| Show FAILS FAILS- Red Mill Milk li ill Green Oleo Hive Have Bad Taste Trade Walls falls Bounce Back at States Mates fly EARL EAUL COMPTON by Western Newspaper Union Tearing down V spite fences to reunite 48 43 jealous Balkan king king- kingdoms kingdoms kingdoms doms into the tite United States Is the th job facing federal and state officials Heeding a n wide nation-wide pro protest test from farmers formers consumers ers and business men officials officials clais are arc liquidating a vast s of f slate trade barriers rs and cutting miles of legislative red tape which hems In commerce For Joor trade trude barrier legislation Is s al almost nl al most universally recognized as ns a 0 se se- serious rious blockade on the road rand to re re- recovery covery Rhode thode Island adopted a 1 law re re- requiring requiring quiring that out out of of state milk be col colored ored red Wisconsin ruled that oleomargarine oleo oleo- oleomargarine margarine must be colored green reen California assessed a n license fee on Imports of foreign beer Georgia empowered her agricultural al commissioner to embargo any farm products when Georgia has plenty at ut home They've All These are arc but a n few samples of the hundreds of at state trade trado barrier laws lows that boost Uncle Sams Sam's food bill WI by hundreds of millions of dol dollars lars hors annually lower returns on busi busl business business ness neBS Investments and throttle the channels for distribution of at farm crops a national survey shows All were adopted to help local producers pro and and all alt have had a boom boomerang erang effect When California raised a quarantine quarantine tine against Florida's citrus fruit Florida replied with a virtual em cm- embargo jargo o against the he he west coast coust state New York excluded Connecticut's Connecticut Ice cc cream nod and Connecticut replied In n kind Indiana and Michigan waged n a bitter trade war over beer No state has hns been neutral in the depression born born battle to protect I home lomo industries against outside competition Now however the trend rend toward town Id I'd what Gov Lloyd C. C C Stark of Missouri calls lion Ion seems to have come to a n halt and ond observers see a u growing move movement meat ment toward lowering the barriers latest test evidence is a 0 national na sur mc- mcvey survey vey of one of the he more widely prevo prevalent prevalent alent types of oC barrier legislation chain store taxes Although more mare than GO 60 bills aimed at ot chain stores stor sto s s were ere Introduced In 34 3 state a Q tares turcs thi not one new n new w state It et 0 o oer watt was a dd s tile the an chain anti tl c nn l o roster roster- r O s t er the he survey shows In three states chain anti taxes thes were outlawed by bythe bythe the courts In tile the last six months and anda a growing movement for tor repeal of existing chain anti store legislation Is under way woy the study showed Of Ot 25 23 states which have tried these Ulese owner I r r rk k 1 eMa t I I III i 11 II T 1 Is l lI s I I l o ol r l kM i rj l Ift G I T m. m r. r t- t N f. f t A ls taxes tuxes only 20 now have them on the he statute books the tho survey showed Opposition by farm labor and und con can consumer consumer sumer groups was climaxed re reo recently recently by a resolution adopted by a conference of the Council of State Slats Governments winch said In part Any law luw that is punitive to any store or other allier legitimate distributional agency of agricultural prod products Is a harmful trade barrier det detrimental detrimental to both bolli the producer and und consumer The abrupt face about In the trend of chain store taxes parallels the trend of other oth discriminatory state lava onlY eo e BUte I added naw barrier nt c tr and dozens of similar were cre rejected States Establish Es tab leh Ish Customs Harriers Barriers t Among they the most harmful of the barrier measures advocates of free Cree trado trade among states believe arc those affecting automobiles and trucks Fifteen states now have of of- ports of entry at nt which ar nr- living drivers are inspected and taxed Some states impose a duty on gas gns in the tank others charge chorge truck drivers from out of state for forthe forthe the llie use of their highways Heavy registration fees on foreign trucks s arc assessed by many states and the operator of a ton five vehicle bound from Alabama to South Caro Caro- Carolina Carolina lina linn Is forced to pay fees tees totaling 1100 Usually the effect of such legisla legisla- legislation legislation tion was to bring about bitter re re- For example Kansas passed an automobile port of at entry low law In Ir 1033 1933 and ond set up 60 66 ports on the stale t borders e Ia- Ia comp complaint of an un Oklahoma farmer tells the llie result I had been taking my produce to market in Kansas for years he said suld One day a man in uniform stopped me and told me I must pay paya a tax of at 1 cents a ton mile My truck weighed five tons and andI I was going to travel miles in Kansas So I paid to get in inthe inthe inthe the state with my truck for two days I paid 16 10 more In gasoline taxes which brought the llie total to nearly 50 50 and und completely cancelled all a 11 the profits of my trip The sequel to the Oklahoma akin ham a farm farm- farmers farmer's farmers farmers farmer's ers er's story was that his state soon erected 58 ports of entry of its own Truckers Farmers Suffer sutter Formers Farmers share with willi truckers the heaviest burden of interstate trade barriers Quarantines and rigid in in- inspection inspection standards are in force inmany in inmany many states less in the llie Interests of protecting public health than with the llie design of protecting local pro pro- Minnesota passed a law luw since invalidated that all nil meat sold In the state must be inspected within 24 hours of the time of slaughter eliminating out of state meat pack pack- ors ers Pennsylvania ruled that nil all milk sold in the Keystone state must be approved by Pennsylvania Pennsy in With such laws lows multiplying at nt a rapid rate economists and public officials saw that a breakup of at free Cree trade trude was very close to being an accomplished fact They pointed out that three roads rands lay Iny ahead ohead First the way toward real Bal Bal- isolation of state stute from state with willi roads roods patrolled by troops imd smugglers shuttling back and forth on dark and lonely trails Second the road toward complete federal control of commerce with state governments forced by a long long- longsuffering longsuffering suffering producing and consuming public to give e up their rights to United States tes Sl tes authorities Third the way woy toward razing these artificial barriers toward a 0 realization on the llie part of every man that what hurts his neighbor whether er across the state line or 2000 miles away nay also hurts him This third road is the llie one selected by the Council of State SUIte Governments and und operating co-operating state and federal agencies which have outlined a n def definite finite term long long term program to restore free Interstate commerce |
