Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-22
sells engaged in carrying freight be-

Standard Oil combine SHOWS thdt
the combine not only controls rail-
ways running from the Atlantic to
the Pacific and from the Great
Lakes to the Gulf, but also the
coastwise ship lines such as the
Pacific Mail Steamship company
and the Morgan line and also all
other American lines engaged in the
foreign trade from Pacific coast
points south of Portland.
Shipper Is Unprotected
These official records show that
the combination upon rates not only
includes the railroads but the coast
wise steamship lines.
The normal water rate between
New York and Pacific coast points
based upon charges made by for
eign ship lines for similar distances,
is about $5 to S6 a ton for average
freight, while the railway charges
for the same haul by rail are about
$50 a ton, and nearly all the bust
ness Is done by rail instead of by
water.
The Los Angeles shipper may OBJ
ject to paying the railway $50 a
ton for bringing freight from At
lantic ports by rail while the nor
nal water rate from New York is
about So, and he may conclude to
ship his freight by water; but aside
from the control which the railways
have of the docks and wharves on
the Pacific coast, the shipper finds
that the American ship lines en-
gagged in the coastwise trade are
under the control Of the railways,
and for that reason he cannot get
an American ship line to carry his
freight.
He then turns to foreign ships
and he observes that there are
numerous English, German and
French tramp ships which can be
engaged to, handle his freight, but
he then discovers that such re-
course has been cut off by the
coastwise trade act which prohibits
foreign ships from carrying freight
between New York and San Pedro
or San Francisco.
The shipper then as a last resort
concludes that he will ship the
goods which he wants from foreign
countries by foreign ships. He finds
that among staple articles, such as
cotton goods, dry goods, pig iron,
Portland cement, structural steel,
etc, the prices in England are prac-
tically the same as in New York,
and that by shipping in consider
able quantities, the freight charge
by water will be $5 or Sc ton at
the docks, and that dockage and
terminal charges viii make the total
cost from England or Germany
about Sc to 81 ton to Los Angeles
or San Francisco. To this charge
he must add the import duty which
fn 6n article i'm
ported.
Duty Regulates Rates
"The railway trust has likewise con-
sidered all of these questions and has
measured the power of the foreign COM
petition in foreign ships, and cOnse-
quently has based its transcOntinental
charges as to most staple commodities
upon the import duty plus the water
rate from abroad"
At this point the shipper and the
railway trust meet upon common
ground, and the question as to who
is going to do the carrying busi-
ness depends upon the railway rate
on the one hand and the import
duty upon the other. The policy of
the railway trust is to so adjust the
rates as to meet this competition,
which is the only competition with
which they are threatened.
Accordingly we find the following
calculations have been made by the
railway trust to meet foreign COM
petition upon certain staple articles,
as follows:
l. Bituminous coal has an import
duty of 67 cents a ton and can be
brought in from abroad for Sc a ton;
so that the railways have fixed the
rates upon coal from Utah and
Colorado to Los Angeles and San
Francisco at $3.50 ton.
2. Portland cement has an import
duty of SLIGO a ton and can be
brought in from Germany for Sc
ton, so the railways fixed the
terminal rates to Pacific coast
points at 81 a ton. which is the
present rate from the great fac
tories in Kansas.
Oranges Are Protected
8. Pig iron, which is not produced
upon the Pacific coast, has an i'm
port duty of $4 ton and can be
brought in by ships from abroad for
about Sc ton, and so we find the
terminal rate is $40 ton.
A. Steel ingots (nor manufactured
on the Pacific coasD are subject to
an average import duty of about IS
a ton and can be brought in from
foreign ports for S. or Sc ton, and
consequently the railway terminal
rate is $12 ton.
5. Structural iron, such as is
used in all of the large buildings
of Los Angeles and San Francisco,
has an import duty of about $40
ton and can be brought in from
abroad for about $6, so we find the
10 &c,
g. Oranges. Mediterranean oranges
are brought in by water to the
AtlanticL coast and lake ports, sup
plying the Atlantic coast, MissiS-
sippi valley and gulf states, at an
average freight charge of SO ton,
and the import duty upon oranges is
/ cent pound, or $40 a ton, so we
find the terminal railway rates to
be S23 a ton in carloads.
Z. Cotton goods. The cotton sched-
ule of the tariff act is a complicated
affair. and so is the dry goods
schedule, but the import duty will
average over $40 a ton upon the
poorest classes of cotton goods or
dry goods, and the water rate from
abroad is about the same as other
freight, so that upon these goods
the railways get in their deadly
rates by making the average termi-
nal rate in carloads upon cotton
goods $40 a ton and on dry goods
$50 a ton.
s. Automobiles shipped in large
quantities from the east are choice
morsels for the railway cOrmorant.
The import duty on automobiles ap-
pears to be As per cent ad valorem,
which, upon a very low invoice val
ue, gives the railways leeway to
charge for the terminal rate to San
Francisco or Los Angeles $120 ton.
Tariff Regulates Railway Rates
From these considerations 1t will
seem that every possible avenue
open to the railway combine upon
rates has been considered and that
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