tral Railroad, from 15 to 25 per cent. is local and subject to regulation under the law. All other traffic over each of these lines being inter-State commerce, is not subject to State regulation.

Question 6. Upon what terms is California traffic pooled by the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads? Please furnish the freight tariffs, giving the "pool" rates during the last two years.

Answer. The California traffic from Chicago to Omaha is pooled between the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads as follows. Each company takes out 50 per cent. of its earnings on that business for expenses of the traffic. The balance is divided equally between the companies. Settlements are made monthly, and this arrangement applies to both east and west bound business.

The following are the published rates from Chicago to California per 100 punds:

The rates are the same from all points on the pool lines west of Chicago, and goods can only be shipped on through rates at the Mississippi River. From all points west of the river they are shipped at the local rates to Council Bluffs, and then at the local rates over the Union Pacific Railway.

Question 7. Which of the trunk-roads through Iowa, extending to Chicago, are joint owners of any fast-freight line in connection with railroads running east of Chicago? Answer. The Chicago and Northwestern and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railways have an interest in the "Red Line." The Illinois Central, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads have no interest in any fast-freight line. Not over 5 per cent. of the produce that crosses the Mississippi goes in fast-freight-line cars. Fully 95 per cent. of all the east-bound tonnage from all points at and above Keokuk and below Saint Paul is shipped in local cars, and is unloaded in Chicago or Milwaukee.

Question 8. Is the business of all-rail shippers of produce from Iowa to Atlantic ports increasing, and is this all-rail business chiefly to interior points in the New England and other Atlantic States?

Answer. The business of all-rail shippers is slowly increasing. The bulk of the business of Iowa, shipped beyond Chicago, goes to interior points in the New England and other Atlantic States. The through-billing business to points east of Chicago has undoubtedly been stimulated by the fast-freight lines. Some of the trunk-lines running west from Chicago do not allow their cars to go east of Chicago with through freight, but prefer to transship into eastern cars at Chicago; while other lines in cases of emergency allow their cars to pass eastward with through freight.

Question 9. Upon what terms are the cars of the eastern roads allowed to run over the trunk-lines of the State of Iowa?

Answer. The cars of all roads are allowed to run to points in Iowa at the regular rates. The road owning the car is credited one cent per mile for the distance it runs on each road. Very few cars, except fast-freight-line cars, come west of the Mississippi River, except those belonging to the roads terminating at Chicago.

Question 10. Please to prepare tabular statements showing the number of miles owned and operated under lease or otherwise by the various trunk-lines of Iowa. Answer. The number of miles of road owned and operated by the several companies is as follows:

Question 11. Please to present such statistics as you may be able to procure showing the growth of business over the north and south roads of Iowa.

Answer. The business of all north and south roads in Iowa is practically east-bound business. The north and south roads carry their traffic to the main east and west

trunk-lines, and it passes over them to Chicago. There is practically no south-bound business. Nearly all the business of the Keokuk and Des Moines Railroad (striking the Mississippi River at Keokuk at the foot of the Lower Rapids) goes to Chicago. It is safe to calculate that 95 per cent. of the business of Iowa goes to Chicago and Milwaukee. While the business of the north and south lines may increase, it would not show an in crease of south-bound business.

Question 12. Are any of the trunk-lines east of Chicago now making efforts to gain control of any of the lines west of Chicago, or to extend their own lines west? If such extension of any eastern line were made, would not such line be able to make discriminating rates as against lake and canal transport from Chicago or Milwaukee to New York?

Answer. If efforts are being made by any of the eastern roads to obtain control of any road west of Chicago, it is not known to me. All the efforts of this description are supposed to be made by individuals.

The efforts to extend some of the trunk-lines east of Chicago to the Mississippi River is by the construction of new lines, and not by getting control of any road now built. If a line should be extended from any of the trunk-lines to the Mississippi River without going through Chicago, it would create a competition between cities rather than between roads, but such extension would not enable a road to make any rates which would not come in direct competition with roads from the Mississippi River to Chicago and lake and canal navigation to New York. It would simply make one more competing line, and would give such company the advantage only of saving the cost of going through Chicago, which is estimated at five cents per bushel. There are roads of the description you name at Davenport, Keokuk, Burlington, Louisiana, and Hannibal, but they simply compete for the business just as the other roads do.

