PROCEEDINGS CORN BELT MEAT PRODUCERS' ASSN. 489 



"growed" crazier and crazier than ever Topsy "growed." I don't profess 

 to be a traffic man myself, but even an ignoramus in those matters can 

 see the intricacies of the situation and the pecularities of the situation, 

 and just because of his ignorance, I think, because of the limitations of 

 his knoweldge of it, can see how impossible it is for the ordinary, un- 

 trained local shipping manager to cope with it. 



The picture we have here is that of the freight rates on hogs to the 

 Chicago terminal market from the state of Iowa. Particularly over here 

 in the eastern part of the state you see a very curious situation. You 

 probably can not read the rates from there — rates of 25 cents, 26, 27%, 

 26 1-6, 25, 24%, running through there. Down in here, 23, 24%, 27— a 

 little pocket there in which they are 27; a little pocket in which they 

 are 26. And the St. Louis map, a still more complicated situation, in 

 which you have rates of 24% and 31 cents side by side, with 26 cents in 

 this area here, 28 in a little pocket here which runs across two others 

 which are 29 and 26 cents side by side. 



Now, what is the result of that? It means that managers are ship- 

 ping their stock by the one way that they have happened to stumble onto, 

 whereas routing it another way or knowing what the actual possibilities 

 of rate-making are for their station, or in many, many cases where rail- 

 roads are close together delivering to one station instead of another, 

 would mean a very considerable saving. 



In Ohio, for example, the live stock shippers there have got a traffic 

 department on the job, and they recently supplied that traffic man with 

 a problem. They were bringing in some feeders, and in the first sixty- 

 six cars of feeders they brought in they found that not a single freight 

 rate had been figured correctly. About the same situation would apply 

 in many areas in this state. 



There are two problems really which confront the farmer when he 

 organizes to improve his handling of his marketing problems. The first 

 one is to perfect an organization around the existing market system 

 and the existing freight structure, as other well-organized businesses, 

 so that he really will be getting the maximum advantage of that organ- 

 ization as it exists, that he will route by the cheapest way, that he will 

 choose the market which gives the highest net dollar. And that means 

 not merely looking from this area here to the quotations of St. Louis 

 and Chicago, but of knowing very definitely the freight rate differentials 

 in order that he may figure down to his net charge and not be misled 

 by the market quotation; that he may figure it down accurately and take 

 advantage of the odd half cent or cent even. 



It means an organization also that would permit of shipping possibly 

 at different times from different shipping points in a territory in which 

 several railroads are about as available. That is the first thing. And 

 then the matter of auditing bills and checking up and of pressing claims 

 and of calling for better service of getting better facilities at the local 

 yards, and all that sort of thing. 



There is a great big job which could be done by that $50,000,000 

 shipping industry in this state, which presses in burning needs to be done, 

 which must be done before you can see co-operation really as a construe- 



