12 
BULLETIN 191, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
handled in the South, and 14.90 per cent of the total handled in the! 
West. These territorial divisions correspond roughly to the country 
east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio and Potomac for the ! 
East, south of the Ohio and Potomac and east of the Mississippi for 
the South, and west of the Mississippi for the West. ' 1 Agricultural i 
products," as used here, include grain, hay, tobacco, cotton, fruits 
and vegetables, live stock, and wool. 
"RECIPROCAL DEMURRAGE." 
As the business of the country increased and the supply of cars 
grew relatively less, it became imperatively necessary to take some 
steps to increase car efficiency. Old regulations were more strictly j 
enforced and new regulations more stringent were put into effect. 
Shippers came to a realization of the fact that duties and responsi- 
bilities as between themselves and the railroads were mutual. They 
argued, "If we are penalized for delaying cars — that is, withholding 
them from other shippers who need them — the roads should be penal- I 
ized for delay in furnishing cars — that is, withholding them from us J 
who are shippers and need them. Let us therefore have ' reciprocal | 
demurrage.'" The unparalleled car shortage of 1906 gave point to 
their arguments and the "reciprocal demurrage" laws of 1907 and 
subsequent laws and regulations are the result. 
"Reciprocal demurrage," so called, is in effect on State traffic only, 1 
at the present time, in 21 States. It is provided for by statute in 
Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, 
North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Orders of the State 
railroad commission govern in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, 
Mississippi, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and j 
Washington. It is not demurrage at all within the general meaning 
of that term, but it is a penalty imposed upon the carriers for failure 
to perform certain duties or to furnish certain services within a speci- 
fied time. From the penalty being imposed at first for failure to 
furnish cars the principle has been extended to cover delay in accept- 
ing shipments and issuing bills of lading therefor, as soon as they are 
tendered for forwarding, failure to move shipments at a prescribed 
minimum speed, failure to give notice of arrival within a specified 
time, failure to have shipments ready for delivery to consignees \ 
within a stated time, and delay in receiving shipments from or deliver- 
ing them to connecting lines. Practically all the statutes and orders 
provide that the imposition of the penalties prescribed shall be no bar 
to the collection of actual damages sustained under the common law. 
The two chief points of interest to shippers in the various "recip- 
rocal" codes are the time allowed carriers to furnish cars and the 
penalty imposed for failure to furnish within the time prescribed. 
