THE MOXTHLY BULLETIN. 451 



bility of conditions arising in which questions relating and pertaining 

 to the transportation of California interstate freight shipments would 

 demand the protection of the State. 



Difficult 



It would be very difficult to imagine the condition in which it would 

 be necessary for the Railroad Commission to take action under the 

 authority and power conferred upon it by the State, if this is not one 

 in w'hich the Commission would be justified in so doing. 



Our committee has done everything in its power to bring about an 

 amicable and satisfactory adjustment of all ditferences between railroad 

 officials and growers regarding transportation matters. "We had many 

 conferences and meetings, but without beneficial results, so far as the 

 growers are concerned. Failing to accomplish anything along these 

 lines there was nothing left for us to do but to carry out your instruc- 

 tions to appeal to the Railroad Commission for relief in your behalf; 

 therefore, in pursuance and compliance with your action taken at your 

 last State Convention at Santa Rosa, your Committee on Transportation 

 has appealed to the State Railroad Commission to prosecute your de- 

 mafid before the Interstate Coiumerce Commission, accompanied by 

 ample proof of the justness of your cause. 



Remember that it is not the duty of the Railroad Commission to take 

 the initiative in this matter, therefore, much depends upon your action. 



At the first hearing of your complaint before the Railroad Com- 

 mission, it was charged by the defendants, the railroad officials, that 75 

 per cent of the shippers had not joined in the issue, and that there was 

 no evidence that any considerable number of the growers complained 

 that the rates and methods under which their products were being 

 transported, were not satisfactory. 



Since then, however, Frank B. McKevitt, manager of the California 

 Fruit Distributors; C. B. Dewees, manager of the Earl Fruit Company; 

 H. W. Adams, traffic manager of the Pioneer Fruit Company ; H. A. 

 Fairbank, manager of the Producers' Fruit Company; J. L. Nagle, 

 manager of the California Fruit Exchange, have given their unqualified 

 support to your contentions for reductions in the cost, and are emphatic 

 in their demands for reform in the methods now in use in the trans- 

 portation of your products. 



As a matter of fact, the growers and shippers of deciduous fruit 

 practically stand as a unit in favor of your contentions on file with the 

 Railroad Commission, asking for reforms in the methods now governing 

 the transportation of their products. 



Changed Conditions 



It has long been the custom for large and small shipping interests 

 to pay a cash rent for vineyards and orchards and employ Japanese 

 and Chinese to work them for a small per cent of the net proceeds from 

 the sale of the products from the places. This per cent has been cut 

 to so small an amount, in some cases to nothing, and other losses, that 



