How did the railroad industry make life more difficult for farmers?
The railroads also fleeced the small farmer. Farmers were often charged higher rates to ship their goods a short distance than a manufacturer would pay to transport wares a great distance.
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The railroads also fleeced the small farmer. Farmers were often charged higher rates to ship their goods a short distance than a manufacturer would pay to transport wares a great distance.
The Complaints of FarmersThey generally blamed low prices on over-production. Second, farmers alleged that monopolistic railroads and grain elevators charged unfair prices for their services. Government regulation was the farmers' solution to the problem of monopoly.
They primarily zeroed in on two villains – banks and railroads. In their view banks charged outrageous interest rates, and monopolistic railroads not only charged outrageous rates but their rates were unfair and arbitrary in that the railroads charged farmers higher rates than they charged fellow industrialists.
The railroad opened the way for the settlement of the West, provided new economic opportunities, stimulated the development of town and communities, and generally tied the country together.
Steel rails linked the farms and the mills. The railroads provided the efficient, relatively cheap transportation that made both farming and milling profitable. They also carried the foodstuffs and other products that the men and women living on the single-crop bonanza farms needed to live.
Railroads discriminated in the prices they charged to passengers and shippers in different localities by providing rebates to large shippers or buyers. These practices were especially harmful to American farmers, who lacked the shipment volume necessary to obtain more favorable rates.
Railways allowed people to travel further, more quickly. This allowed leisure travel, and contributed to the growth of seaside resorts. It also allowed people to live further from their places of work, as the phenomenon of commuting took hold.
Ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 acres, these huge farms needed fleets of harvesters and armies of workers to gather their crops. Steel rails linked the farms and the mills. The railroads provided the efficient, relatively cheap transportation that made both farming and milling profitable.
Railroads Were at the Forefront of Political Corruption“Railroads need monopoly franchises and subsidies, and to get them, they are more than willing to bribe public officials,” White says. The Central Pacific Railroad, for example, spent $500,000 annually in thinly disguised bribes between 1875 and 1885.
As a result, although rail transport has advantages such as high carrying capacity, economy, reliability and environmental impact, it also has some disadvantages such as limited flexibility, operating costs, necessity of intermodal connections and delivery time.
But the Depression, and the switch to automobiles after World War II, dealt a blow from which the railroads still have not recovered. A deadly cycle set in. As the number of passengers using the trains decreased, causing revenues to fall, the railroads tried to survive by cutting back on maintenance and service.
Just as it opened the markets of the west coast and Asia to the east, it brought products of eastern industry to the growing populace beyond the Mississippi. The railroad ensured a production boom, as industry mined the vast resources of the middle and western continent for use in production.