Question 13. Please to state the cost of each railroad-bridge over the Mississippi River below the Falls of Saint Anthony and above Saint Louis.

Answer. The cost of the several bridges over the Mississippi River is as follows:

At Davenport, (wagon-bridge built conjointly by the Government and rail

road company).

At Burlington..

At Keokuk..

At Quincy.

At Hannibal..

At Louisiana..

Question 14. Please to state to what extent there has been a change in the mode of commerce at Chicago, and at points south and west of Chicago, from the shipment of grain and other products on account of western dealers to shipment on account of consignees, i. e., the eastern purchaser.

Answer. The business of through shipment to eastern markets from south and west of Chicago is on the increase, and the sharp competition between the roads running from various points on the Mississippi River and passing south of Chicago has had a tendency to further increase the through shipments, and to a certain extent to change the mode of doing business. Formerly all the business went directly to Chicago, that being the market for all the surplus of Illinois and Iowa, but the building of new lines of roads passing south of that city has transferred much of the business to new channels, and has so alarmed the merchants of Chicago as to call for the appointment of a committee to investigate the charge of intentional discrimination against that city. These lines can control the business during the close of navigation, but during lake and canal navigation the rates are so much less by Chicago that the great bulk of the business still seeks an outlet by the way of the lakes.

In all new sections the capital invested in the grain and produce business is comparatively small, and dealers are forced to sell in the nearest market, but as the country becomes older and the dealers are able to hold their grain for a better market and to wait longer for their returns, the shipments to eastern markets increase, and as the facilities for direct through shipments increase, the competition of transportation-lines makes low rates, increases the business, and creates a sharp competition between the various cities, both East and West. This state of things is plainly manifested now in the excitement at Chicago about the discrimination against that city by the "cut-off roads," as they are called, and it is undoubtedly true that these roads are now affecting the business of Chicago more than ever before.

Question 15. To what extent, and in what manner, do freight-rates on the Mississippi

River at and below Winona, Minn., regulate rail-rates east to the Atlantic seaboard cities?

Answer. The river-rates at and below Winona have very little influence on rates to the Atlantic cities. The shipments of grain to Atlantic seaboard cities from the Mississippi River is a very small per cent. of the east-bound business. While the river is navigable, the competition is carried on mainly by short lines of steamers running in connection with some one of the trunk-lines to Milwaukee or Chicago more than by through boats to the lower river, as you will see by the amount carried. For instance, during the season of 1875 a short line of steamboats and barges ran in connection with the Chicago and Northwestern Railway at Fulton, and brought to that point, from up the river, 2,000,000 bushels of wheat and 75,000 barrels of flour; and the same line delivered to the Rockford and Rock Island Railroad at Rock Island probably 15,000 tons of freight. All this business started from points above the Illinois Central and the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railways, which were competitors for the same business.

The season of navigation on the Mississippi River is about two hundred and twenty days, including the stage of low water when steamers cannot pass the rapids. A large portion of the freights from west of the river goes to market after the close of the river, and therefore not affected by the competition of the river.

Question 16. Please to give your opinion as to narrow-gauge railroads in the State of Iowa, and the circumstances which seem to point to the economy of such roads. Answer. The matter of narrow-gauge roads has as yet hardly risen to the diguity of an experiment. We have but two short pieces of narrow-gauge road in operation. These are doing a small business and are operated very economically. They have not been in operation long enough or under such circumstances as to indicate what the result will be in an economical point of view. The claim made by the friends of the narrow-gauge system is, that by the reduction of dead weight they can carry freights and passengers much cheaper than the broad-gauge roads. It may turn out that in trying to save dead weight they have so lightened their stock that the cost of repairs will be fully equal to the difference saved in dead weight. But none of the narrowgauge roads have yet reached the maximum of depreciation, and until the rapidity with which their stock wears out, bridges and ties decay, and iron requires renewal can be determined, no just comparison can be made between the two systems. The width of the gauge is not an essential element in the success of this class of roads, except in so far as it enables the builders to lighten their rolling-stock and to run sharper curves with safety.

