation business, and a vast
fund of information was obtained from
him.
One thing he dwelt upon and reverted
to many times was his contention that
raifroad freight rates vary, and neces
sarily so, to meet the changing conditions.
To illustrate. Mr. Hill said:
"The conditions under which rates are
made vary almost daily. If a railway
company had a lot of empty cars moving
in one direction, it could , afford to make
a lower rate to fill those cars than if
it had to send the cars out with that
load and bring them back empty. But
what do you find? Hard and fast, the
railway is up against the proposition that,
if you ever make a rate, that rate must
stand for all time against you. And
that alone goes further to hold up rates
than anything else. You must make a
rate always assuming that you have to
bring the car back empty, because you
are called upon when you have empty
cars going out. You are called to send
this car out with this load and there is
nothing to bring back. That in itself,
in -my opinion and I have watched It
closely goes further to hold rates up than
almost anything else.
ATalue of Service Is Basis.
"There is but one true basis for de
termining the reasonableness of a rate;
there can 'never be but one," added Mr.
Hill, "and that is the value of the service,
and that is determined by the density
of the traffic If I have $100,000 profit to
raise and 100,000 tons of freight, it is
very easy: I must make a profit of Jl
a ton. Now if you will give me 200,000
tons of freight, 50 cents a ton will be
sufficient, and if you give me 400,000 tons
tZ cents a ton profit gives me the amount
T want. The cost varies on different
-.tricts of the railway. Among 16 dls
t.icts on the Great Northern we find
rtufie places where the cost Is over three
tiraefi as much as it is in other places.
If the average rate or the average cost
of the Great Northern for a year were
applied to some divisions, the rate would
be "nrohlbitory. and in others it would
result in a loss to the company.
. . . Cannot Choose Traffic.
"Rates vary with conditions. -They vary
from day to day almost. You can not
npply the conditions .that exist today to
tomorrow or next week or next month.
In. making these rates you must take into
consideration what the country produces.
You can not choose what you arc going
to carry. You must carry whatever the
natural resources of that country produce
or develop, and you must carry the goods
to a. market. You must enable the man
who lives on the farm or works in the
forestrw fln the mine to carry on his
work with . profit or he will cease to
work and your investment becomes worth,
less it is gone. You must make up your
mind in building a road Into a country,
that all you can carry is what that
country produces, and you are charged
with the prosperity of every man on the
line of roud, if he works.
Discrimination Often Necessary.
"You might say there shall be no
discrimination. That condition will
never exist. If there was no discrim
ination, the people would come down,
hero irn great throngs -and ask you to
authorize discriminations. We have to
discriminate against ourselves. ITor in-
stance, we built a line to the Pacific
Coast, and when I went out there be
fore the line was built and looked It
over there was nottiing there to carry
East except lumber the most magnifi
cent forests on the continent or any
where that 1 know anything about.
They did not think of shipping lumber
Ea&c There were 40,000.000 or 50.000,
00 J people north of the Ohio River and
east of the Rocky Mountains using
more" lumber and with more money
to jpay for lumber than the same num
ber of people anywhere else on the
face of the earth, but they were set
ting? lumber from our own more East
erri states, rapidly cutting it off, and
buying it up in Canada, going finally
to -the South, and bringing up South
ern lumber.
"Now, I called the people together
the mlllmen. All the trade they had
was what went out by sea. I asked
them what rate they could pay. I said
'You are paying 90 cents a hundred' to
Lake Superior and the Twin Cities.
They eaid if -we could make It 6)
cents, a reduction of 23 cents a "nun
tired, 'that would be perfectly satlsfac
tory. J. knew they could not ship any
thing at that rate, and we made them
a rate "of. -40 cents a hundred on nr.
That Js the lowest lumber rate that
has ever been made in the world. It
Is a. rate of 4 mills a ton a mile. We
"discriminated against the lumber on
the Eastern end of our own road. But
today the. -trees on the Eastern end are
h.11 counted and in lo years the
oretlcally in ten years they will all
beleut, -
'The road was finished in 1S93. In
1S97 we were carrying about four
trains a "week eastward over the Cas
cade Mountains. We are now carrying
four trains a day, and the people in
the East and the lumbermen in the
East have not suffered. W"c had to dls
criminate against them, because if
you cannot carry to market what the
country produces, whether it is coal
or Iron or lumber or corn or cotton, if
you-cannot carry it to market and find
r nlace "where the man who produces
it can cell it, you will have nothing
else to carry. That is all that road is
built -for.'-
Traffic Nearly Balanced.
