The Topeka state journal., 1922-12-25
ARE RATES TOO HIGH?

There are those who still insist that
freight rates must come down in or
der that the farmer may receive just
return for his labor. And they do this
in face of the fact that the railroads
are about as hard up as the farmers.
The Railway Age some months ago
made an investigation of distribution
costs of farm products. This inquiry
related chiefly to the cost OF distrib-
uting perishable farm products from
Florida, California and Texas to the
Chicago markets. A typical case cited
was that of a shipment OF cabbages
on which the price paid to the Texas
producer was 81 a ton The cost of
transportation to Chicago was $26.3e
a ton. This included not only the
freight rate and the federal tax on the
charges, but also the cost or icing the
refrigerator car. The total amount.
therefore. received by the Texas
grower and the railroad for hauling
the produce about l 800 miles was s33
a ton. or at the rate of 1.67 cents a
pound. At that time cabbage retailed
in Chicago for cents a pound, equiv
a1ent to S14O a ton. or SIO6.7O a ton
more than the producer and the car
rier received for their product and
services.
At this same time the Texas pro-
ducers OF onions received S42 a ton
for white onions. The freight bill to
Chicago, was $29.64 a ton, making
the total amount received by producer
and railroad S71.6O a ton, or 3.5s
cents a pound. In the same week,
white onions retailed in Chicago for
10 cents a pound, or $500 a ton.
There was also cited the case of the
grower of spinach in Texas VINO was
paid SIS a ton. The cost OF icing the
refrigerator car and transportation to
Chicago was $3O.36 a ton, making a
total of S35.s6 a ton, or 1.77 cents
a pound which the grower and carrier
both received. At the same time the
retail price Of spinach in Chicago was
Is cents a pound, or $500 a ton. MAX
ing $264.64 a ton more than both pro-
ducer and railroad received. This
was an indicated profit, less hauling
charges, of more than 200 per cent,
and Che Railway Age at the time made
the pertinent inquiry as to who re-
ceived this profit It answered the
question by stating thas most of it
went to the very commission mer-
chants who at that time were carry
ing on propaganda against freight
rates.
The cases cited above are not ex-
ceptions. says the Wo1lman Review,
and continues:
"As a matter of fact, they show a
larger proportionate return received
by the railroad, compared with what
the farmer receives, than is the case
in such staple commodities as wheat
and corn. The railroads could not
perform their service for less and pro-
vide efficient transportation. If the
margin between the selling price of |
the grower and the buying price OF /
the consumer is to be cut down, it Will /
have to come thru more efficient /
methods of distribution in markets of /
eur great cities"
As regards prices for the more i'm
portant farm crops, there is always |
the man between the producer and |
the consumer who names the figure |
at which the farmer must sell. When
the producer names the price at which |
his product can be bought he will
set it and need not bother about /
freight rates.
- Transportation costs do not trou-
BILE the fruit growers of California
and Florida. They make the persons
at the other end of the line pay them.
The only person, if any, who IS en-
titled to complain of freight rates on
fruit is the consumer. And the
charges are so small a part of what
he pays that he has not been heard
from on the subject