Bogalusa enterprise and American. (Bogalusa, La.) 1918-19??, 1921-01-27
FREIGHT LEAST
H, C. ESPEN
Director General Hines sa,, !.
road Transportation cs,s
Are Lowest in History
NOT CAUSE OF HIGH psc
Freight Advances comparsd WA |
In Value of eOods-TransDo,,,.
: Cheapest Thing Public b.
Charges on Some Artlol..

Data compiled from sptA.s.
sources shows that railroad y.
rates are the least factor Il i.
Of living. Although the prOporH.'
the total cost Of goods thar s.
charged to transportation Is no.t
with statistical accuracy, Ii Il ~.
ed that the average transDorae..
Of things produced In this cop.,s
e very small percentage q thsl,
cost to the consumer.
Freight Cost 2.4Per Cent ., Il,
In a letter to Representativ. a.
Eschs chairman of the House oor
tee on Interstate and ForeIm I
merce, Julius Kruttschnitt chi,
Of the Southern Pacific Conn,
points out that in the last five
the value of goods increased On !,
erage Of S63 a ton, while M
charges advanced only go cents +
In five years, he explains. the /.
age value Of freight carried "
railroads increased from $5s to slll
ton. The cost Of carrying this Inc,
ed from 50 to $3.50, paid to tie
roads. In 1914, he adds, SO Der
of the total cost Of the goods
spent for transportation. In 1919
"a per cent was spent.
''In other words" Mr.. Kruttsd1
writes, "only 80 cents out Of SSS. d
cents out Of every dollar Of lncraam
value of commodities in 1919 was d
I'd by increased freight charges
responsibility for the remaining So
or 98.7 cents out Of every dollar,
be sought elsewhere. It was not d
ed by freight rates."
Rates Lowest In History
Comparison with transports
charges in other countries shows
in no other country Of the word
transportation furnished at 50 lOT
cost as in the United States. Com
ed, too, with the cost of other
and services today, railroad transp
ton is the cheapest thing the p
buys. It is sold for less than the
Of production, considering all the
ments Of cost.
IN a statement on this subject 10 +
New England Bankers AssodS
Walker D. Hines, Director Gene1
Railroads, said;
81 think It Is a fair stateme
that at the present time, desp
the increases which have take
place in freight rates. a ton
steel or a ton Of coal, a bushel
wheat or the unit Of any 9TH
commodity has to pay for tran
portation a less percentage Of D
price of that commodity than eV
before in the history Of the con
try"
Charges on Some Articles
Before the war a suit Of clcl
from one of the Chicago factories
ing for $50 in a retail shop, was
ried from Chicago to Los Angels
1914 cents. The suit Of clothes
retails at $50 or $50, but the fre
rate on that 2,265 mile haul has
creased only 51a cents, while the 3
Of the goods has gone up $40 or
The % cents does not cover ~
transportation cost in a suit Of co
the transportation charge for cam
the wool from the ranges ana
cloth to the clothing manufacture
other minor carrying costs enter
the consideration, but the final Q
portation charge Is the principal
and the other charges add only
cents more.
New England shoes are shy
from Boston to Florida at costa
than 52-3 cents a pair. This Is q
crease Of only one cent over the
war rate. The railroads also
beef from Chicago to New York
charge Of about two-thirds Of
a pound. Typewriters are carried
New York to st. Louis for SO eeni
$3.50 photograph is carried By Q
from New York to Atlanta fof
A grand piano is carried clear
the continent for $50 and IN 9
lots for S28.
These are typical freight rate
they make it plain that America
roads give the lowest cost ssE1l1
the world.
Even with a very consldefas
crease in rates to make the roass
supporting, transportation WIN y
the cheapest thing the public pula