A road built with a narrow road-bed, small ties, light iron, and correspondingly light rolling-stock, without any reference to the width of gauge, can be built so much cheaper than the present style of broad-guage roads that it requires comparatively a small investment of capital for construction, and a correspondingly small outlay to operate, so that such a road would be able to live and pay expenses upon a business that would not pay operating expenses on an ordinary 4-foot 8-inch gauge.

No narrow-gauge road has yet been built in this country of sufficient length to determine what their relative capacity will be compared with the standard gauge, or to what extent a saving can be made in dead weight or in operating expenses. So far as the system has been tried it is claimed to be a success, and it is now in contemplation by parties intending to build a new road in the Northwest to adopt the same weight of material and rolling-stock as the narrow gauge and still use the wide gauge. If this road is built as contemplated, it will aid in determining whether the width of the gauge is an essential element of success.

Tonnage account, 1875, Keokuk Northern Line Packet Company, showing number of tons of freight carried down stream from Saint Paul and all points to all points to Saint Louis, Mo.

The above table of tonnage is furnished by the Keokuk Northern Line Packet Company, representing their business for the year 1875, they being the only line of merchant-boats between Saint Louis and Saint Paul; all the other boats on the river being either short-line boats operated in connection with some railroad or raft-boats running logs and lumber.

APPENDIX No. 6.

ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES IN RELATION TO THE COMMERCE OF BOSTON, THE COMMERCIAL MOVEMENTS TO AND FROM THAT CITY, AND THE TRANSPORTATION-LINES OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, BY MR. HAMILTON A. HILL, OF BOSTON, MASS. 1876.

Question 1. What rebates are allowed the shippers of grain and flour at Boston in case such commodities are exported, and is such rebate made by the steamship companies, or by one or more railroad companies, and, if so, by what company or companies?

Answer. When the Cunard Steamship Company began, in 1871, to send its large propellers regularly every week from Boston to Liverpool direct, arrangements were entered into between it and the Boston and Albany Railroad Company, by which grain and other articles of western produce could be delivered in Liverpool by way of Boston, at as low rates as by the Grand Trunk route through Portland, and by the various trunk-lines to New York and thence to Liverpool.

These arrangements included a rebate on the railway rate of freight to Boston, and I understand that this has been made to the shipper by the railroad company.

During the last two or three years the steamships of the Dominion line, employed in the trade of the Saint Lawrence in the summer season, have been sailing between Boston and Liverpool, at frequent intervals in the late autumn, winter, and early spring. A new steam-line, owned by the Messrs. Leyland, of Liverpool, has made its appearance on this route the present spring. I have reason to believe that western produce shipped by both of these lines receives the benefit of the rebate precisely as if shipped by the Cunard line; and that the rebate is made on merchandise arriving in Boston by the other railroads terminating here, as well as by the Boston and Albany Railroad.

The sole object of this rebate has been and is to encourage the export of western produce from the port of Boston.

There is no "combination" between any of the railroad-lines and any of the foreign steamship companies coming to this port; only co-cperation in a harmonious and friendly spirit for the benefit of all concerned, and for the good of the port.

Question 2. Has the Hoosac Tunnel route yet developed any increase in the grain business of Boston, and has the competition of this line tended to reduce the freightcharges on grain from the West to Boston ?

Answer. The Hoosac Tunnel route has no facilities as yet for handling grain, and therefore there has been no competition on its part by which prices have been lowered. Two or three shipments of grain came to hand by it last winter, but none is arriving now.

Question 3. Please to state the following facts in regard to the coastwise steamer lines between Boston and New York, Boston and Philadelphia, and Boston and Baltimore respectively

(a) For every one hundred tons of freight moved north, about how many tons of freight are moved south?

(b) Is it true that the tonnage of north-bound freights on each one of these lines being very much in excess of the tonnage carried south, they can afford to carry south-bound freights at very much lower rates than they must necessarily charge on their north-bound trips, and that by this means they are enabled to combine with the Erie and Pennsylvania Roads at New York, with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Philadelphia, and with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Baltimore, for the transportation of Boston freight to the West, in competition with the direct rail-line composed of the Boston and Albany Railroad and its western connections, and the Vermont Central and Grand Trunk Line?

