The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 9, 1917, Page 12

i ! { | | i | - ST i e e ‘Some Facts on Freight Rates One of the Reasons Why the Milling Industry Has Not Prospered in North Dakota—Long Hauls Cheaper Than Short TABLE NO. 1. Wheat Rates, Minneapolis and Fairmount Freight'to Miles to Miles to Fairmount Minneapolis 60,000 1bs. $136.40 From Fairmount M’p'l's. Hazelton ...... 241 445 Golden Valley.. 339 551 Dickinson ..... 344 556 Elgin ........ 338 545 Lisbon .,...... 116 308 Medina ....... 156° 363 Glen Ulen ...... 292 499 1826 3267 .101.40 $971.10 Freight to Freight to Fairmount 60,000 1bs. Under H. B. 298 $ 96.00 $61.20 |- 114.00 68.40 114.00 68.40 108.00 67.80 78.00 48.20 87.00 52.80 108.00 65.40 154.80 159.60 158.40 111.00 149.50 $705.00 $432.20 TABLE NO. 2 Flour Rates, Minneapolis and Fairmount . Freight from Freight from Freight from Miles from Miles from Fairmount Minneapolis 40,000 1bs. To Fairmount M’p’l's. Oberon ....... 196 413 Streeter ...... 156 393 Edgeley ...... 115 352 Minot ........ 278 465 Bismarck ..... 229 436 Jamestown .... 130 334 Linton ........ 258 462 1362 2885 HY is it that North Dakota wheat is shipped: to -Minne- apolis, hauls sranging from 300 to 600 miles; to be ground NS into flour, and'the flour then shipped back to North. Dakota Why hasn't private enterprises, long before this, located more floLr mills in North Dakota, to take advantage of shorter hauls and compete with Minneapolis mills? Z B There is one main answer to both these K questions. That answer is: “Railroad rates.” ¢ Under existing - freight rates it is cheaper to ship wheat from North Da- Kota ‘points to Minneapolis than it is to ship to North Dakota points less than half as far away. ' It is also cheaper to ship the flour back from Minneapolis ‘mills than it would be to ship it back from a mill located in North Dakota. Once there was a gentleman named- Jkey Cohen who had'to see a doctor for the first time, The doctor was busy when Ikey arrived at the office so Ikey had a chance to ask the office girl what rates the physician charged. “Five dollars for the first visit,” said ~-the girl “and_two dollars for the sec- ond.” Just then the door into the private office opened and the doctor came out. Ikey jumped up and went forward, with his face beaming and his hand out- stretched. - “Vell, doctor,” he said, ‘“here I am BACK AGAIN.” Mr. Cohen was trying to get the ad- vantage of the reduced rate for a sec- ond visit. The Minneapolis flour mills have been. having the advantage of reduced rates for years now. They got onto the game of establishing friendly relations with the railroads “and getting “second visit” rates at the start. A FEW FIGURES ON FREIGHT RATES Just how much the advantage of the Minneapolis mills amounts to is shown in tables presented on this page. Fairmount, which boasts of being the *Gateway City” of North Dakota, is one of the points suggested as the lo- eation of a state-owned flowr mill, Table No. 1 shows freight rates on a carload of wheat (60,000 pounds) from each of seven points in North Dakota to Fairmount, and the rates that the same seven carloads’ of wheat would pay if they were shipped. to Minne- apolis instead of Fairmount. The seven carloads of wheat, ship- ped from the seven North Dakota Ppoints to Fairmount would travel a ° total distance of 1826 miles and the freight charges would be $971.10. . If these sever carloads of wheat were shipped to Minneapolis they would travel a total distance of 3267 miles, nearly twice as far as when shipped to Fairmount, but THE FREIGHT ' CHARGES WOULD BE ONLY $705. In other words, if a mill at Fairmount were to pay the same prices at the lacal elevators for seven 'carloads of $504.80 Fairmount 40,0001bs. Under H. B. 298 $54.00 $38.40 64.00 . 35.20 58.00 32.80 64.00 42.40 64.00 38.60 54.00 33.60 68.00 41.20 $262.20 $78.80 73.60 64.40 64.00 64.00 66.-00 94.00 $426.00 wheat, the wheat would cost delivered at the mills, $266.60 more than the same wheat delivered at the mill at Minneapolis. Or put it another way. Suppose the Fairmount mill had to get its wheat, delivered at the mill, at the same price that the Minneapolis mill got its wheat delivered. It would have to pay $266.60 less to the grain growers for its seven carloads,_ But suppose the Fairmount mill is able to buy its wheat under this hahdi- cap and grinds it into flour. Fach 60,- 000 pounds of wheat will make approxi- mately 40,000 pounds of flour. The Fairmount mill has to ship its flour back into North Dakota territory to compete with the Minneapolis product. Suppose the Fairmount mill ships 40,- 000 pounds to Oberon, the same amount to Streeter, Edgely, Minot, Bismarck, Jamestown and Linton. Suppose the Minneapolis mill, to compete with the Fairmount = mills, also ships 40,000 pounds of flour to each Of these points. Glance at Table No. 2 and see what happens. . The seven carloads of flour from the Fairmount mil travel a total of 1362 miles and pay in freight charges $504.80. 