The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-09-25
RAIL RATE INCREASE

New York, Sept. 25.-Uppermost
in the minds of shippers and recelv-
srs of goods and the consuming pub
Tic. is the subject Of the recent raise
in railroad freight rates and its ef-
feet upon prices. On first thought
it would appear that any increase IN
TRANSFORMATION rates would mean
corresponding increase in the cost TO
The consumer of the materials trans
ported. However, in recent address
to members Of his organization, r. E.
fulton, vice president OF the Inter-
national Motor company, took excep-
ion to this popular idea and shoWeo
Why the increase should In rcallty'
,educe the cost of living.
Expensive transportation IS 1ar
heaper than no transportation
aid Mr.. Fulton. "To very large ex-
ent. the present high cost Of living
$ the result of attempting to carry
IN TRANSPORTATION at rates which did
,ot allow the railroads sufficient rev.
,nue to maintain adequate service.
Many of the apparent shortages
which have forced up prices have
,een the result of inability to move
FOODS to markets. Likewise, interest,"
| m capital involved In commodities
led ND by lack of transportation "a
,ilities, must be included in the hnal
rice of all articles delayed In tran
If. The waste of perishable com
nodities is another important add1-
iofi-a recent congressional lnvestl.
cation proved that fully 5O per cen.
# the perishable food products Oh
\merica are wasted thru insufficient
Methods of transportation. If giving
he railroads adequate compensation
COR their service will aid to establish
n uninterrupted flow of merchandise
rom the producer to the consumer
|. hen a general lowering OF prices Is
,ound to result, and the cost OF main
aiming such steady flow will pc
1othing as compared to the price the
country has already paid Tor 1naue-
luate transportation.
j., ut is the same way with motor
.ruck transportation. Every dollar
,pent to build adequate highways is
IN investment in lower COMMONLY
,rices. On the other hand, any I'M
:,1stified restriction or discourage
,nent to economical hauling such as
hat offered by larger capacity TRUCKS
g lust as poor business as TO manu-
ian railroad freight transportation
| And unfortunately, most OF the les.
| ;slative effort along this line mas peer
| uniustified since it has been baseo OF
| The mere assumption that large ca
nacity trucks wear out the roads sim
NV because they are heavier. Legs
Ia Tors fail to realize that the use o.
trucks of half the capacity Tor IN:
same loads means two trucks 1nsteat
of one and therefore more trucks OF
the highway as we'll as far greate
costs for the transportation OF gooas
And even then road wear Woulo u
increased because the use OF ngnte
i trucks means higher speed anu w
degree of road wear is proportional
to the rate of speed. More 1mportah
still Is the fact that the weight
vehicles in proportion to carry ca
nacity decreases as the size OF Tn
trick increases. Therefore wne
several smaller trucks are useo III
stead of a single large truck ~
roads are forced to hold 1ar ereats
amount of useless vehicle "e'sn
which adds to road destruction.
TRANSFORMATION is over-expenslV
only when it is wasteful. Wnetne
the mode of transportation is VI
railroad or motor truck. 1t is 1als
economy to base development upo
common assumption when nttl
foresight and careful study Will r,
aect in freedom of traffic, less was,
and consequently lower commoo1'
nrices.'