182 TRANSACTIONS OP THE 



chant also, and one of its consequences was to introduce an element 

 of gambling into most transactions in wheat. 



The disadvantages growing out of the long voyage round Cape Horn 

 in fact appeared to be inseparable from the situation, and they threat- 

 ened to increase so much that many thoughtful men began to pre- 

 dict the necessity of changing the staple, or at least of diminishing 

 its produce for the future. All this time the Southern Pacific Rail- 

 road was eating its way through the desert and making straight for 

 tide-water on the Gulf of Mexico. At last the attention of others 

 than the builders of the road was drawn to it, and men began to 

 inquire what new phenomena this second transcontinental road 

 indicated. And now the time seems to have come when the pro- 

 ducers may realize the full significance of this route, and may recog- 

 nize the changes which it must bring to them. It may be well before 

 going further to deprecate expressions of local jealousy, alarm, or 

 displeasure, in this connection, and to point out that enterprises of 

 the magnitude of the Southern Pacific are not merely justified, but 

 necessitated by geographical and other equally permanent and com- 

 manding considerations, of a kind to which simply local interests 

 must be subordinate in the very nature of things. It was evident 

 that California was specially fitted to be one of the principal grana- 

 ries of the world. That fact having been demonstrated it became 

 the logical duty, alike of the highest business sagacity and the broad- 

 est public spirit, to solve the problem of connection with the world's 

 markets. The prosperity of California's "present and future popula- 

 tion was involved in this. That she was to be a great wheat-growing 

 State was already certain, but it was not so certain that her producers 

 were to reap the legitimate profit of their toil. It was to determine 

 this problem that the Southern Pacific Railroad was built and it is 

 now evident that it will more than fulfill the anticipations of its 

 projectors. 



Mr. Larue in his address showed that at the present time the 

 aggregate freight charged on wheat to Liverpool is sixten dollars and 

 fifty cents per ton, and that this is divided into a land transportation 

 charge of three dollars and fifty cents per ton, and an ocean freight 

 of thirteen dollars per ton. He estimated that when the Southern 

 Pacific was completed the land charge would be the greatest, and the 

 ocean freight from New Orleans to Liverpool would not exceed five 

 dollars per ton. Supposing that the aggregate freight charge to Liv- 

 erpool remained the same as now, though differently apportioned, 

 the gain of the producer would be very great, for he would then 

 reach his market in three weeks, instead of four months. The farmer 

 could afford to pay a higher freight than he is now paying, for this 

 immense gain of time, but he is assured against any increase of 

 freight charges by the insurmountable guarantee of ocean competi- 

 tion. The railroad must transport his wheat for him at a fair rate, 

 since he can always defeat any attempt at exorbitant rates by taking 

 the long sea route. But in effect, we know that all railroads find it 

 to their interest to encourage the extension of productive areas by 

 transporting at the lowest paying rates, and therefore we may be cer- 

 tain that the Southern Pacific, and the ocean lines with which it 

 connects at New Orleans, will carry the wheat of our farmers below 

 the present figures. We believe that Mr. Larue's estimate of the ocean 

 freight from New Orleans to Liverpool is too high, moreover. The 

 enormous volume of freight requiring transportation every year will 



