The Minneapolis journal., 1902-07-12

: Minneapolis recent. shipment of a train
load of flour to England by.way: of New
Orleans has attracted much attention all
over. the east and south. III: it accom-
plishes no other result it has been a
success in starting ia Aively rate discussion
among eastern traffic men, New Orleans
is ambitious for more: shipments of the
same kind and. other southern ports: are
interested. How the Minneapolis & st.
Louis and Illinois Central roads regard
the experiment has not been announced.
If the latter system is well enough satis-
fed with the results& to campaign aggres-
sively for northwestern flour traffic, east
ern routes will be- forced to work harder
than ever before to maintain their revenue
from that source. E-'
In spite Of the occasional interviews of
traffic men appearing in eastern papers,
roasting the millers for seeking a rate on
export flour about as low. as that obtained
by export grain, there is good reason to
believe that. the cause of export flour is
gaining ground in that direction. The
millers have made their argument on the
ground that to foster the. flour industry
by helping the export flour trade is to
the interests of the railroads as we'll as
to those of the mil1ers. Some of>the east
ern men have metsthis view in the right
spirit. Others have not. The traffic man
is often inconsistent. He is willing to. take
his cue from. James ]. Hill or. Mr.. Harri- :
man and make the argument that the i'm
terests Of railroad are identical with
those of the country and Industries it
serves. In the next breath if one Of the
industries it serves asks his railway for
assistance on broad business grounds, he
Immediately assumes an antagonistic at
titude. based On time-Worn prejudices.
There are traffic men in New York, long
in the service Of eastern trunk lines, who
80 C1,S ~,
acquaint ancea withEthe big milling indus
try of the west is limited. Some Of these
men have been unreasonable critics of the
northwestern millers request for a small
measure of assistance in building Up an
export -four trade. They say it is prefer
entail treatment and support a pref
>udiced position with out -of-date figures
and informa ation. ! Yet it is one Of the in
dustries which their road taps. The mill
Ter makes his request not as a favor but
as a business proposition, and then there
is. the railway mans favorite argument,
which has been heard so much Of lately
In the northwest-the identity Of inter-
<est between the railways and. the terri
tory and industries they: serve. 80
s. There Isl disposition on the part Of the
mort thwestern miller to ship his -four all
rail to the seaboard and subtract mater
tally from the movement down the lakes,
He desires to avoid the handling and re-
handling Of the product now necessary. be-
cause Of the poefsfacilittes for handling
-four at the lake terminals. He is con-
;sistent enough to- elieveS that it is to his
interest to make flour an all rail propo-
sition and then ask the railroads to- Ide-
7fend the export Hour rate against the ex-
port grain rate by way of the lakes. He
has answered many Of the moss grown
theories Of traffic men by, demonstrating
that export -four in jute bags can be loaded
to full capacity of the car and that the
miller can provide big quantities. for ship
ment. The New Orleans trainload has
been valuable lesson and a success in
that respect. Traffic men have been given
an opportunity to figure on the net rev.
enue from a shipment Of flour which can
be so economically handled. Other op-
portunfties of the same kind Will come
and for the benefit Of the northwest's s
great industry it is to be hoped that the
result will finally be rate on export
-four which will allow it. to win in COM
petition with cheaply carried American
grain ground 5on the other side OF the
Atlantic.s Some of the eastern traffic men
have already conceded the truth and force
IN the argument of the western miller.
They say that if flour alone were the only
commodity affected by a change of policy
In this respect the concession would be
granted They hesitate because on this
hinges their attitude on other rate prob-
lens which seriously affect revenue. But
taken all around sthe northwesterns miller
has no reason to feel discouraged over his
campaign for a different rate policy on
export flour.