(c) Do you regard the transportation of freights westward by means of these coastwise steamer lines, in connection with the railroads west from New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, as affording a reliable and effective competition to the Boston and Albany and Central Vermout line?

(d) Is not the quantity of freight which can be shipped from Boston to the West on such lines necessarily limited by the average amount of available freight-space in the steamers bound south from Boston?

Answer. (a) For every one hundred tons of freight moved north by the three coastwise steamship lines, named in the inquiry, the number of tons moved south by each is reported to me as follows:

(b) The fact that the tendency of the traffic is mainly northward undoubtedly enters into the calculations of these lines, and of the railway companies with which they connect, in fixing their rates of transportation; but it should be remembered that by allrail routes to the seaboard the bulk brought to the East considerably exceeds that carried to the West, and that a great many cars by these lines go back empty for the seaboard. I have always supposed that the Boston business being so much added to what may be called the natural traffic of the Erie, the Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, these companies have found it for their advantage to cultivate and encourage it by making liberal terms in connection with the coastwise steamship-lines respectively.

(c) These lines have undoubtedly been very useful to the business community in and about Boston, and they have been effective in keeping down the rates over the direct lines with which they have entered into competition. They occupy more time in transit, however, and they, of course, involve transshipment; so that freight requiring quick dispatch, and that which suffers from much handling, would usually be forwarded by the all-rail routes. By the Philadelphia and Baltimore lines, the shipper would also have to effect marine insurance.

(d) The capacity of these coastwise steamship lines is large, the vessels to New York going daily, to Baltimore three times a week, and to Philadelphia twice a week; their managers are enterprising; they add tonnage as it is needed, and they intend to keep apace with the times. I should say that the quantity of freight which can be shipped by them to the West is limited by the average amount of available freight-space which they have to provide for the business coming from the South and Southwest. Question 4. Is cotton brought to Boston from the centers of production in the Gulf or other Southern States by rail, and to what extent?

Answer. Cotton has for some time past been coming to Boston from the sources of supply both by the all-rail routes and by the mixed routes referred to in inquiry No. 6. This trade is now considered as part of the regular and legitimate business of all these lines, and it is steadily increasing. I hear that bills of lading have been signed in Memphis for the conveyance of cotton from that city to Liverpool, by way of Boston, at five-eighths of a penny a pound, which is certainly very cheap. The advantages which these routes offer over the old water-route are great saving in time and approximate certainty as to date of delivery.

Question 5. Please to state the ocean rates during the year 1975 from Boston to Liverpool.

Answer. For the rates from Boston to Liverpool by steamer during the year 1875 see schedule marked "C." No shipments are made to Liverpool by sailing-ships, but such vessels are sometimes loaded to go to Cork for orders. The rates by them for grain, under ordinary circumstances, are from one penny to three halfpence a bushel less than by steamers. The insurance by them would usually be double what is charged for steamers.

Question 6. Are not the advantages of Boston in the transportation of New England manufactures to the West necessarily confined within certain geographical limits, beyond which goods would naturally be shipped to New York or to other points, even under the discriminating rates now prevailing in favor of Boston, the cost of transporting such goods to Boston and from thence to points at the West and South exceeding the cost of direct transport, or of transport to New York and thence to the South and West?

Answer. In my judgment, there is no reason why the domestic merchandise of New England should not be shipped direct to all points of distribution or places of consumption in the United States, wherever they may be. There is nothing gained, but additional cost is incurred in sending merchandise to New York, from thence to be forwarded to its ultimate destination.

About the year 1849 or 1850 the commission agents selling domestic dry-goods in Boston opened branch houses in New York to supply the trade there. This has since been regarded by most people as a very unfortunate step, as it was certainly an unnecessary one. This branch of business might have been retained in Boston, just as the wholesale boot and shoe trade has always been.

The effect of this step, so far as the future is concerned, may be modified by the fact that Chicago, Saint Louis, and other western cities have become very important points of distribution, and goods are now sent to those cities direct from the New England mills; but the injury sustained by Boston in its general business in consequence of