Comment is unnecessary.
As evidence in support of points 1 and 3 as above numbered, points on which railroad representatives so uniformly agree in support of, or, with equal uniformity, display concurring lapses of memory or lack of knowledge relating to, I shall here quote further from Mr. Kirkman’s testimony before the Wolcott Commission. In electing to quote from Mr. Kirkman rather than from another to evidence points 1 and 3, I am influenced only by the fact that I have the report of the Wolcott Commission before me at the moment, and to the further fact that Mr. Kirkman’s testimony appears to me cogently illustrative of the points to which I have called the reader’s attention.
In closing his prepared or written testimony (page 208 of the report), Mr. Kirkman says:
In conclusion, it may be stated that the compensation afforded this railroad for carrying the mail is not now in excess of what it should be. It is not improper, therefore, for us to beg, if rates can not be increased, that no further reductions may be made; also, that the practice of fixing the compensation paid for mail service on the basis of the weight carried at the commencement of the four-year periods (instead of on the weights carried in the middle of the periods), may be abandoned in favor of a more equitable system.
From the above it will be seen that this witness states with confidence that the compensation his road (the Chicago and Northwestern) receives “is not now in excess of what it should be” and begs that, “if the rates cannot be increased, that no further reductions be made.”
I shall now reprint a few pages from the report of Mr. Kirkman’s oral testimony as illustrative of point 3:
By Mr. Catchings:
Q. What did you state were the gross receipts from your whole system for carrying the mails?—A. About $800,000.
Q. Now, can you state to this commission what your net profit was for carrying that amount over your system?—A. I do not know.