For lo, these many years, the railroads have carried the mails at a carriage charge of $21.37 a ton per annum per line mile of haul.[9] That is $21.37 is allowed on “dense” traffic lines where the daily mail weight is above 5,000 pounds. On lines where the daily weight is 5,000 lbs., the rate is $171.00 per annum per line mile of haul. For mail weights less than 5,000 pounds the rate of pay varies, the ton-mile rate increasing from 21.37 cents for a weight above 5,000 pounds, to $1.17 per ton-mile for an average weight of 200 pounds.
Following are tabulations showing the scale of mail pay and also the postoffice car rental pay. I get them from the Wolcott Commission report made in 1901. The tables and accompanying paragraphs form part of the testimony of Mr. Marshall M. Kirkman, who at the time of the Wolcott Commission hearings was Second Vice-President of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway. The rates of pay may have been modified in some slight degree since 1901. If so, I have not learned of the fact. I am of the opinion that the figures given by Mr. Kirkman still govern as rates of mail pay and car rentals, and as Mr. Kirkman was speaking for the railroads the reader may depend upon it that the case of the railroads—especially of the Chicago and Northwestern, then a system of about 5,000 miles of trackage—was presented in as favorable a light as the governing facts would permit:
RATES BASED ON THE WEIGHT OF THE MAILS.[10]
| Average daily weight of mails over whole route. | Present pay per mile per annum. | Present rate per ton per mile.[11] | Present rate per hundred pounds per mile.[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cents | |||
| 200 pounds | $42.75 | $1.170 | 5.85 |
| 500 pounds | 64.12 | .700 | 3.50 |
| 1,000 pounds | 85.50 | .468 | 2.34 |
| 2,000 pounds | 128.25 | .351 | 1.75 |
| 4,000 pounds | 156.46 | .214 | 1.07 |
| 5,000 pounds | 171.00 | .187 | .96 |
| Each 2,000 pounds in excess of 5,000 pounds | 21.37 | .058 | .29 |
The most striking feature of this table is the rapid decline in the rates paid with an increase of weight.
In addition to the above payments based upon weight there is an additional allowance when full-sized postoffice cars are provided, the Postoffice Department deciding when these are necessary. The rates of pay for these cars are as follows:
RATES ALLOWABLE FOR FULL-SIZED POSTOFFICE CARS.[13]
| Length of car. | Rate per mile of track per annum. | Rate per mile run by cars. |
|---|---|---|
| Cents | ||
| 40 feet | $25.00 | 3.424 |
| 45 feet | 27.50 | 3.786 |
| 50 feet | 32.50 | 4.471 |
| 55 to 60 feet | 40.00 | 5.498 |
The first column, which shows the rate paid per mile of track per annum, is likely to be misunderstood. The compensation seems very liberal, and it would be so in fact if it were as large as it appears to be. To gain $25 per mile per annum a 40-foot car must make a round trip over each mile of road per day. If it only makes one trip over the road each day, it will earn but $12.50 per mile per annum, as it would be but half of what is known as a line. The statute reads: