, 1872-11-20
sWINDLING IN GRAIN FREIGHTs.

|
year.
sW1NDLING IN GRAIN FRE1GHTs.
Messra. Sykes, Wight, and sturges, 8 Com
mittee of The Chicago Board Of Trade
| appointed to Investigate the abuse OF
| the underbilling" Of grain when ship
! ped in bulk by rail, have made report in
and Warehouse Commissioners, which shows
mode OF swindling equally injurious to honest
shippers Of grain, to the railroad companies,
and to the elevators and grain trade generally Of
Chicago. This consists in issuing bills OF lad
ing at points where the grim ia not received
from elevators, and where there are no facilities
for weighing it, at ssshipper's weight" taking
the weight from the statement Of the shipper,
The shippers at interior points have thus been
tempted to Is underbi1l the quantity or weight
in order to save railroad freights, and agents
soliciting freights, when not allowed to
''cut rates." have connived at this under
billing as an indirect mode Of allowing ship
ments at lower: than the standard ratesof freight
agreed upon BY the competing companies The
dishonest shipper, by underbil1ing: saves per-
centage on his freights which enables him to
underseu his rivals. The railroad companies
lose percentage Of their. just charges, and
the elevators and grain-dealers Of Chicago and
the other larger grain ports where the grain is
carefully weighed and underbilling is impossible,
are at a disadvantage compared with interior
points which do not weigh their grain. E1-
amples are given Of the extent Of this ss UNDER
billing" as follows: Ten carloads OF oats, sup
posed to be from Darlington or Mineral Point,
unloaded at East somerville, Mass, by G. P.
Ray, City Weigher OF Boston, between the
9Th Of March and 18th OF April last,
we're billed 10000 lbs per car, or
200, 900 lbs, and weighed when delivered, 252 636
Tbs, an excess OF 1855 lbs, the largest excess
being 10,320 lbs in one car, and the smallest.
$50 lbs, and an average Of 5,26s TBS. Here the
shipper saved 26h per cent Of the freights he
should have paid to the railroads. The latter
carried 81, 636 Tbs, or mora than fifth, Of the
grain without compensation, and the honest
shipper and warehousemen saw themselves out
witted and under-bid by kind of petty theft,
wholly outside the range Of legitimate enter
prise.
Seven Blue-Line cars containing corn, sup
posed to be from Lena, H., MA Illinois Central
Railroad, we're weighed out, five at Lawrence
billed at q total Of 900 lbs, and contained
zig, ,694 lbs, an excess OF 1854 lbs, or over so
per cent. The excess averaged ,519 lbs per
car.
country shippers, and unloaded On track (freight
paid on 10000 lbs per car), showed an average
excess of 1928 lbs, per cent over the amount
on which freight was paid.
Thirty eight cars shipped from Chicago, in
May and June, contained Is per cent more grain
than they we're billed at and paid freight on.
Fifty cars shipped in June and July contained
in excess Of way-biil.
4 sufficient number of additional instances
are given to show the practice to be quite gen
eral, and while the report claims that shippers
from Chicago cannot avail themselves like those
from interior points OF this trick, the statement
annexed to the report, by singular contraaic-
tlon. contain as many shipments underbil1ed
from Chicago as elsewhere. The Pennsylvania
Railroad Company have adopted the rule Of
weighing grain-cars at Pittsburgh and charg-
ing drst-class freights On all grain in excess Of
the amount stated in the way-bi1l. This, they
think, has broken up the practice, 80 far as
shipments over their road to points east Of
PAtteburgh are concerned. The Committee
recommend, as their remedy, that the present
1orms OF bills Of lading at ssshipper's weight"
or "more or 1ess," be discarded as unfit for the
purposes Of commerce, and that, instead, where
weighing facilities do not exist at the point
Of shipment, the way-bin contain aubstan-
italy this clause, l" Not weighed; to be weighed
at - station; the weight there found
will be the basis OF Way-bill, and guaranteed"
lhe car will then run to the first point where it
can be weighed, the weight will be reported to
the original station, and made the basis OF the
way-bill This, it is thought, will cause weigh
scales to be speedily supplied at all points where
grain in any considerable quantity is loaded OF
unloaded.
The Committee also suggest that the dis
position Of shippers to cheat the railroads has
been provoked in part by the arrogant policy
of the railroads in refusing to become respon-
sible to shippers for ehrinkage, shortage, and
other waste Of carrying. Shippers who paid
freight On the full amount shipped
and named in the bills OF 1ading,
and fell abort 500 lbs at destination, not only
lost the shortage. but actually paid the freight