The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1884-02-08
Freight on Fertilizers.

NIX I'DllOR IN your issue Ol teO' ISL, |
under tie above heading, you have, no doupt |
uuIutent;onally, Teen mislci as II the facts in !.
your article.
Prior the leas'mS Of the S. L. &. c. Railroad /
BY the ,.yie combination, the freight on guane
irom Charleston t. Union c. IL. was $3.50 per
car, or 81 SO per ton. Very soon after the
above lctsc was c.nsummated, some ; years
aSp-thc rate on guano WAS advanced to 500
per car, or - per ton, which rate had been
in force MI the while until the Stand"rd Tariff
of the K. r. Commission reduced it to so
per car, 81 20 per ton. This rate was arrived
at by grAiua,ei charge for the distance
hauscI I,-uone paying the same or more for II
Shorter haul shan paid for longer distance,
whi III hal not been the practice of tho roads
The rate Of freight on guano should be low,
because 1t is n home Manufacture, made within
our own borders. used very extensively by our
farmers, for the purpose of making cotton and
other produce that in their turn will, in a very
largo measure, be hauled by the same roads
that haul the guano. Then, again, reduced rates
would give greater consumption, and thereby
increased tonnage for the roads. Furthermore,
'h' '"""""'"l mining of the crude rock has very
much reduced the price and market value OF all
Phosphates-say fully 20 per cent Large guam
titles Of kanit are now being used, worth in
tac market SlO to Si2 per ton. Thus, you see
We have Nainit, Acids, super Phosphatcs, &c.,
worth in the market from $40 To So and so
yer ton, on which we have a freight rate ranging
from nearly % to 80 per cent. oi the first cost
| Of the goods No business in the world can
| sustain such rates of freight Suppose for q
| - a.. 4,
| of your cotton rs freight, or on any article rs
| much of staple as either of these two Yet,
| all who at all familiar with this subject know
| that of the first considerations in making
| rates is to take into consideration the value Of
the article to DC shipped. These some of
the reasons that influenced one the commits
| sioncrs to favor low rates fertilizers. Tho
| railroad authorities impressed the Legislature
that the Commission should not make rates, and
| the law amended to this extent, before it
| had been fairly tested, aud we were givcn to
understand BY the Legislature that they cousi-
cred the rates too low Tor example, their incrcas
! ing all passenger rates, by special enactment.
| The commission rates guauo to Union
was reduction OF nearly 20 per cent on the
OLD rate, so when the road proposed to advance
| the commissions rates about 10 per cent. the
| Board approved the same To recapitulatc The
anti commission rnte MAS - por ron the COM
missions rate : ~, the new rate is 81 G3 per
| ton.
Nov. MIR. Editor, allow m" t. say more
wnr'l nn y"ur article. | ain wei a.ylrc that it is
| far from You ID in any wis. m,sr"?rr."nt or
put .is commission in wrong; II srI n,'inrc your
rea,lsr', a"d yet unncui;'"r,iy, e'icve, on
! your lsg,, You &C. how nlisi..a n you were in
your facts; AMI "; furthermore say here, that
ninc-tcn;hs of the ncw-; ai,rr articles that ap-
| Pearci in the press last Fall, critc~ing the
| standard tariff of the Commission when it first
| appeared, were erroneous and misleading as
! the information you had received as TO guano
rates to your town. believe now that the posi-
,iyn taken 10y the Board, that it would not re
| ply 10 any articles not addressed to their office
was, c;tcntimcs, great injustice TO thcms elves as
well rs misleading to the public.
Very Truly,
ID, Z. d.