Mr. Hill was asked if his lumber
rate was profitable. He replied that
It was. Asked if it was profitable by
itself, he answered:
No: not if we had to naul empty
cars out. It was to loaU back the cars
that went out there with merchandise.
There -hao. theretofore been nothing
with' -which to load them back. We
tookrback lumber rather than take the
cars- back, empty. And it was so sue
cessf al - "that In a short time the lum
ber-'increased so that they were call
ins?HT 'empty cars: and if the peopl
of the State" of Washington did noth
Jng" but devote their entire energies to
'destroying: 'different classes of goods
anilisilLtaelr capital, they could not
furnish the empties to carry xne mm
feer East. Aa& .that -Jiro.va onto aJt&aa
F
TO6.ooe,75oj. r
w -- "r
vM sales S5 m V JmW a
ii mfwBMLw, r mark
vlu sales 5
II . SALES TSft P
m& mto m .
Our History.
We began business In May, 1SS6, with a caplt&l ot
(230,000, with only 10 Bale i man, and without a factory
under our own control. At that time w did not hav a
customer whom we could call our own. We told 11.5S2.431
worth of fchocs oar flnt year In business. Today we
have a capital of t3.00Q.CC0. We have in operation five
complete factories. W are employing S3 Traveling
BaleBmenand have 200 skilled shoemakers. Today -we
have the accounts of 10,500 active merchants on our
ledzers. In sevenyears we have sold J27.000.00C worth of
shoes. The strides -we have mode will be Indicated to
by oar sales which are shown In the ladder.
Our Five Factories.
We operate five separate and distinct factories, each
In a separate bulldlox. In eacb factory we make only
one grade of shoes. Our Mulianphy Factory makes
Men's and Boys' Goodyear Welt shoes. This Is the only
exclusive Welt factory In the West. Oar Auburn
Factory makes Women's, Misses' and Children's fine
shoes. Our Hickory Factory makes Men's and Boys
medium srade shoes. Our Hannibal Factory makes
Women's. Misses' and Children's medium grade shoes.
Our St. Clsaries Factory makes Men's and Boys' heavy
work shoes. The dally capacity ot these five factories
when operated to their limit Is 86.0G0 pairs.
Our Leading Brands.
Our Men's "Patriot" Shoes, Ladles "Mayflower,'
Children's " Etcralty," and Otrr Family."
Patriot Sfeoes.
The "Patriot" shoe Is made In 89 different styles of
Goodyear Welt (commonly known as band-sewed), from
the most choice selection ot leathers and by the highest
grade ot workmen. Made exclusively 1b the Goodyear
Welt Factory. Intended to be sold atta.00to tl.00 retail.
Mayflower hsnes.
The "Mayflower" Is made In the Goodyear Welt and
hand-turned, and the latest styles ot button and lace,
from the best selected material, by skilled labor that
knows how to make only cood shoes. The "Mayflower"
Is Intended to retail at 12.60 to $3.00.
v EtcreJty School Shoes.
The "Eternity" is latended to withstand the most
seTere wear, and meet the demands of the school
children-, We try to make this shoe true to Its name.
Oar FamHr Unc.
This line of shoes Is made from the very best grade
of Chrome. Tanned Box Oalt, for Men. Boys, Youths,
Little Gents. Women. Misses and Children at & price
within the reach of all, at the came tune comprising
oomfort, aeatness and durability, carrying with It an
advertising feature that has made It the most popular
line in America.
To The Merchant.
To the lOfO active merchants whose accounts tre
hare on our ledgers, we extend our thnvT for yonr
business. You know the values we have given you In
the past by the serrioe our shoes have given your
castomer. If you are satisfied, as we think you are, do
us the kindness to tell your experience to your fellow
merchants. We stand on the merits of our shoes, and are
begging for an investigation from all interested sources.
Salesmen are la readiness to wait on you la any
part of the United States, and onr office is liberally
provided with Illustrated, up-to-date catalogues. We
solicit correspondence.
