The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-11

| U pounds. of clean coffee from all Central American ports, with one exception. to New York is $l5.40. while that to Flu is of thess Ths tries are usually from thirty-five to one l hundred miles from the coast to which the coffee is transported by rn, fSs fSs coffee over these local railroads and the charges for handling it at the local ports are usually much higher than 1 York or Europe. To illustrate: The rate charged from San Jose, the prin- clpal ports of Guatemaia H,l Xty XCity to ,k EH- an while the local charges on exported
 Per ton. Government export duty. ...... .sz2OO Railroad rate from Guatemala
 City, 75 miles.... ....... la..0 Lighterage.. ........'.... <'f2 Wharfage. ............ 'Sf
 A total to ships side of....... .337.67 The Guatemala Government has con freight rate from s127o to sl6 50 per ton from May 1st of this year. so that with this latter rate the total cost of coffee at rhs ssps sds os TdSd Ss po cifc Mail and its co-carfers cover the transporting of the coffee about soo miles by water Iro to Pan Panama %arf Mhere amt from wharf to cars, the transporting across the Isthmus, forty-seven miles by rail. and then the transfer from | cars to wharf ard from wharf to steam | CT at Colon, and the carrying of It by water from there 2.000 miles to New York or 5000 miles to Europe. The rates of sl6.25 per ton to Europe and $15. 40 to New York do not appear to me to be excessive when compared with the local charges in these Central
 The rate on coffee from Centra. American countries to New York is in every instance less than that to Europe. On hides and skins. however. the rate to New York is higher than to Europe.
 The rates by the Straits of Magellan are cheaper than via Panama; but, con- ance. as a rule it seems to be advant- ageous to Central American shippers to utilize the Panama in preference to the Straits route, as about 70 per cent. of shipped by Panama.
 Contract Benefit to Central America. MT. R. P. Schwerin. Vice-President and General Manager of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, asserts that the contract between his company and the Panama Railroad Company is beneficial to Central American com merce; that the steamship company has maintained a regular weekly schedule touching at intermediate, points. and has afforded every facility for the movement of traffic that could be of fered by any steamship line; that If I | by the Central American representa- tvs. competing lines will enter the field and divide the freight so that no one will get sufficient business to jus tify the maintenance of regular schedule and that. therefore. the freight. passenger and mail service and the commercial interests of these countries will consequently suffer.
 With few exceptions the harbors of these Central American ports are open roadsteads, and freight is loaded and discharged by lighters, When the sea is rough business is suspended. 1t being a heavy sea. Ships are detained for hours. and sometimes for days. by port officials for trivial causes.
 After carefully considering the in- conveniences and delays in receiving and discharging cargo at the Central American ports. the rates charged and facilities furnished by the Pacific Mall, it appears that the service of that com pany has been good the rates reason able. and that the complaints of the l Central American representatives are not well founded.
 Contracts With south American Lines. Contracts similar to that with the the Panama Railroad and the Pacific Steam Navigation Company and the Compania Sud-Americana de Vapores, and these lines had the monopoly M oi Pacific Coast south of Panama. The representatives of Chile. Peru, Bo- livia and Ecuador complain that the Is deterimental to commerce between their countries and the United Stats
 The rate by way of Panama from | New York to Buenaventura, Colombia the first important port south of Pan anna, is 75 cents per 100 pounds,or37 z cents per cubic foot. The rate to all the principal Peruvian and Chilean ports, including Valparaiso. Is 50 cents per 100 pounds. or 25 cents per cubic foot. It will be observed that the | lI-t,
 The same system is followed by the European steamship lines, the rate from Liverpool via Panama to Buen- that to Valparaiso, 5000 miles further is $S.75. or s less.
 These rates are fixed wholly on the basis of competition; the further soutf from Panama. the severer becomes competition via Magellan. The actua cost of transporting q ton of merchan disn frGm Sew by MsFslap op pPPobab
 less than via Panama At this point therefore. the Straits route has the advantage. and rates by M Panama ha,, oa,t arr from Valparaiso the advantage Is witt the Panama route. The further nortf the greater is the advantage. and thu | rate Is increased this advantage grows, the purpose doubtless being tC charge as high rate as possible ant hold the business This system o 3 the same. however, as that followed bA other transportation companies. Th' | railroad rate on cotton from Memphi: | to New Orleans, a distance of 456 miles Is IT cents per hundred pounds, while the rate from Dallas. a distance of 49' | miles, Is 70 cents per hundred pounds The distances from these cities to New Orleans are about the same, while tho rate from Dallas Is about four times a' great that from Memphis. From Meridian. Mississippi, to New Orleans distance of 197 miles. the rate or cotton is 36 cents per hundred pounds that Is, the rate from Meridian Is more than double that from Memphis, all though the product is transported less | than half the distance. The exptana- tion of these apparently inconsistent | rates is that Memphis and New Or leans are both on the Missisipp River, and the railroad rate Is a com | petitive water rate, the same as that from New York to Valparaiso via Pan anna is competitive with the rate via
 The retes from South American ports to Europe are lower than to New l York. Under the contracts the initia | carrier fixes the rates. The rate or | hides from Payta, Peru. to New York via Panama, which Is fixed by the Soutt | American lines. Is $50 per ton of g. 240 pounds. and that to Europe Is S2( per ton; that on Peruvian bark to the | tTnited States Is $45 per ton; to Flu rope, s30 So it will be observed thaI the rates fixed by the South American lines are higher to New York than tC | r-nropa The rate general merchan.