The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-09-18

Railroads Boosted Rates on Local Ship
pers-He Proposes to Bar Mddlemen
From City Markets-Will Take Some
Time to Get New System Working.
One of the first steps which Mayor
Rudolph Blankenburg of Philadelphia
took after induction to Office was to see
whether or not there was some way to
reduce the cost Of living In that city.
The mayor held that as the city mar
kets came within the jurisdiction Of his
department it was incumbent upon him
to ascertain why food prices should in
crease when there was no advance in
either rentals or license fees.
The mayor had Director Cooke of the
department of public works undertake
an investigation. Professor King Of the
University of PENNSYLVANIA was called
into the conference. As result com
prehensive plan has been formulated
to lower prices.
1t was found that inadequate transit
facilities from towns within a radius
of forty miles added to the cost to the
consumer and that the uiiddleman's
profits were far in excess Of what they
ought to he.
Then, while the city can regulate
rentals Of its markets, the state rail
road commission has not the right to
regulate trolley and railroad freight
rates As a result, the consignee and
producer are compelled to pay more to
get their goods to the Philadelphia
market than they would be if there
was an equitable adjustment Of rates.
The Procedure.
One Of the first steps the mayor has
decided upon is to seek assistance from
the trolley and railroad companies and,
failing in this, to have the legislature
give the state railroad commission
power to regulate intrastate rates.
There are trolley lines that have
been seeking the privilege of carrying
freight from suburban towns for the
last three years. The mayors fnvesti-
gators find that these companies have
never been allowed the franchise that
would bring them into competition
with the railroads. Director Cooke
says local rates were purposely kept
high so that the railroads could get
higher rates from shippers from more
distant points.
So effectual has been this shutting
off Of Philadelphia from the sources of
her supply, it is said, that the con-
sumer has been compelled to pay at
least 2G per cent increase over the
price the producer receives and that in
some cases the advance has been as
high as los per cent.
Preposterous Charges.
Mayor Blankenburg pointed out that
1t was prepOsterous for Philadelphians
to be compelled to pay 30 cents a
pound for butter when the farmer
only gets 10 cents for it. Eggs which
sell for 80 cents a dozen here are
worth only 81 cents to the farmer.
The best price he can demand for his
poultry Is 6 cents a pound, but the
man in the market asks % cents.
Corn, tomatoes and berries are sold at
similarly increased prices. Potatoes,
for which the farmer can only get 90
cents a bushel, are sold in the Reading
terminal market at $1.4O.
The mayors experts have found that
many men who advertise themselves
as farmers have stalls in many of the
city's best markets-that they go to
Reading, Lancaster, EastOn and Allen
town three days a week, buy up all the
farmer has to sell, ship It to their own
stalls In Philadelphia and sell 1t under
assumed names with big signs embla-
coming the fact that So-and-so Is a
farmer of Berks, Bucks or Lancaster
county.
The mayor plans TO stop this and in
duce the farmers TO bring their goods
TO market themselves.
1t will take some time for the new
system 10 get in working order and be-
fore rates for transportation are fixed,
but the movement is well under way.