The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-02-19
BENEFITS OF A TRAFFIC BUREAU


ether shippers or localities might Dc
mand the same concessions.
+ one Ct the principal issues between
the shippers and the carriers IS the
charging Ct rates amounting 10 All
the traffic will bear" In respect T.
this point the average Freight b.
reau is naturally antagonistic to the
railroads. for it is constantly insist
ing upon them not TO Increase, but %
reduce instead The well-managed
Traffic Bureau can avoid stirring NJ
trouble and ill.feeling in this respect
and at the same time maintain pc.
sition of vantage in protection Of its
interests, A Freight Bureau shoull
acquire and maintain a reputation FIR
the most rigid honesty and fair deal
ing As soon as this is recognize I,
the work Ct the Bureau is greatly IA.
Ecilitated and the possibilities for cool
service materially broadeued. Ne
Freight Bureau can afford to cham-
pion unjust or unreasonable demands.
even az the temporary cost OF the less
of some shippers To the credit Of
shippers generally it may be said
that they invariably stand back CT
their Traffic Bureau as against such
members when it appears that they
are in the wrong and when trying 10
take unjust advantage of The Eu
reau to satisfy their personal feel
ings,
Referring again to the matter Of
rates. Have you ever taken time to
consider that if It had not heen for
the Freight bureaus of this country
all rates in the Official Classification
Territory would have been increased
to an amount aggregating one million
dollars during the past several
month? Would individual shippers
have been able to accomplish what
the mass meeting at Chicago on Fri
day, May 18th, did? 1t is unaeces-
sary however, to answer this. There
might have been. however a few en-
thusiastic shippers, as there are in
everything, who would have their
protests, but ii would have been Of
little avail, but when hundreds OF rep
resentatives of Tariff Bureaus, rep
resenting more than twenty-five
thousand shippers met and decided
on a plan OF action and adopted the
resolution they did at that meeting,
then it was time that the railroads
took notice that the opposition to
their actions was an organized one
aud one that could hot he overlooked
The shippers, through their Traffic
Managers. have served notice on the
carriers that hencef0rth the courts
will be used to prevent increases and
in the same manner
as the carriers now use them for re-
straining purposes against the Inter.
state Commerce Commission ami
State Railway Commissions in their
attempts to establish and enforce jus;
rules and practices.
1t has only beer d short time thar
the Official Classification Committee
or, plainly speaking. the railroads oil
this territory, attempted to enfocn
the clause in the former bill of lading
providing for a twenty per cent in
crease in rates upon all shipments
made at carriers risk Enforcement
Of this clause was practically held up
for several years by the combined
opposition Of the Traffic Bureaus Of
the country. With the adoption OF
the new uniform bill Of ladiug, on
November /, 1908, this feature was
eliminated therefrom. taus substan
tiating the objections Of the Traffic
Bureaus and shippers. Individual
shippers would have been unable to
have prevented the enforcement Of
this unjust rule, neither would they
have been able to secure the adoption
of the new uniform bill of lading or
have prevented the incorporation of
this clause in same. The Traffic Blu
reaus, however. with their combined
strength were able to combat sue
cessfully the actions of the carriers
in these lines and TO secure for the in
diyidual shippers and receivers the
best bill of lading obtainabIe under
the conditions.
Take the question of uniform elias
siiication. Every shipper of freight
in the country making shipments from |
a territory governed by one classic !
cation into a territory governed by |
auothe. has experienced more or less |
trouble on account of the difference |
appointed by the railroads represent |
ing these different classifications are |
now at work on a uniform classified
ton This is a long and tedious work
and several years will probably
elapse before its completion. but if
1t had not been for the combined ac-
tiyity and aggrcssiveness on the part
Of the Traffic Bureaus of the country 4
the carriers would have brewer DIS
re garded the requests and protests of
the individual shippers and continued
along their former lines.
Consider also tho qffaeffva-oeu an Il