The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1915-01-21
RATE INCREASE
E, NECESSARY
FARMERS UNION OFFICIALS
THINK RAILROADS ARE EN-.
TITLED TO MORE REVENUE.
Products Of PloW and Farmer Whe
Lives at Home Should Be
Exempt From Increase.
BY Peter RAdford.

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-
tion 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 in freight
rates. 1t 10 the policy Of the Farmers
Union to meet the issues affecting the
welfare Of the farmers squarely and
we will do 30 In this instance.
The transportation facilities OF the
United States are inadequate to ef-
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
increase in freight rates Is necessary
to bring about an Improvement In our
transportation service, and an exten-
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 up 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 result, the products
Of the plow bear an unequal burden
| of the freight expense. A glance at
the freight tariffs abundantly proves
this assertion. Cotton, the leading
/ agricultural product @ 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 conenDsion will be able to
give the railroad such an increase in
rates as il necessary without levying
further toll upon the products Of
the plow. The instance seems to pre-
Commissions to eeualize the rates as
between agricultural and other classes
of freight without disturbing the rates
on staple farm products.
Wnat - air nate!
We do not know what constitutes q
basis for rate making and have never
heard Of anyone who did claim to
know much about it, but If the pros
perity Of the farm is factor to be
considered and the railroad commits
sion concludes that an increase in
rates is necessary, we would prefer
that it come to us through articles OF
consumption on their journey from
the factory to the farm. We would
for example. prefer that the rate on
hogs remain a. at present and the
rate on meat bear the increase, fol-
any farmer can then avoid the burden
by raising his own meat. and farm
er who will not try to raise his OWL
meat ought to be penalized. We
think the rate on coal and brick car
much better bear an increase thar
the rate on cotton and flour. We
would prefer that the rate on plowi
remain the same, and machinery
pianos and such articles as the poor
er farmer cannot hope to possess beal
the burden of increase.
The increase in rates should be 81
arranged that the farmer who live!
at home will bear no part Of the bur
den, but let the farmer who board!
in other states and countries ant
who feeds his stock in foreign lands
pay the price of his folly.
Objects to Milk Pasteurization.
} DR.. Ralph Vincent Of the Manches
ter (Eng1and) Infants hospital say
that pasteurization cannot be relie'
upon to kill tuberculosis bacilli an
!, claims that in his experience childrel
} fed upon boiled or condensed mill
have been more prone to consumption
than those fed on raw milk. One o
J his arguments against sterilizing mill
!: is that we do not pasteurize butter al
, though it IL a raw milk product. H
! wants to prove that, although harm
ful bacilli exist in raw milk they ar
: useful in destroying other harmful bs
cf1l1 In the lfduid