The Incidence of Freight Rates

It is probable that the first comprehensive legislative reference to the close interdependence of the rail carriers of this country and the desired economic development of the United States was made in the so-called Andrews Report. In part IV of this report in the discussion of the railroads and canals of the United States occurs this significant statement. "Following the notice (of the status of the railroads) is a brief consideration of the railroads in the economic aspects and results - a matter esteemed of equal if not greater importance than a detailed description of the works themselves."In this discussion of the Andrews Report the perennially reappearing controversy of transportation rates and their relation to the receipts of the farmers for their commodities made its first political appearance. This problem has appeared in other countries as well as in the United States, but it has been considerably different here because of the fact that the United States does not have the same type of interior markets which most other nations possess.