Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1914-01-05

miles greater haul, is but cents
higher than the rate to our harbor.
AS East Oakland has one of the few
cotton mills on the Pacific coast and
San Francisco bay has always been
the haunt of the low priced tramp
steamer, it naturally follows that the
Scent differential was by no means a
deterrent to a heavy movement of
Imperial valley cotton northward, in
stead of to its predestined mart here.
Some idea of actual conditions may
be gained from the fact that of the
12,100 bales of last years cotton crop
which the Southern Pacific moved out
of Imperial valley to date, scarcely
100 bales were handled here for mar
keting. This does not mean, on the
other hand. that the remaining 10000
bales moved north, nor that the bulk
Of them did, for huge percentage
were drawn eastward magnet like,
by low rates and ready market.
Like many movements of large i'm
port, the demand for the application
of the scalpel to the cotton rates from
the Egypt of the Southwest to tide
water here was unmarked by the fam
fare OF trumpets. One j. J. Chappell,
who described himself as cotton
broker and representative of land
owners and ranchers of the Imperial
valley. was the Moses of the move
ment. He lodged two-handed COM
plant Of unfairness and discrimina-
ton with the state railroad COM
mission against the rate
This was followed by his appear
ance a. his own attorney before the
state railroad commission with the
request that the cotton rates to all
Pacific coast ports be horizontally re-
duced The result of this would have
been that the San Francisco bay
points would have absorbed all the
benefits accruing from the reduction.
But the commission, luckily for this
city, saw fit to denominate the rates
TO bay points as reasonable and to
use its scalpel only on the rates to
the great seaport of the southland.
When it is figured out that ship
per will save S1.25 in freight on every
bale of cotton moving through this
port in comparison with the rate to
San Francisco bay points, it is ap-
parent, as Gregson and others have
pointed out, that a victory of large
import has been gained. Taking the
last cotton crop of the Imperial valley
as an example-20,0O0 bales-the net
saving would be $4,000
But, as Gregson and the others
state, the most material benefit will
be the impetus given to cotton plant
ing in the valley, as well as in the
Palo Verde valley--for it is certain
that the Santa Fe will meet the
Southern Pacific cut. At present cot
ton can move at 95, cents a hundred
from Oklahoma and Texas points to
tidewater either here or at San Fran
cisco, Oakland or East Oakland. The
result has been that the Texas and
Oklahoma growers, with their negro
pickers and low production cost, have
had the ledge" on the Imperial val
ley growers in shipments to the
/ Orient.
But, as a railroad man remarked
The new flat 40-cent rate to this
city and San Pedro will act the part
of a protective tariff for the Imperial
valley growers-it will make things
boom because there will be bigger pro
fits in cotton growing than ever be-
fore. Though |, as railroad man, am
against rate cuts on general princl-
piles, this particular cut makes it prob
able that the wise ones will go into
cotton growing more extensively than
ever"