THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
263 
shipped by freight, according to a report circulated in railroad circles 
today. Shippers generally, it is said, are dissatisfied with the progress 
made so far in the direction of uniformit}'', and point out that at present 
there is little hope for expecting a completion of the task for a long 
period of time. The Executive Committee on Uniform Classification 
has taken the position that it will be necessary to first secure uniformity 
in rules, descriptions, packages, etc., before attempting to provide a 
uniform numbering or lettering of classes. The Interstate Commerce 
commission declared some time ago that unless the railroads completed 
the work on a uniform classification plan within a reasonable time it 
would use its influence to further progress along that line.” 
The descriptions of nursery stock O.K’d by your Trans¬ 
portation Committee and adopted by the Committee on 
Uniform Classification have now been incorporated in the 
Western, Official, and Southern Classifications, although 
in the Western it is not yet in effect, account said classifica¬ 
tion being under suspension by order of the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Commission. 
The ratings in the Western and Official Classifications, 
under the new descriptions, remain practically the same, 
but in the Southern Classification, effective June 17, 1912, 
the car load rating has been made fifth class, instead of 
sixth, and less than car load rating in boxes, third class, 
instead of fourth. While this is an advance in South¬ 
eastern territory, there is one good feature about it, and 
that is the obnoxious required valuation of 3c per pound 
has been eliminated and hereafter nur.serymen throughout 
the country will not be bothered with any release clause 
whatever. Your Transj^ortation Committee did not have 
any notice of this change in the Southern classification 
territory, as they do not publish any docket like the Western 
and Official. The following on the subject by the National 
Industrial Traffic League explains fully: 
SOUTHERN CLASSIFICATION, PUBLICITY OF DOCKET 
‘‘The president informed the meeting that a petition had been ad¬ 
dressed to the vSouthern Classification Committee asking that that body 
adopt the same practice which now prevails with the Western and 
Official Classification Committees of issuing in advance of their meetings 
a printed docket of the matters to be considered, so that the shipping 
public might be informed of proposed changes, and where interested 
could appear before the committee for the presentation of their argu¬ 
ments. 
At the time of the meeting advice had not been received from the 
Southern Clas,sification Committee of the action taken on our petition. 
Some discussion was had with reference to the publicity of the 
dockets of the several classification committees, and the doubt was 
expressed as to the legal right of the shippers to compel such publicity, 
or the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission over same. 
In view of the public interest in all classification matters, it was the 
sense of the meeting that the widest information possible should be 
given to proposed changes, especially when the carriers were perform¬ 
ing a function delegated to them by the Interstate Commerce Coni- 
mission in the making of classifications, a power now conferred upon the 
Interstate Commerce Commission by the new law. 
The subject was passed with the understanding that continued 
efforts would be made toward securing greater publicity.” 
The above article will show members of the Association 
what little chance the shippers have of learning of a change 
until after it has been made. 
That Uniform Description of nursery stock is satisfactory 
to the nurserymen in general is evidenced by some of the 
letters we have received on the subject, one of which we 
reproduce below: 
CHASE BROTHERS COMPANY 
NEW ENGLAND NURSERIES 
ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
Feb. 6, 
Mr. Chari.es Sizemore, 
Stark Bros., Louisiana, Mo. 
1912. 
My Dear Mr. Sizemore; 
I notice in looking over Official Classification No. 38 that they 
have finally gotten around to grouping trees, plants, etc., under the 
heading of ‘‘Nursery & Florists’ Stock,” and this is a move in the right 
direction, for which no doubt your Committee should have credit. 
Yours truly, 
Wm. Pitkin. 
Your Transportation Committee did not attend the 
Western Classification meeting at Galveston, in January, 
where they endeavored to have a satisfactory rating adopted 
to cover apple, and tree seed in car load and less than car 
load lots. Believe would have been successful had not the 
meeting adjourned account Interstate Commission’s sus¬ 
pending Classification No. 51. which had been approved at 
the July meeting, and was to have become effective February 
15, 1912. However, as this classification is still under sus¬ 
pension, it leaves the old one in effect, and the apple, seed, 
and tree rating is satisfactory in that. 
The following from the railroad news of the Globe Demo¬ 
crat, vSeptember 12, 1912, will be of interest to shippers: 
LIABLE FOR MISROUTING SHIPMENTS 
‘‘Washington, D. C., Sept. 12. —Interstate carriers are responsible 
in damages to shippers for loss to the latter through the misrouting 
of shipments. This principle was laid down by the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Commission today in deciding the case of W. C. Sterling & Co., 
of Monroe, Mich., against the Michigan Central Railroad, and other 
carriers. The decision practically reverses a previous holding of the 
commission that if the shipper accepted a shipment that had been 
misrouted in violation of his specific instructions, he would be obliged 
to stand any loss thereby sustained. 
In the case decided today the carriers, by misrouting the ship¬ 
ment, forced the shipper to pay drayage charges which would not have 
accrued.” 
• Long and vShort Haul Clause 
The fourth section of the Act to regulate commerce, 
known as the Long and Short Haul Clause, which was 
carried by the railroads to the Supreme Court of the United 
States, to test its validity, has not yet been decided by 
that tribunal. A decision may be expected daily, and if 
the clause is sustained, which is the general belief, it will 
mean a thorough overhauling of freight rates throughout 
the country, as the clause in question absolutely forbids 
the carrier from charging a higher rate for a shorter than a 
longer distance, when directly intermediate. 
The foregoing covers, in a general way, the traffic situa¬ 
tion as gathered by your committee. From what has been 
said on Uniform Classification, the members of the Asso¬ 
ciation will have a general idea of the progress on that 
subject up to the present. However, from newspaper 
information and conversations with railroad men and traffic 
representatives, we believe the Uniform Classification subject 
