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Show UTAH TO BECOME GREAT MANUFACTURING CENTER Utah's great day of prosperity is dawning! If all the forces that make for civic civ-ic betterment, industrial and commercial com-mercial progress will let unselfishness unselfish-ness rule and all pull together for the common good, Utah will become a great empire of production. This was the sentiment expressed recently by H. W. Prickett, manager of the Traffic Service Bureau of Utah, Ut-ah, after an exhaustive study of t'.ie opportunities that lie at Utah's doors as a result of the situation arising in regard to the establishment of a freight rate structure that will probably pro-bably be put into operation and form the means whereby this community might at last ascend into' the firmament, firma-ment, of more intensified production "ml manufacture. The comment followed in the wake of the acknowledged fact that the railroads in the Western territory must, as a matter of self observation, observa-tion, introduce rate schedules to meet the serious and ever increasing traffic carried by the vessels which nly between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts through the Panama canal. "The control of the manufactured products of the Atlantic seaboard shipped to the Pacific coast now rests with the Panama canal," said Mr. Prickett. "The railroads cannot possibly pos-sibly meet the competition by reducing reduc-ing the freight rates, since such rates would not be remunerative This, therefore, must of necessity lead to the Western railroads developing the Inter-Mountain country, since remunerative re-munerative tariffs could; prevail from 'here to the Pacific coast, and there would be no reason to transport by way of the Panama canal. There would be an all rail transportation." "Salt Lake City, continued Mr. Prickett. "forms the strategic geo-rrophieal geo-rrophieal center for competition the Panama canal." By this Mr. Prickett meant to imply that if goods at present manufactured in the Atlantic At-lantic coast states were manufactured manufactur-ed here, the Western railroads would benefit, while the people as a whole "'ould reap a golden harvest; for. in his judgment, the railroads would be compelled1 to establish such rates as would nrovide for the movement of traffic for the building of their own business aod for self protection. "Naturally." said Mr. Prickett, "the rates from here would not be as high to- the Pacific coast as if the ernods were shinned from the Atlantic Atlan-tic coast to the same destination. Salt Lake Citv s at. present a logical center, not only for raw resources, hut. for manufacturing. "If the railroads help, as I emp'a-si?e emp'a-si?e thit thev mut. it W'll mean the . establishment n-f traffics allowing not , only a reasonable return to them, but the inauguration of an industrial development de-velopment here which will unquestionably unques-tionably prove a revelation. The publication pub-lication of such rates will be an incentive in-centive to the manufacturer, while manv' firms producing .in the East and Pisewhere will Iioto to establish themselves here io o'iin the market mark-et on the coast, since it. stands to reason rea-son that the consignee on the Pacific will not pav the high rate from the ast if he 'nn get the same goods for the much less tariff prevailing from here "The Panama canal traffic is forcing forc-ing the Western railroad executives o realise the situation. Thev know that thev must act quickly, and the 'inlv wnv for !hnr to save themselves !s to heln min'ld no the Inter-Moun-'nln country, the natural purveyor of "ods to the Pp"fi(, roast market. Thev must nut into effect such rates -"s will aid in the development here. This, it naturally follows, will increase in-crease the railroad revenues and more employees will he used on the nay-rolls, the whole svstemar hththt nayrollo. the whole situation tending to make the West more indenendent than in the past of the Eastern man-'fact,irpra man-'fact,irpra "The railroads see th" handwriting handwrit-ing on the wall. Thev are cognizant of the expression of the interstate commerce commission in 1911 relative rela-tive to the logic that it would nay a railroad to develop its own territory, therein- obtaining as much of the haul as possible for its own lines. But it has taken eleven years for the truth to be forced home. "Utah's great chance is here. For years the great stumbling block to the Inter-Mountain region's progress has been excessive freight rates. These, I believe will soon fade and in their stead a freight structure will be erected which will aid the local in dustries and stimulate manufacturing, manufactur-ing, while at the same time it will attract others, and a great center of production will result. "This is not a dream It is sound logic. The Western railroads are realizing real-izing the issues, which mean a thriving thriv-ing life or strangulation by competition compe-tition through shipping via the Panama Pan-ama canal. "Utah's opportunity is here. Her day of active and Intensified industry is dawning." a |
