Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-12-21
NEVER TOUCHED Us.
New Freight Tariff viii Effect OF
tumwa but Little.
RISE in RATE ON PAGERS PRODUCT

January IL ehe Date Set When the
New Schedule Will Go Into Effect
but Local Railroad Men Say Ii
Will Not Hold Together.
ut is all nonsense" said an employe
of local freight Office, this talk of
the advance in rates operating to raise
| the retail price in nearly all lines of
trade. West bound shipments are not
| affected at all, except, perhaps, very
| slightly in few cases, while rates east
nave advanced notably on packing
| house products and poultry. 1t cuts
no ice at all on butter and eggs and
we do not ship any coal into this part
| of the country except hard coal. see
no reason, however, why rates should
not advance; railroad companies pay
more for everything they use than
they did short time ago and every
thing seems to have risen with the ex-
ception of railroad rates. But let me
tell you one thing. In my opinion, the
howl that is being raised about the
matter will result i'll reconsideration
of the matter and if it were in opera
ton at the present time, would not last
until the time set for the rate to go in
to effect. Let me see that article
again." and the reporter handed him
clipping from Des Moines newspa-
| per. Hum, let's see; SO the rate will
be advanced on sugar, soap, -four and
coal, will it? AS / said beforethe rate
applies mostly to eastbound shipments.
Now will you tell me which one of
those commodities Ottumwa ships
1 nos \ L. AZ.
matter in a nutshell. AS for packing
| house products, what do we care if the
rate is advanced. We have our own
rial right around in this part of the
country. About ten years ago it was
proposed to do the very same thing
| thar the new tariff is expected to bring
about, but it did not last very long,
and in my opinion, this proposed adj
vance will meet the same fate.
AS it now exists, rates are figured
from the Mississippi river and this en-
tails, an endless amount of work. Rate
clerks will hail with delight the aboli-
ton of that point as a base from which
TO figure percentages on shipments.
Do you see this sheet? o. and he present.
ed sheet with a list of different arti-
Giles on it shipped to local dealers, each
sheet having four rates on it,,a figur-
ed, to the fraction of a cent. This
shipment of a case of pins from New
| York to Ottumwa shows the per cent
our road is entitled to out of the haul
and is figured from Chicago to Bur-
lington and again from Burlington in
| to Ottumwa. 1t also shows two rates
east of Chicago and, all this must be
exact. Now this fellow has put this
article in t he wrong5elass and as a con.
sequence the rate has been figured all
lover again." and he pointed to u lot of
heiroglyphics in red ink on the sheet.
'sThat is about the only thing that will
affect the work in this office and 1 as
sure you that the adoption of the new
schedule will be welcome measure.
another thing. East bound ship
ments. will suffer considerably east of
Chicago, both in the advance in the
rate and the advance in the class over
that which they have heretofore occu-
/ pied. But as far as it affects Ot1umwa,
except as indicated and by reason of
the very slight increase in the. class to
which staples have been advanced, you
may count it very much hot air sto-
n.y."
Rumors of the contemplated adj
! vance have percolated to the public at
intervals for the past sixty days, and
once, when it was agreed upon, three
or four weeks ago, and advance sheets
OF the new tariffs We're sent out, such
a howl was set up by the shipping in-
terests that the roads weakened and
4 the tariffs We're withdrawn. At the
time there was not perfect unity OF
4 action and the attempt was abandoned,
only to be revived Inter. The PROPOSE
ton contemplates the abolition of the
Mississippi river as a basing line, and
basing all rates upon Chicago.
How the shippers Feel About 1t.
1t is said that shippers in some parts
| of the country declare that should the
railways put the proposed rate into eff
feet that it will operate to advance re-
tail prices in nearly every line of trade.
/ Sugar, soap, coffee, flour, and coal, are
| a few OF the articles selected for the
Increase. On these, as well as on hun
dreds of other articles, the increase, it
/ is said, will be from 20 to 40 per cent.
The rate on coal west of Chicago will
be pushed up rs cents per ton. The
tariff on cattle will be advanced rs
cents per 100 pounds, and hogs and
4 sheep TO 30 cents. Boxed packing house
| products Will be advanced 25 to 80
cents, and dressed meats to 40 cents per
1 100 pounds. Hay will also feel the in
/! crease. the new rates elevating the tar
1 iii to S1.10 per ton. In some cases the
4 increase will be effected by the very
l simple method of changing the sclass
| under which the articles affected are
shipped. This will be done by taking
them out of the commodity" classes
and restoring them to the several clas-
4 sifications from which they were orig
! inally transferred to the commodity
4 list. 1t is said the railway officials, in
/ defense of the action, point to the
I largely increased cost of steel, labor
and every article that enters into the
construction or operation of railroads.
They claim it is not their intention to
/ elevate rates in proportion to the in
crease in prices of material required for
new equipment. They insist there is