TRANSPORT QUESTIONS 149 



a time when it was thought producers still had a grievance 

 against the railway companies, inasmuch as, even when the 

 societies were able to give very large orders for fertilisers, 

 the companies would not quote lower rates than those that 

 applied to much smaller quantities. 



To this it was replied by the companies that when they 

 fixed their minima for specially low rates at ten, four, or even 

 at only two tons, they did so with the idea of enabling the 

 small as well as the large producer to take advantage of 

 them, and with the full expectation that large consignments, 

 to which the rates would equally apply, would still be sent. 

 It was further declared that the British farmers who could 

 consign in 2-ton or 4-ton lots were being granted special 

 rates which on Continental railways might be conceded only 

 in respect to 5-ton or 10-ton lots, such concessions being 

 made by the English companies to meet the agricultural 

 and trading conditions of this country ; but there was no 

 idea on the part of the companies that, as soon as consign- 

 ments of 10, 20 or 40 tons or more could be made up, fresh 

 series of minimum rates should be fixed to apply to these 

 greater quantities. One company, in fact, protested that 

 its rates for 4-ton lots of fertilisers or other agricultural 

 commodities had been fixed at "a very low basis which 

 left no room for further reductions for lots of more than 

 4 tons." 



As for any occasional huge consignment of fertilisers 

 or other commodities which required the running of a special 

 train, traffic of this sort was affirmed to be less acceptable 

 to a railway company than the consignment of a few 

 additional truck loads at a time, over a series of days, 

 inasmuch as the special train would involve a certain 

 amount of dislocation of the regular service, whereas the 

 extra truck loads day by day, added to the ordinary goods 

 trains, would not interfere with the regular service at all, 

 and would, also, cost less, in proportion, in the way of 

 working expenses. 



The policy of the A. O. S. in regard to these questions of 

 rail transport thus resolved itself mainly into one of showing 



