The close interdependence of classification and distance tariffs, as well as, incidentally, the differing spread of rates between various groups of goods under the three existing classification systems, are so fundamental in their bearing on reform that yet another illustration may not be out of place. It is given in the following table. This shows the rates from St. Louis--standing at the meeting point of the main classification territories--for approximately equal distances out in three different directions. Rates Cents per 100 lbs. Southern Classification-- St. Louis to Nashville 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B ------------------------------ (323 miles) 61 52 45 35 28 23 22 26 Official Classification-- St. Louis to Louisville 1 2 3 4 5 6 ---------------------- (317 miles) 41 34½ 25½ 17½ 15 12 Western Classification-- St. Louis to St. Joseph 1 2 3 4 5 A B C D E -------------------------------------- (320 miles) 60 45 35 27 22 24½ 19½ 17 13½ 11 Illinois Classification-- St. Louis to Chicago 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ---------------------------------------------- (284 miles) 43.3 35.2 27.5 22 17.6 16.6 15.1 13.5 10.7 9.6 One line penetrates Southern territory 323 miles to Nashville; another goes eastward 317 miles to Louisville under Official ratings; and the third extends westward 320 miles to St. Joseph, according to the schedules of the Western Classification. To these three there is also added a set of rates north bound under the Illinois Classification which applies between St. Louis and Chicago, 284 miles. This last schedule, of course, is prescribed by the state railway commission. The first point to notice is the widely different number of groups in the four schedules. One is divided into eight classes; another into six; while the last two are each spread over ten subdivisions. Secondly, bearing in mind that the three upper schedules govern approximately the same mileage, it will be noted that the Official rate, first class, is only about two-thirds of that in the other two classes. If one then compares the sixth group in each case, an even greater divergence appears--the Official rate being only about one-half of that in the other two cases. Or, taking the lowest rates of all in the three upper schemes--always, be it noted, for equal mileages--it now appears that the Official and the Western descend to about the same figure, while the Southern is arrested at a point more than twice as high. The primary significance of this showing is, of course, that a single uniform classification in which all of these three systems should be merged, means not merely a reassignment of all possible commodities in a given number of classes; but also a