The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-12-17
Iv-Our World Trade Handical


We can fully appreciate the ex-
tent to which the transportation han
dicap under which the mid-continent
OF North America is suffering af-
fects the individual and the local
community, only by using some gen.
orally produced commodity as an ex-
ample and examine what it costs as
to move that commodity from the
place where it is produced to its final
market.
We are agreed that unless we can
market a product at a profit it does
not pay us to produce, whether the
article produced is food stuffs or
whether it is manufactured goods.
We are also fairly well agreed that
the price which the manufacturer or
the farmer receives for his goods at
the home station depends upon how
much these goods will sell for in the
worlds markets, land also upon how
much it costs to nov them to these
markets. The transportation and
sales costs are always included soon
er or later in the production charges,
and these costs write off from the
farmers price received for wheat in
Europe or the price which the con-
! sumner pays for the manufactured
! goods, a certain definite amount
greater OF less as the cost of trans
portation is large or small.
Since the most essential industry
of the interior is agriculture, and
since wheat is one of the most out
standing crops in that region, let US
take wheat by way of illustration,
while we are so doing, remembering
that the same principles apply to all
other farm products moving in world
trade, and that they also apply to
the manufactured products which
seek a continental or inter-continen-
tai market.
Studying wheat transportation cost
we reach the astounding fact that the
cost of shipping from the interior OF
the United States exceeds the cost Of
shipping from any other large wheat
producing area to terminal markets
the case of Canada alone excepted
as Canada stands in substantially the
same trade relation to the wheat
markets of the world as we do.
Compare, for instance, a Montans
farmer with a farmer growing wheat
in the Argentine;
The farmer in northeastern Mon,
tana loads his grain on to the cars
ships it to Duluth-75O mileg-at az
expense of 20 cents a bushel ana
transfers it from car to ship at that
port. This transfer, the only ont
necessary with the st. Lawrence OpeI
to ocean ships, costs LIS cents more
1t is then carried by vessels a thou
sand miles to the port of Buffalo a
a total average cost Of 8 cents. A
Buffalo it is passed through the ele
vator and is carried by rail 44z mile
to the port of New York for 9.
3 cents. The average cost of transfer
3 at Buffalo and New York amount
to 2 cents. From New York it goe
I by sea, 3,578 statute miles to its dies
tinatiOn at an. average cost of 8 cents
Notice that in this movement Their
are three transfers and two exper
sive land hauls, totaIing a distanc
Of $500 miles ard costing appros
imately A cents q bushel. Two {
8 these transfers and the Buffalo-Ne'
York land haul are waste labor an
expense.
Now compare the transpOrtatio
costs Of the South American farme
He lives on an average Of 14O mills
from the ~sescoast. The transport,
ton to deep water viii not on Il
average exceed Il cents, includir
transfer to the boat. At the end
the rail haul his bushel Of wheat
taken on board ship and moves dire
to Europe at a cost Of approximate
J3 cents-25 cents total off his Ii
erpool price as against approximate
a cents off the Liverpool price
Is the Montana farmer. The freiel