5 The seven carloads of flour from the Minneapolis mill travel 2885 miles, MORE THAN TWICE AS FAR, AND PAY FREIGHT CHARGES OF ONLY $42%6! This is an additional difference of $78.80 in favor of the Minneapolis mill. It makes the total difference in freight rates $345.40. If a state-owned mill should be es- tablished at Fairmount, and the Minne- apolis mills wanted to squeeze it out, it would be easy. All they would have to do would be to sell flour at cost for a while. The Minneapolis mill would not have to lose any money, but for every seven carloads of wheat that the Fair- mount mill shipped in, milled and ship- ped back again as flour, it would lose $345.40. o That is the situation at present, and that is why there are few flour millg privately owned in North Dakota, com- peting with Minneapolis mills. Privately. owned mills have no means of forcing the railroads to grant fair rates. They don’t getin on the “second visit” class, like the Minneapolis mills. These interstate rates are fixed by rail- “ roads with the sanction of the inter- state commerce commission, But the state of North Dakota has authority to make the railroads come to time and give fair rates. An at- tempt in that direction was made at. the last session of the legislature in House Bill 298, This bill, introduced by League mem- bers in the lower house, put freight' rates on a mileage basis. Instead of charging high rates for a short haul and lower rates for a long haul, H. B, _ 298 provided a real ‘“distance tariff’— the longer the haul, the higher the _rates; the shorter the haul, the lower - the rates. ; 2 Look back: at Table No. 1 again. If H. B. 298 had passed the rates on the seven carloads of wheat to Fairmount, instead of being $971.10, as at present, ‘would have been only $432.20. Look back .at Table No. 2. If H. B. 298 were in effect now the rate on seven carloads of flour from Fairmount, in- stead of being $504.80, would be only $262.20. The present cost of shipping seven carloads of wheat from seven North Dakota points to Fairmount and ship- ping the flour back is $1475.90, or $345.40 MORE than it costs to handle the same wheat and flour through Minneapolis. Under H. B. 298 the cost of shipping the wheat from the same points to Fairmount and of shipping the flour back would be only $394.40, which is _ $781.50 less than the present rates of shipping the same goods through Fair- mount and $436.10 LESS than it costs to handle the same wheat and flour through Minneapolis. An advantage of $345.40 that now exists in favor of the Minneapolis mills would be turned into an advantage of $436.10 in favor of the Fairmount mill, which is right, because the railroads would only have to haul the wheat and flour about half as far. . The same bunch of holdover sena- tors that killed House Bill 44 to allow state-owned terminal elevators and flour mills also killed House Bill 298. They tried to give the people of North Dakota a fake terminal elevator bill Under this bill it would have been im- possible to have operated in competi- tion with Minneapolis elevators and flour mills, under existing freight rates. The more wheat- handled the greater would have been 'the loss. At the next session of the legislature when League farmers get control of the senate as well as the house,+it is easy to see that not only will provision be made for real state-owned elevators and flour mills, but also that freight rates will' be adjusted so that they can be operated at a profit instead of a loss. Unj’ust discrimination in favor of Minneapolis, and against North Dakota, shown at a glance, indicating why there is no local flour industry in North Dakota. .. Will Support Ladd Resolutions pledging support to President E. F. Ladd and other friends-of the farmer at North Dakota Agricultural college, were adopted at a meeting of citizens of Osago township and vicinity, Nelson ‘county, July 28. The resolutions follow : ‘“Whereas, it is a well known fact that the board of regents in connection with the big political combines, especially the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce and the railroad interests are trying to_foree the resignation of Dr. E. F. Ladd as president of the Agricultural college of North Dakota ; and, f ‘“Whereas, it is recognized by the vast majority, not only of the farming population, but of the people in general, that Dr. Ladd is the best and most efficient man available at the head of this institution, in fact recognized by the people in general as one of the greatest men in the United States; and ‘“Whereas, he is now being made the mark of petty politicians (a thing which should be absolutely eliminated from such appoint- ments) and, - ‘“Whereas, if they succeed to remove Dr. Ladd from the head of this institution, it will be the greatest detriment to the state of N. D. for a long time to come, ‘‘Therefore be it resolved by the citizens of Osago Township and vicinity here assembled, that we fully appreciate and endorse ‘the action and conduct of Dr. Ladd, Prof, Bolley, Prof. Waldron, and other instructors of this institution who have stood by the best in agriculture and education and for having had the courage to carry the truth to the people. ‘‘Resolved, that we are in fayor of a statewide protest against this great political plot to remove Dr. Ladd, Prof. Bolley, Prof. Waldron, and other instructors in sympathy with them, but that _ we can retain them at the service of the people in general as they have been heretofore,- ‘‘Be it further resolved, that we stand by our Honorable Governor, Lynn J. Frazier, to the last in his efforts to rid our Agricultural college from petty politicians who are working in the interests of Big Business and not for the people in general, ‘P, A, PETERSON, Chairman, 0. C. ENSTAD, Secretary.’’ SHEPHERD LOSES FLOCK In his great undertaking of ‘“carry- ing the truth to the people” in ayJerry Bacon han¥-satchel, the Hon. Guy. Divet must-have . been gseized with ' something resembling bear fright while rambling among the bull-rushes and " weeping willows of Richland county— his own home. The election returns . show the asto ing fact that the peo- ple of said Richland county, the home ~PAGE ELEVEN of Mr. Divet, gave an appalling major- ity for Mr. Baer, who Guy insisted all the time was Townley’s candidate. ‘Which goes to prove that as a peddler of truth Guy is in the same fix as the prophet, and that those who know him best; that is to say, his neighbors— do not take him any more seriously than the League majority in the legis- lature took him last winter.—DEVILS LAKE (N, D) JOURNAL, e