El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-06-19

j sans OF 6lG4 combinations III NA1A-
/ ence that their publication in com
{ pleteness is out Of the question
The Interstate commerce commits
Z sion has been. and to a great extent
still Is, composed Of lawyers, who
have highly developed nicetieH Of
! thought and indulge in great deal
I Of hair splitting in Isolated cases
Z do not seem to be able to stop the
Increasing complications in the rate
{ system, much less to make any head
way in simplifying It.
A Battling Puzzle.
A railroad freight tariff Is NOR
! complicated than the political situa-
I ton and contains more important
I hidden information than the vaults
/ Of the United States secret service
No business man, inexperienced in
the use Of freight tariffs, can deter
mine from one Of them. for instance,
what Is the rate on candy from Bos-
ton to Fl Paso, OF on cigarets rom
Winston-Salem to Butte, Mont. He
might find rate Of some sort but
he would probably miss a foot note
or overlook some item in Rules and
Regulations and start quoting deliv-
cred prices on rate so high as to
be out Of the running What can the
business man do to determine the
correct rate2
Ask the railroad to quote him a rate7
AL right But supposing the rate
quoted Is IN error, as sometimes II is,
then what? The rate published IN the
tariffs on file with the interstate
commerce commission IS the rate
which must be charged although the
business man loses money BY the
transaction. Why2 Because the law
says that the rates In effect must be
placed on file for public use The
public Is thereby charged with a
knowledge Of what the tariffs con-
tain and the business man is 70 blame
II he does not find the rate he wants
II is next TO impossible for a man
without technical experience to figure
large means can afford TO employ a
rate expert The small or occasional
shipper cannot do this
Farmers, shippers Of live stock. anS
small manufacturer suffer ls the
result Of this condition. There "a n
FL PaEo lost 5000 through the error
Of n railroad agent in quoting him
freight rate.
He had no recourse.
What he should have done, Of
course, was to have let the traffic de-
partment Of the FL Paso chamber Of
commerce check his bill
BurdenIng Consumers.
As a result OF our complicated
freight rate system a new profession
has been built up during the past
Is years: that OF industrial traffic
manager. These managers earn from
$4,000 to $4,000 q year for telling
their employers the correct rates on
the goods they ship. These traffic
managers are necessities and earn
their money. but the complicated
freight rate system adds the burden
OF their salaries to the cost OF doing
business in this country and naturally
. H.
consuming public II has been esti-
mated that the service Of traffic eU-
perts IS costing In one way or an
other the business men Of FL Paso
800, 900 a year. But their services
are saving these same business men
addition the chamber Of commerce
traffic bureau, costing less than
$4,000 a year, Is saving the smaller
shippers proportionate amount
Industrial concerns recruit their
traffic men from the railroads One
large railroad in the west pays its
traffic manager $4,000 a year and
pays one OF its rate clerks S1s1-5Q a
month The traffic manager. with
the rate clerks aid. makes the rate
and then the rate clerk tells the pub
lie what the rate Is.
Suggests Remedies.
Is there a remedy for the freight
rate muddle? A veteran traffic man |
in Ell Paso says there Is.
Some OF the ingredients Of his pro-
posed remedy follow.
1. Make the same clasaificatlon
apply TO every part Of the eOua-
try.
2. Abolish al exceptions to
elnsEificntions.
B. Ignore such artificial and
unnecessary boundaries aH aFFest-
ern terminl OF the trunk Ilnes,s
afhe WaIhalIa llnes.s etc.