Show i RATE increase FARMERS UNION OFFICIALS THINK RAILROADS ARE ENTITLED TO MORE REVENUE products product of plow and farmer who lives at home should ie exempt fron from increate In creaM a by peter radford lecturer Nati national farmers Far union tho the recent action of the interstate commerce commission in granting an increase in freight rates in the eastern castru classification of territory the a tion of the roads to state and interstate commissions for an increase In creasa in rates and the utterances ot of president wilson on the subject bring the farmers of tills this nation face to face with the problem of an increase in freight rates it Is the policy of the farmers union to meet the issues affecting the welfare of the farmers squarely and we will do so BO in this instance the transportation facilities of tho the united states are inadequate to effectively meet the demands of commerce and particularly in the south and west additional railway mileage la is needed to accommodate the movement of farm products it if in the wisdom of our railroad commissions an increase in freight rates Is As necessary to bring about an improvement in our transportation service and an efte extension n of out our mileage milea ge then an increase should be granted and the farmer Is willing to share such proportion of the increase as justly belongs to him but wo we have some suggestions to make as to the manner in which this increase shall be levied rates follow lines of least resistance the freight rates of the nation have been built up along lines of least resistance si the merchant the manufacturer fac the miner the miller the lumberman lumber maa and the cattleman have had their traffic bureaus thoroughly organized and an n many instances they have pursued the railroad without mercy and with the power of organized tonnage they have hammered the life out of the rates and with unrestrained greed they have eaten the vitals out of our transport transportation at I 1 on system and since we have had railroad commissions miss lons these interests with skill and cunning are represented at every hearing in which their business Is ta layol ved the farmer lei la seldom represented at rate hearings as ill his Is 0 organizations have never had bad tha finances to employ counsel to develop his side of the case and as a the products of the plow bear an unequal burden of the freight expense A glance at the freight tariffs abundantly proves this assertion cotton the tha leading agricultural product of the south already bears the highest freight rate of any necessary commodity in commerce and the rate on agricultural products as a whole Is out of proportion with that of the products 0 of the factory and the mine we otter offer no schedule of rates but hope the commission COMMA aaion will be able to give alvo the railroad such an increase in rates as is a necessary without levying a further toll upon the products of the tha plow the instance seems to pro sent an opportunity to the railroad commissions to equalize the rates as between agricultural and other classes of freight without disturbing the rates on staple farm products what Is a fair rate we W do not know what constitutes a basla basis for rate making and have never heard of anyone who did claim chalm to know much about it but it if tho th prosperity of the farm Is a factor to bo be considered and the railroad commits commission concludes that an in rates Is necessary we would prefer that it come to us through articles 0 of consumption on their journey from he factory to the farm we would for example prefer that the tha rate on bogs remain as at present and the rato rate on meat bear the increase for any farmer can then avoid the burden by raising his own meat and aad a farm or nr who will not try to raise his own meat ought to be penalized we chink the rate zin on coal and brick can much better bear an increase In creasa than the rate on cotton and flour we would prefer that the rate on plo plows vs remain the same and machinery pianos and such articles as the poorer farmer cannot hope to possess bear the burden ot of increase the increase in rates should be so BO arranged that the farmer who lives at home will bear no part of the burdon burden but let tho the farmer who boards in other states and countries and who feeds his stock in foreign lends lands pay ua the price of hla his tolly folly |