The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1913-03-21

wolves more changes than any othef
tariff publication ever issued by Amer
lean railroads. The work done IN
preparaton for this issue Is SAID 10
have cost the railroads appro. umateiy
100000.
Most important Phases.
"Of the many phases or the oeci
sion the first in Importance are the
rules and regulations. The carriers
proposed many changes. These are
applicable to every city, town ana
hamlet west of the Mississippi river.
The state commissions made oDlec-
lions to fourteen of these rules. ana
changes were made or ordered ID
twelve of them.
"A concrete illustration OF these
concerns the dunnage allowance
Prior to the issuance Of No. 81, the
carriers permitted the shippers to use
lumber and boards to prop up machln-
cry in car, the railroads hauling 5oo
pounds of such lumber free OF charge.
No. 81 abolished the dunnage prlVl-
lege, and the commission ordered II
reinstated. When one considers the
thousands of shipments that are made
annually, the importance of such
ruling can be appreciated.
Another change of Importance TO
the western half of the United States
concerns green hides. The carriers
put in a rule permitting them to re-
fuse to take green hides for shipment.
We pointed out that they could De
stored or handled in live stock cars
and not contaminate other common
ties. and claimed that the carriers
should be compelled to accept the
same for transportation. Our position
was sustained by the commission.
Minimum Rate Ruling.
Several hundred advances were
proposed by the railroads in minimum
weights. They announced their pol
icy to be the establishment of mini
NUNS upon the physical capacity OF
the cars, refusing to take into consid
Grafton the commercial conditions
surrounding the transportation.
Carload Mixtures.
"One of the most important parts OF
this case concerns carload mixtures.
The carriers proposed the elimination
of carload mixtures on 234 articles,
and proposed changes restricting car
load mixtures on more than three hun
dred other articles. One of the most
important changes affecting carload
mixtures, which serves as an illustra-
ton of the effect of such changes,
concerns binding twine. Prior to the
issuance Of No. 81, the carriers per-
mitted binding twine to be shipped
mixed with agricultural implements,
all of which took carload rates. In
No. 81, they proposed to apply less
than carload rates on all shipments of
binding twine made in this manner.
This would have caused an advance
of about one hundred per cent in the
freight rates on binding twine, and
more than ninety per cent of all bind
ing Irvine shipments, we were told
by the largest shippers in the coun-
try, would be affected by this hundred
per cent advance
"As indicating the policy Of the
carriers, thirty-two articles had car
load mixtures granted to them, while
over five hundred articles were totally
eliminated from carload mixtures, or
the mixtures were changed or re-
stricted. The interstate commerce
commission has ordered the carriers
to pursue Numerically the opposite
course Instead of restricting mix.
lures, they are instructed to make
them more liberal.
I'm addition to these changes in
rules, the commission made specific
orders disappearing advances on a
long list of articles. The decision in
this case is the most epoch-making
on Classification matters ever render
ed by the interstate commerce com.
mission"