ACTUAL SHIPMENTS
FOR. YEAR.
MAYiom
ENDING
ii
,346,629
CAIN OVER
LAST YEAR
$337,879
oberts, Johnson Rand Shoe Co,
ST. IsOUIS. U.S. A.
sea to look to
west. Now the
anccd."
Aeia for
trade is
our loading
nearly bal-
CHANCE FOR BRIGHT HEN
Revenue Cutter Service Offers Bet
ter Pay Than Array or Navy.
OREGONTAX NEWS BUREAU, Wash
ington. May 14. Uncle' Sam is looking: for
bright young men between IS an&25 to
enter the Revenue Cutter Service. It is a
strange thing that notwithstanding the
salaries paid to this service are better
lot; comnposang ooXioa 4a tnrjjrirosv Jr fMlwnlttiirir .rtgnwT ftr oL
Army and Navy, it- Is most difficult to fHL
vacancies, whereas there is an eternal
scramble to get commissions in the Army
and Navy.
On May 17. IS and 19 examinations will
be held by the Civil Service Commission
to secure ellglbles to fill existing vacan
cies as cadets In the Revenue Cutter
Service. A rather rigid examination must
be passed, comprising most of the studies
of the high school course. Including arith
metic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry,
grammar, English literature, spelling,
physics, and one modem language.
French. German or Spanish. Three days
will be required for the examination.
While It Is not a prerequisite to eligibil
ity, all -applicants who have seen service
at sea. on -American veaeets wui aid tuem-
such service. As with cadets at West
Point and Annapolis, applicants, for these
positions must be physically sound and
without defect, not less thau 5 feet 3
Inches In height, of good moral character
and unmarried. The marriage of a cadet
In tho Revenue Cutter Service Is accepted
as his resignation. --
Cadets who pass the examination will
be commissioned by the President as
Lieutenants, after completing a three
year course at the school of instruction
near Baltimore. Promotions are made as
vacancies occur in the higher grades. The
service is now made up of 37 Captains, at
368) -per annum, 57 First Lieutenants at
XlWhr XI Second Lieutenants at $1500 and
the gome Rumter r xaira lieutenants at
$ttt. Captains to tMs secyiee. under the
so on down. Officers reaching the age of
W years are retired on three-quarter pay.
For every five years service officers re
ceive an incease of 10 per cent in pay up
to 40 per cent, which. Is allowed for 20
years' service or more.
- Examinations for these revenue cutter
positions will be held at all cities where
civil service examinations arc regularly
conducted, among them the following:
Oregon: Portland. Astoria. Baker City
and Eugene. Washington: Tacoma, Seat
tle. Spokane, Walla Walla.. Port Town
send and Beilingham. Idaho: Boise and
Moscow.
It ,!. estimated that American destisto put
S2.G90.eeO la sold- Into people's mouths every
cear. Te. et thlelc what they taJee et ef
their socket at the sante tbac.-CtMhutl
l&X. xaak with. Xajori. in-tko Army, .aad. Lgsmsn nrrit l-Trtsjaae.
BETTER CHANQE'lN AMERICA
Italian Ambassador Advises Country
men to Buy Land.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.. May 14. Baron
Mayer des Planches, Italian Ambassador
to. the UnltedStates spent the day here.
A large delegation of his countrymen resi
dent here waited upon him in a body at
hia hotel. He made a short address to
them, encouraging them to buy land in
America and obey the laws, urging that
the- chaacea to become wealthy and In
fluential la the: United States were much
greater than in Italy.
He wiM vfeKt, other SoutlMrK cities, tie
object of his trip being the establish
ment of colonics in the South and the
location of reputable Italians from the
crowded districts of Italy.
Meeting of Clergy Forbidden.
ST. PETERSBURG, May 14 (lT:3ft. - .
M. The police prevented a meeting yes
terday of resident clergy who desire.d to
pass resolutions of sympathy with. Metro- '
polltan AntonlQus, who has been trans
ferred to the Caucasus on account of his
agitation in favor of a revlvaj.pf. the
patriarchate. When representatives of the
clergy asked an officer if they might hSio:
meeting In a church he replied in the
negative, saying that his orders were net
to permit msstlag anywhere.