The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-15

road property than is accorded to oth- CT kinds, for the railroads have by force of circumstances acquired the
 taxing powersr and when hard times come along can arbitrarily increase
 rates to meet emergencies and prevent
 losses. Owners of other kinds of prop
 erty cannot do this but must often see
 their business vanish without recourse
 to draw on the public to make good
 the loss.
 '"rhe farmer is not favorable to
 building up basic shipping points with low unprofitabie rates for the long haul and high rates for the local hall. This may enable comparatively few whole sale merchants to increase the volume of their sales but does not make pros porous conditions in the surrounding 1 territory. Let natural advantages, con lcentrated capital. energy and business foresight control in building up cities and not discriminating rates of freight. "The Alabama farmer cannot see the justice of the railroads hauling hun | dred pounds of meat raised by Wes- tern farmer five hundred miles to a distributing point in this State for Sl cents and then charging him 21 cents per hundred to haul 1t forty-five miles
 or 17 cents for thirty-mile haul. The one appears too low or the other too At of hauling the Western mans ton or bay 800 miles for $5 and charging him s3 for a fifty mile haul. "He fails. also, to see the equity or charging s1.40 per ton on fertilizers | for thirty or forty mile haul and de- | livering it to other farmers in an ad- l joining State more than 200 miles fur ther for about the same charge. or of charging sl.2o per ton for thirty | mile haul, and on the same road 70 cents for fifty mile haul.
 Some necessary articles of hard
 ware largely used by farmers are ship ped from Pittsburg through Montgom- cry to South Alabama for 2S and 2s cents per hundred pounds. while the rate to Montgomery, 1S5 miles nearer, is Al and 5S cents per hundred, re- spectively. Railroad rates are more favorable to the Western than to the Alabama farmer. It Is one Of the car- dinal principles of railroad transporta- ton that freight should bear rate somewhat in proportion to the value of the commodity. Taking bacon or bulk meats and cotton for comparison, the
 relative prices per pound for the past ten years have averaged about the | same ton of 2,009 pounds. of meat
 will be brought to Montgomery from a point 500 miles distant for s6.20 while ton of compressed cotton will pay
 s7.30 to reach the nearest port, 1S5
 miles distant. A ton of meat will be delivered in Montgomery from Chicago for $S.60, while the Alabama farmer has to pay S13.30 to land a ton of conn pressed cotton in New York, the haul
 being about the same distance. The farmer also pays a rate of $4 to $6 q ton on his cotton tor local haul of forty to fifty miles to the distributing points
 ,''The owners of the railroad lines de- sire that the farmers tributary to their
 lines should prosper. They are anxious
 also to have various industries built up
 which will not only afford traffic for them
 but a profitable market for the farm CTS surplus produce. We believe the
 roads will adjust their rates so as to bring about satisfactory results when ever the attention of the proper author ities can be induced to calmly consider
 their own and their customers interest
 One of the main difficulties is ownership Is shifting and rates are made arbitra-
 rily by joint trafic managers who meet in distant cities and make tariff rates
 for all the traffic will bear regardless of local conditions.
 And this is where our State Railroad i, Commission should come fin. They should
 not wait for the complaints of the people but should closely study conditions and i insist on Alabamians getting all the fa-
 vors that equity and fairness entitle them to. The traffic in this State is valuable
 and we want our Commission to get the most favored nation clause for the far r1er's benefit.
 Free passes are not in the interest of the farmer. This favoritism engenders
 envy. spite, corruption and Jealousy. When he sees great numbers of men who