The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1909-06-04
KILLING TIE GOOSE THAT
LAYS THE GOLDEN EGG.

ticle from the Miami Metropolis in re-
gard to discriminatory freight rates in
favor OF the Cuban pineapples as
against the East Coast fruit. 1t is
question that is Of paramount interest
to our readers, as it threatens the con-
tinued prosperity Of our people, for al
are directly or indirectly dependent up
on the success of the pineapple growers
who form so large proportion of oui
population.
That our growers are being discrimin.
ated against cannot be denied, but the
discrimination is not 50 great as the
Metropolis article would lead one to be-
lieve. We have investigated the tariff
sheet of the Florida East Coast rail-
way and connecting lines (Which has
been approved by the Interstate Com
merce Commission and find that in
stead of the raj rate from Knights
Key to Cincinnati being 81 cents as
published in the article referred to, it
is 57.2 cents against rate for Florida
pineapples from Miami of 80 cents.
Further this rate was not made by the
Florida East Coast railway and offered
to the Cuban growers, but is the rate
made by the Ward and Munson line of
steamers and which had to be met by
the East Coast railway and connecting
lines if they desired to handle the Gu
ban business.
In the fight of the East Coast grow
ers before the Interstate Commerce
Commission at Jacksonville and Wash
ington for a reduction of the freight
rate on pineapples, the Florida East
Coast railway set up as reason for
not making a reduction that they could
not afford to transport at a less figure
that the road was not making six per
cent on its capital stock and bonded in
debtedness. If this was true - if they
were not finding it profitable to trans
port pineapples at 80 cents per crate in
train loads Of fifty to seventy cars, at
a twenty-four hour schedule to Jack
sonville, how can they now transport
special freight trains of eighteen or
twenty cars at passenger train sched-
ule carrying Cuban pineapples at 572
cents per crate, hauling an additional
125 miles and bearing the expense of
loading the cars extra?
Evidently the statements made be-
before the Interstate Commerce Com
mission by the railroad officials or their
attorneys were not true, and our grow
ers' organizations should again take
this rate question before the Commits
sion, and with the Cuban rate as an ad.
dtonal lever should be successful in
getting better rate for the Florida
growers.
The Cuban importation of pineapples
has practically paralzed the industry
on the East Coast for this season, yet
this result cannot be charged against
the Florida East Coast railway, for it
has not transported twenty-five per
cent of the Cuban crop, the great bulk
of the importations going by water to
Mobile, New Orleans and New York.
While there is no doubt that there
should be radical lowering of freight
rates on pineapples from the East Coast
to the northern markets; yet the vast
importation of Cuban fruit has demon
strated beyond doubt that the saliva
ton of the pineapple industry in Flori-
da will depend upon the securing of a
protective tariff. Congress is now in
session, tariff bill is being framed and
the pineapple is being discussed, and it
is the duty of every producer to write
or wire our congressman and senators
to use every effort to get duty of one
cent pound on all Cuban pineapples.
The freight rate on Cuban pineapples
is as follows: Lighterage at Havana to
steamer, 3 cents; by steamer from Ha-
vana to Knights Key, 6.3 cents; Knights
Key to Cincinnati, 57.2; total &C. 5 cents:
to which tariff duty of 1875 cents must
be added making total cost of 80
cents to get the Cuban pineapple from
Havana to Cincinnati. To this must be
added the expense of shipment from
points of production to Havana, which
must be near 10 cents per crate,
Our growers should organize and fight