prime
necessity, such as coal, lumber, and grain, would be so high as to
prevent their being moved, while the rates on goods of high value per
bulk would be much lower than they could readily pay. Classification
must precede the fixing of rate schedules. The railroads are
interested in adjusting their charges to services performed in such a
manner as to insure the greatest possible amount of traffic at rates
that are properly remunerative. The public is interested in having the
necessary revenues of the railroads so levied as to make the burdens
as light as possible. To accomplish this a careful grouping of
commodities is necessary.

The goods are usually classified in five or six large divisions. The
official classification referred to below has six classes. The first
class consists of articles of high value, the sixth class of bulky
commodities of low value, such as iron ore, lumber, grain in bulk,
etc. In practice, however, the number of classes is at least doubled.
Goods of especially high value are made to pay once and a half,
double, treble or quadruple the regular first-class rate. A commodity
is also frequently placed in more than one class, the rating of
classification being lower for car-load lots than for less than
car-load shipments. The classification is further extended by omitting
certain articles from the list of those classified. Live stock and
coal are illustrations of articles to which so-called "commodity," as
distinct from "classification," rates are given. The individual
shippers are constantly endeavouring to have their goods given
commodity rates, and the effort of the railroad companies is to reduce
the number of articles excepted from classification. Commodity tariffs
have been a fruitful source of unjust discrimination.

From this description of freight classifications it will be perceived
that the main basis upon which the grouping of commodities rests is
the relative value of the goods. The gradations cannot, however, be
made strictly according to value. The goods are frequently put into a
lower class than their value would warrant in order to stimulate their
production and shipment or to develop the industries depending upon
those articles.

At first each railroad worked out a classification of its own, and
there were practically as many classifications as there were railway
systems. The disadvantages of this soon became apparent with the
development of long-distance traffic. The multip