The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-07-11


70 miles. per ton ........ ............'. Il. ~
Iighterage, per ton ..................... q 10
Wharfage. per ton ..................... .of
A total to ships side per ton, Of. SSs 81
The Guatemala government has consent :
ed TO the railroads increasing It's lrelsHe
rate from s1270 to $3.50 per ton from
MAY / of this year. so that with TINS
latter rate the total cost of placing colLee
at ships side would be Sal AZ per ton Inc
changes of the Pacific Mall and It's CO
carriers cover the Transporting u tie
coffee about 800 miles by water 10 T 'iis ~,
where 1t is transferred from snip 10 "iaiI
and from wharf to cars the trahspo Up
of 1t across the isthmus. a mics " ~
and then the transfer from cars ~ 10 -
and from wharf to steamer at Coloh' anu anu
the CARRYING of IL by water from there Do
miles to New York or 5000 miles 10 LII
rope The rates of SIG. p per ton 10 hurope
and SIS 40 to New York DO not appear
to me to be excessive when compareu win
the local charges in these Central Amerl-
can countries.
The rate on coffee from Central Amerl-
can countries to New York is in every
,nstance less than that to Europe. On
hides and skins, however, the rate 10 New
york Ia higher than to Europe.
rhe rates by the Straits of Magellan are
cbeaner than via Panama; but, consider
ing the time and marine insurance. as
rule II seems to be advantageous to Cen
trail American shippers to utilize the Pan
anna In preference to the straits route,
as about 70 per cent of the products OF
these countries are shipped by Panama
Benefit to Central America.
Mr.. r. p. Sehwerin. vice president and
general manager of the Pacific Mail
Steamship company, asserts that the con-
tract between his company and the Pana-
ma Railroad company is beneficial to Cen
trail American commerce; tnat the steam
chin comnany has maintained a regular
weakly schedule between San Francesca
and Panama, touching at intermedlate
points, and has afforded every faclhly
for the movement of traffic that could De
offered by any steamship line; that IL tne
CONTRACT is cancelled as requested by the
Central American representatives. coiipet-
ing lines will enter the field ana uiVlae
the freight so that no one VIII set
ficient business to justify the mainten-
ance of a regular schedule, anu tha.
therefore. the freight, passenger ana man
service will be irregular and nnsatlsiac
tory and the commercial interests OF
these countries will consequently suiier.
with few exceptions the harbors of these
Central American ports are open ROAD
steads. and freight Is loaded ana US
charged by lighters. When the sea- II
rough business is suspended. 1t beihg I'M
nossible to load or unload safely IN
heavv sea. Ships are detained for hours,
and sometimes for days by port oHlclals
for trivial causes.
After carefully considering the neon
veniences and delays in receiving ana o's-
charging cargo at the Central American
ports. the rates charged. and facilities fur-
nished by the Pacific Mall, 1t appears mat
the service of that company mas peeh
good the rates reasonable ana that ehe
complaints of the Central American rep
resentatives are not well founded
With South American Lines.
Contracts similar to that with the Pa
cife mail were entered into between the
Panama railroad and the Pacific steam
Navigation company and the oompaha
Sud-Americana de Vajores, and these
lines had the monopoly of the business
with the countries ON the Pacific coast
south of Panama. The representatives OF
Chile. Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador complain
that the monopoly fostered by these con-
tracts is detrimental to commerce be-
tween their countries and the United
States.
The rate by way of Panama from New
York to Buenaventura, Colombia, the
is 10 cents per 100 pounds, or 3l1a cents
per cubic foot To Guayaquil the prin-
cipal mort of Ecuador which is south
of Colombia, the rate Is GO cents per iOo
pounds, or 30 cents per cubic FOOT. Inc
rate to all the principal Peruvian and
Chilean ports, including Valparaiso Is %
cents per 100 pounds, or rs cents per cubic
foot. IT will be observed that the longer
the distance the less the rate
~, followed DV the
European steamship lines, the rate from
Liverpool via Panama to Buenventura
being $13 "a per ton, while to valparaiso,
5000 miles further, is 1918, or 50 less.
These rates are fixed wholly on the basis
of competition. the further south from
Panama. the severer becomes competition
via Magellan. The actual cost or trans
porting ton of merchandise from New
York or Liverpool to Valparaiso by Ma
gellan is probably less than Via Panama.
AT this point, therefore the straits route
has the advantage, and rates via Panama
are low to meet the competition; but
north from Valparaiso the advantage Is
with the Panama route. the further
north the greater is the advantage, ana
the rate Is increased as this advantage
grows. the purpose doubtless being to
charge as high a rate as possible and
hold the business. This system of rate
making seems inequitable. 1t is the same,
however as that followed by other trans
portaton companies. The railroad rate on
cotton from Memphis to New orleans,
a distance of 456 miles, is II cents per
100 pounds, while the rate from Dallas
distance of 497 miles Is 10 cents per
100 pounds The distance from these cities
is about the same while the rate from
Dallas Is about four times as great as
that from Memphis From Meridian
Miss, to New ORLEANS, a distance of 1871
miles. the rate on cotton Is 36 cents per
100 hounds; that Is the rate from Meridian
is more than double that from Mem
phis, although the product Is transported
| less than half the distance. The expla-
| ton of these apparently Inconsistent rates
| is that Memphis and New Orleans are
both on the Mississippi river, and the
railroad rate is a competitive water rate
the same as that from New York to
| Valparaiso via Panama Is competitive
with the rate via Magellan.
The rates from South American ports
| to Europe are lower than to New York
| Under the contracts the initial carrier
| fexs the rates The rate on nldes from
| Payta, Peru. to New York, via Panama
which is fixed by the South American
| lines. is $50 per ton of 2240 pounds, and
| that to Europe is $40 per ton: that on
Peruvian bark to the United States is
| $45 per ton; to Europe $50. So 1t will be
observed that the rates fixed by the
South American lines are higher to New
York than to Europe. The rate on gem
eral merchandise from New York to
Payta. which is fixed by the Panama
railroad, is $11 20 per ton, while from
Europe It is $3.50. The ra,e on general
merchandise from New York to Valpa,
raise, the principal port of Chile. which
Is fixed by the Panama railroad. is $1l
ho al ok D.,