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Show FREIGHT RATES' RECORDADVANCE Trans-Atlantic Charges Since War Began Are 900 to 1,150 Per Cent. SCORES OF PROTESTS Government Powerless to Control or Regulate Ocean i Freight Rates Business Busi-ness Men Helpless. Washington, Jan 2". Evidence of extraordinary advances in trans-Atlantic freight rates since the outbreak of the European war. amounting In some instances to 900 and even 1,150 ler r ent, was presented to the senate todav In a joint report from Secre-tari68 Secre-tari68 McAdoo and Redfleld. "While this report Is being written." the statement says, "information Is received that rates are hieher than those given in some of the tables presented, pre-sented, and thnt even at these extra-ordlnary extra-ordlnary Hgurea, it is difficult to obtain ob-tain cargo space for earlier sailings thnn March and A.pril The report contains numerous , of rales on various commodities commodi-ties from American to European oons and summarizes the principal advances ad-vances since Auguist 1 last as follows fol-lows Rates on Grain and Cotton. "New York to Rotterdam on grain !0fi per cent on flour 500 per cent; on cotton 700 per cent. 'w York to Liverpool on Hie same commodities from 200 to 55 per cent. "Galveston in Liverpool on grain i 174 per eent on cotton ?,') per cent, I to Bremen on cotton 1,061 to 1,150 per cent " The report declares that In one pear, If American exports maintain ibe 'itecember. 1914, level, the increased in-creased rates will make ;i charge of SL'IG liJ4,40i) on American shippers and that if the imports be included on the same basis of calculation, the amount would reach the sum of $311,-864,400 $311,-864,400 or 141.6 per cent, over the usual cost. If normal rates are taken in conjunction with the abnormal on the December basis the freight charge on both exports and imports in a j year would make the grand total of $532,110,000. Scores of Protests.:' The report contains several score of letters from business men oer the country declariiiR their inability to get bottoms for their freight, and charging discrimination by such carriers car-riers as are in business against freights that pays a low rate and the breaking of contracts by at least one of the big trans-Atlantic steam ship conianies. The report' contains also a letter from the Panama Railroad company which says: our sleek (of coal) has been reduced re-duced from 90,000 to 40.000 tons, and both the Earn line and our company are scouring the charter market tn the effort to secure sufficient tonnage to carrj to the Isthmus the amount of coal it is imperative we should keep there." Government Has No Control. "It will be observed," says the report, re-port, "that the greatest increases in rites and the heaviest tax has been made upon the products in which the American farmer Is most concerned, namely grain and cotton. The government govern-ment has no power to control or regulate regu-late ocean freight rates The steam ship owners can Increase rates without with-out notice upon the Instant, and our business men are helpless. "They are seriously checking our foreign trade, and In some cases, sucii as lumber and coal are stopping it altogether." al-together." Ship Purchase Bill. The report concludes with an argument in favor of the ship purchase pur-chase bill in which the senate is reminded re-minded that such unusual freigh: charges, if continued, may result in creating a big balance of trade against this nation. It points out that of American ships in all trade worth about $600,000i000, the bureau of nai-. gation Bays that only ships valued at $(59 000,000 are In the foreign trade By some tho argument Is made, the report says, that the government nhould not do any thing to cause competition com-petition with thla 589,000,000 of private pri-vate capital invested in ships, although al-though foreign trade Is left thereby "entirely at the mercy of foreign shipping ship-ping Interests and the relatively small amount of American capital invested in ships engaged in the foreign trade The nation's combined exports and imports for the fiscal year ended Juno :n I'il4 the report says, totalled $V 785,464,525. It may well be asked,' it continues con-tinues 'which of these Interests is entitled to the superior consideration of the government, tho farmers and producers of the great grain states of the w est and the farmers and producers pro-ducers of the great cotton and tobac-jeo tobac-jeo suites of the south, the merchants. ! manufacturers and business men throughout the entire country whose Combined activities represent our vast trade or the owners of the comparatively compara-tively few American steumships en; imaged in the foreign trade, whose aggregate ag-gregate investment Is approximately $C9,0"n 000 "There would seem to be but one answer, and that is that It would pay us many times over to Invest the $4', j '100.000 as provided in the shipping bill ;n an American merchant marine and rlng about as quickly as possible a restoration of normal ocean freight rates with a saving to American business busi-ness of more than $200,000,00 annually an-nually " The report says assurance has been given that many ships suitable for the purpose can be promptly obtained. It ontinues: "It is not true, as alleged in some quarters that only ships of German registry can be purchased. We do not know whether an of the German vessels interned In our pons can "ae secured, or would be desirable, but we are convinced that suitable ships of various foreign registry are avail able if the means of purchasing them are provided There Is attached to this report a list of ships offered by the Merchant Marine gency, Bos ton. Mass., from which it will be seen that there are fifteen ships of English registry and seven of German registry which It proposes to sell Other ships are obtainable." |