The herald., 1896-09-28
DRIED FRUIT


leading European cities established by
the transportation companies demon
strate three things: First, that the
dried fruit has not been moving fast
enough to suit the railroad companies.
Second. that the railroad companies
consider new market necessary to
move the fruit and they seek this mar
ket from necessity in foreign countries.
Third. that these companies are of opin-
ion that California dried fruits can COM
pete in Europe with the European or
'pauper labor product" The freight
rate from Los Angeles to London or Liv-
erpool is within 10 cents of what it is to
New York and less than it is to many
interior American markets.
The fruit grower is blind if he does not
see that the secret of his success is es-
sentially in the freight rates, secret re-
bate and special favors. He is blind if
he does not see that the dried fruit pro-
ducer has come to point already where
foreign consumers are sought to move
the crop. The fruit grower can see, if
he chooses to open his eyes, that the key
to successful fruit growing in California
is in the freight rates and methods of
distribution. A protective policy is no
longer anything but hindrance to the
exchange of the fruit product for prod
ucts that the fruit grower desires or can
dispose. Every fruit man can, if he
will, realize the economic truth that
sales are Exchanges" that a market
for his product must mean, can only
mean. marketffor products from the
community taking his fruit Before the
Florida freeze the orange industry was
already seeking what our deciduous
fruits are now seeking, a foreign mar
ket. Shiploads of oranges had been sent
to London from Florida and numerous
small shipments, had gone to the same
market from Californias The blind folly
state that ought to be. and will be the
fruit producer of the whole world is an
illustration of the judgment Of politi
clans that the farmers and fruit produc-
ers in this country neither study politi-
cal economy as science. nor have
sound business sense.
A box of oranges, or better, pound of
oranges for the boxes vary in size, can
be brought from Sicily today to New
York, 1900 miles, be trans-shipped and
then be carried by rail to Omaha for the
same price that box of California or
anges costs to be laid down there. The
land carriage in the two cases is sub
stantially the same so that Sicillian
has the 4S00 miles of sea freight and the
New York ans-shipment thrown in
free. Besides this secret rebate by car
line, deals are enjoyed by certain middle
men as against the California fruit
grower, whereas the Sicilian has exact
justice and comes in contact with the
middle man only at the New York auc-
tion block. The Californian fruit grow
ers, by their organizations show that
in a business sense they fully realize the
real handicap against them. The fruit
men know that as business proposition
the profit is in the distribution methods
and in the freight rates. When it comes
to politics, the politicians evidently
from their talk, expect to have the farm
ers follow the protection will-o the
wisp into the Jaws Of a Corporation
control with increased secret rebate,
more special privilege to lobbying trusts
and syndcates and shrinking measure
of values. The fruit grower and the
taxpayer cannot afford to see Southern
Pacific state government continued, nor
a corporation, set of Carnegies and Han
mas with the entire power at Washing
ton, nor water company cinch fastened
on the city of Los Angeles. The fruit
rtoi ink will he
sense to see some day that special priv
ilege, secret rebate, tax evasion and all
the abuses the gigantic trusts of America
are fostering are not only constant alb
sorbers of the producers profits but a
menace to all property and even to life
| itself in this republic, n...r.f