Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-14
BILL OF LADING IS LIKED
Shippers and Bankers Think the New
Instrument Satisfactory.
TWO FORMS ARE BADLY NEEDED
Negotiable and Non-NeEotiable Bills,
IL t. Believed, VIII Meet the RE-
quirements of Both Rail-
roads and M Patrons.

From dispatches describing the recon-
mendations Of the Interstate Commerce
commission for a uniform bill Of fading
and the two forms, negotiable or order
bills and non-negotiable bills, bankers,
shippers and those in Omaha who have add
vocated such a reform for years believe
the new bill OF lading will be Of great
advantage and meet the necessities of bank
ers.
LAS the Omaha market enlarges and new
lines come, we will need more than ever the
two forms, the order and straight" bills,
as we'll as a simple and absolutely safe bill
of lading." said Luther Drake, president
Of the Merchants National bank
THE American Bankers association has
had the matter Of a uniform bill OF lading
up for some years and a committee headed
by Lewis L. Pierson, president Of the IT.
wing National Exchange bank Of New York
City. has done hard and faithful work on
the bill proposition. 1t has been hard to
get a bill of ladiEg satisfactory to shippers
and carriers alike, and, at the same time,
absolutely negotiable. From what 1 can
learn, the two form recommended by the
Interstate Commerce commission will be
satisfactory, and I hope the railroads will
adopt them. l do not believe the Inter
state Commerce commission has the power
to force the railroads to use the bill, but it
may be that they will adopt the forms rec
commended.
AT present we rely on the standing Of the
shippers a great deal more than we do on
the bill of lading-at least we do not take
the bill Of lading for grain or merchandise
without knowing something about the
shippers.
with limitations the simple and uniform
negotiable bills Of lading may be handled
by the banks even when in the hands Of
comparative strangers, or at least by
those who are not personally responsible
for any irregularity or trouble which might
| arise"
McVann Served on Committees
f. j. McVann, secretary of the Omaha
Grain exchange. has served on the special
| committee of the National Industrial
Traffic league, which had in charge the
recommendations for the uniform bill of
lading. This organization has been in
strumental in securing the recommendation
just made by the Interstate Commerce
commission and ]. c. Lincoln, chairman of
the committee has been one of the most
careful workers for the proposition which
he believes will be advantageous to ship
pers, carriers and bankers alike.
From the information at hand I ran
not tell just what the recommendations of
the Interstate Commerce commission are
said Mr.. McVann, but the recommendation
for the two forms, order and straight
bills of lading on different colored paper is
in itself one OF the first contentious of the
National Industrial Traffic league. A
present all bills of lading look alike whether
they are order or straight and 1t might
be possible to convert a straight bill into
an order bill, or a railroad agent might
make a mistake which would make an
order bill worthless to a bank. With the
two forms, marked plainly, perhaps in red
ink, there would not be an element Of I'M
certainty creeping into all order bills.
simplicity in another victory and from
what l can learn the Interstate Commerce
commission has recommended a very sim
pie bill OF lading."