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M f : ' ' i ' % But wh#h we com© to assess the transportation revenue under our ta r-i l l s i we are bound by the ta riff® , and in my opinion, we cannot assess a greater charge upon the weight of the car under the ta riffs than its ac­tual weight* Shall this weight be the weight at destination or at point of origin? how, in particu lar oases, the weights at the point of origin the efficiency of the scales and the efficiency of the weigh-master, have from time to time been very seriously questioned, to the extent, as 1 un­derstand i t , that reforms were intended or ordered to toe instituted at that end of the dine, The weights at destination are taxon upon scale® in stalled within the la s t three years, ana are, as a matter of faet, scales of the latest and moat improved patterns, and are operated by an employee of tne Western Weighing Association, who receives a salary of $250.00 per month fo r this service alone* Over these scales at destina­tion are weighed the ores and concentrates received toy the Smelters from consignors a l l over the country, and upon the weights shown toy these scales the ores are paid fo r by the Smelters to the owners or shippers, and these weights furnish the only basis fo r tne payment of freigh t charg­es upon such ores uelivered at such places* There may toe some d iffic u lty in determining which weight sh a ll toe ac­cepted as the prima facie weight of tne cars of coal* I am advised that a® a matter of fa c t, at the mines, the point of origin , the marked tare o f the car i® taken at a i l times a® the t&re, and that no sei>arate weight o f the empty car i® ever taken* 1 am further advised that at destination th® oar and its load are f i r s t weighed, and the empty car is weight imme­diately a fte r unloading, so that we get the actual weight of each load and of. each empty car* Our Companu, as you w i ll sec, has tout a short haul of IB miles from