The news & observer., 1905-06-09
How Retes Affect Business.

HOW K9teS AHeCI BtSllItsSS.
The business that was doing well in
Greensboro but moved away was the
JeffrieS Foundry. 1t seems that the
rolls used in the business are sent
from Indianapolis They are shipped
from that point to Richmond for 35
cents; it costs AZ cents to get them to
Greensboro; they are sent to Lynch
burg at about the Richmond price.
The foundry looked at these things
with the eye of business, figured up
the cost and moved out of town.
The Clegg Commission Company on
fruits from Florida must pay the same
freight az is paid by Lynchburg, al
though the fruits pass through Green's
boro on the way
In much the same condition is the
Patterson Feed Store Company. which
must get it's supplies from the central
point of Cincinnati. On these products
Lynchburg has a rate which enables
her to reship goods. say, to High
Point more cheaply than Greensboro
can get the goods and deliver them A
car load of stuff from Charleston, on
the other hand, goes to Lyncnburg
for accent rate: from the same
point to Greensboro, the rate is 9S
1ents
Three weeks ago there was an ad-
vertisement in the Richmond News
Leader as to rates on shoes from the
great Boston market. Here were some
of the points and rates that We're
quoted:
Richmond, 35; st. Louis. S4; Lynch
burg, Al; Knoxville, $1.00; Nashville,
81; Memphis, $1.00; Atlanta, $1.14,
and Greensboro, 80.
Take out of consideration St.
Louis, Richmond and Memphis. to
which "water-ra ates'' might he said to
exert some control aGI look AZ the diff
ference in prpportlonate rates between
Lynchburg and ,;reensooro and At
lanta and Greensboro. With the rates
as guide, one would conclude that
Lynchburg, instead oil being practical
~ the irst stop afser Greensboro to-
wards Boston. must he quite half
way roini: while Atlanta. with its
rate of a few more cenTs than
Greensboro, must be the next station
further South, Instead Of a journeyS of
a ha'f a day.
Greensboro Not Il Country Terminal.
The railroad answer to this, if some
persistent chamber of commerce
should goad it into an answer, would
perhaps be that the points with the
better rates were through or compet-
ing points. That is the point with
Greensboro. Located where the rail-
y
lustihable advantage with economy of
operation to itself and with every pos
sible facility in the way of connecting
lines, the town is treated as though it
We're an orphan hamlet at the end of
a branch road halting at the edge of
the wilderness.
Mr.. Sparger. of the ScottSparger
Grocery Company, is one of the
Greensboro merchants who has Il side
f1lf. L Wit c11 fn pslIr IA
along with the business and is owned
by the business. There is says he, Il
discrimination against Greensboro
that he does not understand. 1t
works both ways. all ways. Goods
coming from the South must be paid
for at a higher rate than Danville.
Goods coming from the West, get to
Lynchburg via New York and are re-
shipped to Greensboro at a greatly
enhanced rate for the last stage OF
the journey, although they might
have come on through. Particularly
was this true of fruits; it was also
true of all meats and all grains, so far
as the better Lynchburg and DanVillc
rate is concerned.
Cannot Serve Natural Territory.
Queer as it may seem, there is no
chance for the Greensboro wholesaler
or the High Point wholesaler to deal
other at as good a price and equal
profit as Lynchburg may do. this simp-
| ly by reason of what to the ordinary
mind is purely arbitrary fayoritism.
In consequence Greensboro MAIN
| tans what are nominally wholesale
| dealers in grains and other commodi-
| ties. These men are in reality Lynch
| burg brokers. They send out prices,
use the telephones and the telegraph,
get orders and have the stuff shipped
from Lynchburg or Danville to the
| point desired. They can do this more
cheaply than they could have the
stocks on hand and ship themselves
from Greensboro. If the purchaser
thinks he is patronizing a Greensboro
house he is in most cases mistaken
in reality. He is only paying a part
profit on the sale to the broker al
! Greensboro.
| Facts and Their Effect.
| Now these are some facts which will
not be denied. They have existed as
| facts for years. 1t takes but a glance
to see how they affect Greensboro
! how they affect the surrounding coun.
| try, of which Greensboro is the natur-
al distributing point in the best sense
of that mis-used word. They have
! this effect: first they cause people in
| the section adjacent to Greensboro to
pay more for goods than the people
| nearer to Lynchburg or other favored
! points, with no better advantages eth
| er of mature or railroad facilities;
second, they reduce the volume OF
business done at Greensboro. and de-
prive the merchant of both business
! n which hp iG pnIit led IN