Page:The truth about the railroads (IA truthaboutrailro00elli).pdf/133

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RATE-MAKING AND THE GOVERNMENT

by the number of sheep on the Australian farms and the amount of free tonnage controlled in Liverpool, are elements beyond the control of the American railroads and the American Government. The Northern Pacific cannot charge an infinitesimal fraction of a cent more than will enable the Montana man to place wool in the common market at a common price, grade for grade. The makers of woodenware in Menasha, Wisconsin, and in Tacoma, Washington, are competing to reach the same markets, and the railroads leading from those two places, through self-interest, are adjusting the rates as low as they can, in order to help develop the trade in their respective territories. The producers of lumber in Idaho, Montana, and Washington, and the producers in Minnesota, Arkansas, and Louisiana are all trying to sell in the markets of this country and abroad, and the railroads from the respective districts, if the business is to move at all, must meet competitive prices and adjust rates accordingly.

Examples without number could be given

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