The herald., 1915-02-18
RATE INCREASE
NECESSARY
FARMERS UNION OFFICIALS
THINK RAILROADS ARE EN-.
TITLED TO MORE REVENUE.
Products OF Pillow and Farmer Who
Lives at Home Should Be
Exempt From Increase.
BY Peter Radford.
Lecturer National Farmers Union.

BY Peter Radford.
Lecturer National Farmers Union
The recent action Of the Interstate
Commerce Commission in granting an
Increase in freight rates in the eastern
classification of territory; the applica'
ton OF the roads to state and inter.
state commissions for an increase in
rates, and the utterances Of President
Wilson on the subject bring the farm
ers of this nation face to face with the
problem Of an increase | freight
rates. II Is the policy of the Farmers
Union to meet the issues affecting the
welfare of the farmers squarely and
we will do so in this instance.
The transportation facilities Of the
United States are inadequate to eff.
fectively meet the demands Of COM
merce and particularly In the South
and West additional railway mileage
Is needed to accommodate the move
ment of farm products. II in the wis
dom of our Railroad Commissions an
to bring about an improvement in our
transportation service. and an extern
sion of our mileage. then an increase
should be granted, and the farmer is
willing to share such proportion of
the increase as justly belongs to him,
but we have some suggestions to make
as to the manner in which this In
crease shall be levied.
Rates Follow Lines Of Least Resist.
ance.
The freight rates of the nation have
been built VI along lines OF least re-
sistance. The merchant, the manu-.
facturer. the miner, the miller, the
lumberman and the cattleman have
had their traffic bureaus thoroughly
organized and in many instances they
have pursued the railroad without
mercy and with the power of organ
lied tonnage they have hammered the
life out of the rates and with unre-
strained greed they have eaten the
vitals out Of our transportation system
and since we have had railroad com.
missions, these interests, with skill
and cunning, are represented at every
hearing in which their business Is
involved
The farmer is seldom represented
at rate hearings, as his organizations |
have never had the finances to en-
ploy counsel to develop his side Of |
the case and. as a result, the products
OF the pillow bear an unequal burden !
Of the freight expense. A glance at |
the freight tariffs abundantly proves |
this assertion. Cotton, the leading |
agricultural product c. the South, al
ready bears the highest freight rate Of |
any necessary commodity in com.
merce, and the rate on agricultural |
products as a whole Is out Of pro-
portion with that Of the products Of |
the factory and the mine.
We offer no schedule of rates. but |
hope the commission will be able to |
give the railroad such an increase in
rates as is necessary without levying
O further toll upon the products Of
the plow. The instance seems to pre-
sent an opportunity to the Railroad
Commissions to equalize the rates as
between agricultural and other classes
Of freight without disturbing the rates
on staple farm products
All the worlds a stage, and most
OF us are looking for hackers.
We should forgive our enemies, es
pecially II they have US down.
An optimist is q man who doesn't
believe his warm friends are all dead
The higher education generally dem.
onstrates that the more We know, the
less We believe.
Some people are constantly giving ,
themselves away. and others are al.
ways being sold.