Evening star., 1923-09-26
*S..SEEKSTOEND
:. PITTSBURGH Plus
System Said to Saddle Tax Of
$4,000, 900 Annually
8 on Farmers.
nY. FREDEnfc WILLIAM VILE.

n
Two great agencies of thet govern
ment are now atiwork on ways. and
means tor rsltsTe farm depression.
Both efforts 90 straig ghtrto. tfie issue
which the rural west, considers the
main cause Of its worcestershire
freight rates,,H while the Interstate
Commerce Commission is graphing
with rates on what the farmer sells
the Federal Trade Commission is
taekHng the question of rates on
What he buys.
The Federal Trade Commission is
attempting : to destroy the practice
Known as pittsburgh plus" This is
the system arbitrarily enforced by
che steel industry whereby steel man
ufactured outside of Pittsburgh is
sold at the pittsburgh base" price.
plus the cost Of fictitious freight from
Pittsburgh to destination. 1t has been
estimated that Pittsburgh plus" i'm
poses tax of 100000 900 year on the
farmers of the country.
Hits Farmer Hard.
While 1t applies only to freight on
commodities into which steel enters.
His chief ecessity-agricultu i'm
Flements-is excessively costly be-
cause of Pittsburgh plus" Barbed
wire and wire nails are high priced
on the same account man in
Pittsburgh paws SO a keg for nails.
but a man in Pueblo. buying from the
Iocal plant of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company, pays 81 81 a keg. The
ulHerence OF SLY between the two
prices IS the imaginary freight" on
the nails from Pittsburgh to Pueblo
eSacted by the Colorado Fuel and
plus" -
When the Pueblo plant sells nails
10 a customer at Pueblo. where thay
are produced, it actually nets 81 25
Keg more than when 1t sells the same
keg TO Kansas City customer wEc
IS SIX or seven hundred miles away
because the Pittsburgh freight rate
~ nansds CITY is that much lower
than the rate to Pueblo.
James B. Howard. president of tbt
american Farm Bureau Federation
declares that 1,925,000 farms in clever
mldwestern states utilize. on the
average, one ton OF. steel a year each
Chfcaoe IG S1eel [ Sola 10 these farmers from
Shicago' where ii is mostly produced
costs them an average of $3.50 a tor
Tor imaginary freight" because
though manufactured in the ives. II
Is charged for on the "Pittshurrf
plus basis. This works out for +bt
eleven states mentioned by Mr. How.
ara at ispn1ething like $39. 0OO. 600 ir
extra expense. to, their. farming com.
munities.
Cost 10 Csantry..-------- -
For the entire country. pittsburgh
Plus" saddles upon the rural element
tax estimated to run easily to $50
100000, and, counting other consum.
ers of steel, probably EFFORTS an ar.
gregate toll of SIS, ,0OO. 900 to s1oO..
100000. Highway construction cost,
and the expense of erecting steel of.
fice buildings are heavily Increased
by Pittsburgh plus" The farmer!
are the hardest hit, but the practic,
reaches the pocket of every taxpayer
and every tenant who occupies
rented ONCE in modern city building
Pittsburgh-plus" has been il
vogue for nearly twenty years. i
IS practiced both by the United State.
steel Corporation and. by the in.
dependent companies. The steel in,
teTests defend the system on the
They claim that midwest steel mill!
cannot produce enough steel to meet
the need of the territory tributary
TO them. AS these surplus needs mus
be met by Pittsburgh made steel, il
is contended that it is legitimate tc
charge for all steel the Pittsburgh.
base" price, plus the freight from
pittsburgh to the point Of consump.
rIon Ebert H. Gary, chairman OF
the Steel Corporation, and Charles
NJ. Schwab, president of the Bethle.
hem Steel Company, the most pow.
fnnpnpn4lanf in
ances before the Federal Trade Com.
mission stoutly defended Pittsburgh
plus"
Seek It's Destruction.
Since January, 1922, the Fedora
Trade Commission has been assem-.
bling data designed to prove tha
pittsburgh plus" can be destroyed
under the Clayton act, which pro
hibits discrim4 nation, and under tn,
federal trade act. which forbids un,
fair competition. The latest hearings