The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-02-16
THE OCALA CONFERENCE
Outcome Doesn't Seem to Entirely
Please the Tampa Papers

Please the Tampa Papers
Tampa Times: Ocala is the most
centrally located city in Florida and
therefore most convenient for the
holding of gatherings of statewide
importance. And then, too, the pub
lie spirit Of her people causes them
TO take hold of live questions and
handle them pro bono publico.
These reasons contributed 10 the
holding Of the express rate confer
ence in that city the other day. But
the "Ocala conference" will not gain
the conspicuous position in the his
tory OF our own times that was
achieved by the ''Ocala platform" in
the old populistic days.
The express men and the officers
Of the shippers organizations and
the shippers themselves came to-
gether in great numbers and con-
suited and compared views and pa
lavered a plenty; but the outcome
reminds US Of the story Of the king
of France and his army that march
ed up the hill and then marched
down again"
The express men impaired much
information which the others did not
previously possess, but as to lower
ing rates, they stood pat with mag
nificently aggravating unanimity
1t appears that in the general ma
tion-wide reimbursement of the ex-
press rates ordered by the interstate
commerce commission Florida, the
geographical tail-end OF the country
came out at the little end of the
horn, and our long-suffering truck
and fruit growers got it in the same
spot where the edge of the wood
mans implement was applied to the
anatomy Of the gallinaceous biped.
From the'information so generous
ly given out by the accomm odating
transportation men it appears that
the zone system has been borrowed
from the parcel post and the express
charges regulated accordingly. That
means that rates to nearby points,
those in the south to which our peo-
pie ship very little, are lowered;
rates to intermediate points to which
we ship more, but still comparative
ly little, are kept at practically the
old figures, while rates to northern
points to which the bulk of our ship
ments go are raised from fifty to sew
enty-five per cent. The net result
spells extreme hazard to Florida's
leading industry.
Of course the express people ex
hibited no conjunction whatever at
assisting at the preliminaries of the
obsequies of geese that have been
for so long laying for them golden
eggs. AS little salve to the griev-
ously wounded feelings of the hap
less victims advice was literally dis
pensed and, as far as it went, it was
good. 1t was that the small shippers
residing near each other combine
lots and thus receive the benefit of
lower rates. That was very good,
when it is practical to follow it;
but if the crop is too small or there
are too few in a settlement to get up
carload lots, the crops had better be
fed to the hogs-if they have any
hogs.
Another piece of gratuitous advice
that was offered was that the ship
pers use refrigerated cars and ship
by fast freight. Very good again, if
the shippers are able to bear the ex-
ira expense Of icing. There would
be at least one inestimable good at
tanned by this method; they would
escape the omniverous NAV of the
Southern Express Company.