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Show SituatioiT.I i Los Angeles Union Stockyards, j July 22 Western agricultural, I lifestock and civic interests are j deeply concerned in the proposal ! of the transcontinental railroads j to reduce the rates on fresh and cured meats from Missouri river and east to the South Pacific coast. The present rates from Missouri Mis-souri river packing centers to South Pacific coast territory are: fresh meat 52. 95 per cwt., cured meat S2.05, with added differentials differen-tials from interior Iowa points and Chicago. So. the 'proposed rate of $1.50 per cwt, on the complete com-plete list of fresh and cured meats means a reduction on fresh meat of $1.45 per cwt. and 55c per cwt. on cured meat a reduction re-duction of nearly 50 percent on fresh meat and one-third on cured meat. The reason for the reduction reduc-tion is stated to be to meet truck competition. iSome five years ago there was an application made to the Interstate Inter-state Commerce commission by middle western and eastern packers pack-ers to reduce the rates on meat food p7-oducts ibecause of an alleged al-leged discrimination in rates between be-tween products and livestock. The complaint was directed partiular-ly partiular-ly to pork products. The Interstate Inter-state Connmerce commission held hearings at several places and, after a very thorough investigation, investiga-tion, declined the application. A tremendous amount of testimony was given by chambers of commerce, com-merce, livestock and agricultural interests and by the packers owning own-ing plants on the, west coast and throughout the interior because of the effect the 'proposed reduction reduc-tion would have on the whole economic structure of the west and southwest. Manifestly, if the products are to toe shipped into these sections; the investment in packing plants, the effecHj uplon labor and, finally, the price structure struc-ture on livestock and our whole agricultural structure must toe considered and were considered by the Interstate Commerce commission commis-sion in declining the application. The present proposal is based upon up-on different premises but with the same effect. Our surplus of cattle and sheep moves largely to middle western markets. That it is economically unsound to move livestock to the middle west, there be processed and the products moved back to the western states and to the west coast, we all agree. The west has many millcms of acres of land used for the grazing of livestock, live-stock, a tremendous income to the different states) and efvery eom-munitv eom-munitv within the state. The west also raises a lot of feed for fattening fatten-ing livestock the most remunerative remunera-tive way to market ' such feed. Within the past few years dry lot feeding of livestock has taken place in a big way the best method of distributing the' marketing mar-keting of our livestock; so that every ranch owjr in the west is interested in this proposal.' .From the standpoint of the railroads, we all recognize that there has been, and still is, a big movement of pork products shipped ship-ped to the west coast by rail from points east of the ' Rocky mountains. moun-tains. A big tonnage that affords the railroads a substantial income which, if the proposal prevails, will at once make a big decrease in railroad earnings, without' any assurance that the reduction will discourage truck competition " and bring whatever business there is back to the rails, but. the railroads apparently feel . that they should make a gesture to save their traffic traf-fic against the trucks without assurance as-surance that unregulated truck competition may not maje a further fur-ther cut which neither the railroads rail-roads nor legal steps may stop. Wre must remember that these railroads are an essential part of our whole economic structure and, naturally, must consider what the effect may be of making such a radical cut in the transportation rates. Logically, if this, application applica-tion is granted, the railroads may expect application from all packing pack-ing centers west of the Missouri river for a corresponding reduction reduc-tion in their rates on the same commodities and, furthermore, the livestock interests of the middle west will, undoubtedly, feel that they should have a corresponding reduction in the rate on-livestock in order to maintain the present parity between livestock and products. pro-ducts. Los Angeles today occupies fifth place as . a packing center. The distribution of money through the payrolls and purchasing power of these plants and the thousands . of employes ' form ah 'important part of our civic structure. It is well that we should be advised as I fully as possible as to the effect 1 in case the application is granted. |