Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1916-05-28
ARKANSAS HIT
HARD BY RATE
CASE DECISION
Under /. G.. G. Decree Mem
phis Enjoys Better Rate
Advantages.
OUR JOBBERS MUST
USE RIVER MORE
Commissioner Taylor of Traffic Blu.
reau Shows That Arkansas JOOber
and Wholesaler Must Utilize Wa
ter Transportation to Hold Place.

interstate commerce commission in
the Memphis rate case, is of greater,
grayer and more far-reaching i'm
portance than was at first appreciat-
ed, became positively known ye5ter-
Gay, after the receipt of copie:, CT the
official decision, and it. is expected
that within the next three or four
days a conference will be held, NEST
likely at Little Rock, by the Wno]e
the state, to discuss ways and means
Of combating the conditions whicl.
will be brought about by the decision.
In substance. the decision means
that freight rates from. Memphis to
points in Arkansas must be The same,
distance and other conditions being
equal, as are the rates from Arkansas
points to the same destinations III Ar
kansas, except that the Memphis rate
will be slightly Increased because Of
the addition Of reasonable bridge
toll" for crossing the Mississippi
river. 10
On the face of it. the decision ap-
pears to make things absolutely
equal. AS a. matter of fact. however,
it gives Memphis q big advantage
over Arkansas, primarily because Of
the fact that the freight rates into
Memphis are considerably lower than
are the rates into Arkansas p hints.
this being due to the one main fact
that Memphis has the benefit Of
water rates.
AS an example, freight on sugar
from New Orleans to Memphis is II
cents per 100 pounds. Freight On
sugar from New orleans to Pine
Bluff and Little Rock is % cents.
With this difference OF 10 cents in
favor of Memphis. the Tennessee
city's jobbers and wholesalers can
undersell Pine Bluff and Little Rock
jobbers and wholesalers, if tn"
freight rates from Memphis ara the
same as those from Pine Bluff or
Little Rock, to points equally dis
tant. And sugar is only one of many
thousland. of articles on which this
same sort Of conditions will remain.
Extends Previous Ruling.
The now celebrated 'Shrevspo1t
rate case" is the foundation or nrece-
dent of this later decision by the
interstate commerce commission, but
in this more recent decision, the
interstate commerce commission ap-
pears to have handed down judgment
which goes even farther and is far
more comprehensive in its scope,
than was the Shreveport case.
The commission in its decision says
that on the whole, the interstate rats
from Memphis to points in Arkansas
are not unreasonable or prsjudlcal
to Memphis: that the bridge tolls. on
the whole, are not unreasonable or
prejudicial to Memphis; that the
rates from points in Arkansas to
points in Arkansas are unreasonable
and prejudical to Memphis; and
orders that "the discrimination mus.
cease"
In the Shreveport rate case, the
commission found it necessary to re-
arrange, readjust, amend and lower
| the interstate rates, to remove the
discrimination alleged hy shreveport.
In the Memphis rate case. the intc:-
state commerce commission virtual
| " in so many words instructs the
railroads to ams md the Arkansas
| intra-state rates so as to remove the
alleged discrimination against Mem
phis, thus, to all intents and purposes
taking unto itself full and complete
authority despite the existence of the
state railroad commission, and bas-
ing it's action OIL the decision OF the
supreme court which upheld the
commission in its Shreveport case de-
ciSiOn.
Water Only Solution.
That river transportation is ap-
parently the one solution. and the
one means of salvation for the Ar
kansas jobber and wholesaler, is the
impre ssion of Commissioner w. NJ.
Taylor of the Pine Bluff traffic
bureau, although MI. Taylor had not
had opportunity nor time to thor
oughly study and digest the decision
the copy CT which only arrived yes
terday- forenoon.
"Cursory examination of the de-
cision, and my knowledge of the final
result of the Shrevs port rate case
lead me easily to believe the one So
luton of all this. is river transporta-
tion," he said yesterday afternoon.
Eve have the river at our door,
just as Memphis has. We have two
boats in constant operation, and if
the local shippers will use what op-
portunities they have at hand in the
way Of river transportation, we will
have more boats. With numerous
boats steadily operating, we will have
removed the one excuse that con-
gress has for not improving the river,
that excuse being that the business
does not Justify the expenditures.
ION the MisSisSipOl river. fast